Mobile Loyalty Programs: Using Technology to Convenience Customers

The use of mobile technology has become an imperative for virtually any kind of online business to convenience customers. To maintain those customers, many businesses now use mobile loyalty programs. Unlike other loyalty programs, these work on a different level from the old process you remember.

If you remember when customers had to store a card in their wallets to become a part of your loyalty program, you can reinvent things using a mobile device.

We'll help make this happen with mBeaconPay and mBeaconSAM at Netclearance.

How Has Mobile Changed Loyalty Programs?

As Forbes notes, loyalty programs work digitally now so customers don't have to use a card. Storing the program in a mobile wallet ultimately allows more awareness of participation.

Using this method puts you in a more advantageous place since you can send mobile alerts to customers about loyalty program incentives. As part of your new push to connect more personally with customers (in real-time), this is one of the best solutions.

For business partnerships, it's also invaluable. When someone buys one of your products in a certain location, you can alert a customer about a coupon available for a discount on another product.

Finding the Right Technologies to Make Loyalty Programs Work

At Netclearance, our mBeaconPay platform already helped manage ways to offer mobile pay programs for customers. Our more recent mBeaconSAM takes things even further by being the first commercially available Bluetooth 5 payment beacon.

This works well with not only mobile devices, but also wearables. Any loyalty program you use becomes all the more convenient and accessible.

Thanks to proximity marketing capabilities, you can capture people in the moment to take advantage of your loyalty program. Because the beacon uses bank-grade encryption, the user is going to have more confidence buying something on their mobile device without hesitation.

Visit us at Netclearance to learn how these mobile beacons can change how you've long approached loyalty programs in your marketing efforts.

Alternative Payments Ready to Rock the Transaction Landscape

Every so often, the advance of technology results in a batch of new capabilities reaching the public almost at the same time. This is what's happening with payment technology right now. Soon, there will be a shakeup of a magnitude that hasn't been seen since credit cards were invented. What's going on?

Private E-Wallets

These systems are set up on private networks and allow customers to keep money available in electronic form - without the need for a bank or credit card. They can be used at any merchant connected to the system. Often, this is just one chain of stores, but there are exceptions.

These systems are often connected to store loyalty programs. This makes it easy for both the store and its customers to keep track of everything.

Cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are exploding onto the wider scene in a big way. Once the domain of offbeat online stores, these alternative forms of money have now crossed over to physical business. Demand is now soaring.

How do These Advancements Threaten Banks?

Banks will see several threats from alternative payment methods. One of the biggest ones is that they are losing control of the payment process and the financial data that goes with it. This means they will face competition in the big data arena as well as in their traditional domains.

Another threat is the simple fact that big changes are here. The banking industry, as a whole, is very hidebound. Whenever such industries are forced to deal with big changes, shakeouts occur. This scares banks that aren't ready to adapt.

It's easy for you to be ready for the wave of change that's on its way. Use Netclearance's mBeaconSAM and mBeaconPay to easily set up your own private wallet system and accept cryptocurrencies while also taking standard credit and debit cards. Just give us a call and we'll help you get started.

Why Mobile Loyalty Programs are Great For Your Business

Now is the Time

57% of consumers report that they would like to engage with their loyalty programs via their mobile phones. Launching a mobile loyalty program is imperative to the success of your business in this era of technology.

Here is Why

Loyalty programs provide a myriad of benefits for small business trying to stay afloat in the competitive environment with corporate giants. Incentivizing consumers is a time-tested way of ensuring they come back time and time again.

There are over 200 loyalty programs in the United States alone. So what will make your loyalty program stand out from the crowd? Well, mobile loyalty programs definitely will.

A Seamless Customer Experience

Forget about interrupting a transaction to record phone numbers and emails. Mobile Loyalty programs augment consumer information into a single file which is at your disposal anytime, anywhere. Let the system worry about updating customer points, applying discounts automatically, and retrieving coupons.

Pay Less, for Much More

There is no need to waste resources on printing paper coupons with digital loyalty programs. The era of technology enables small businesses to save money by using mobile loyalty programs which cover most of the operations of a loyalty program. For as little as 50$ a month, you can launch your digital loyalty program.

Source of Consumer Data

A mobile loyalty program is the motherload of consumer information that will assist you in researching the purchasing behavior and patterns of different demographics. This information is vital to tweaking future marketing campaigns.

Launch Your Mobile Loyalty Program

Using a Mobile Loyalty Program cutting coupons is a thing of the past. Mobile loyalty technology spoils your consumers with various options such as direct saving of cards, instant searches, automatic stamping, and rewards, using the new NCS state-of-the-art proximity Beacon Technology.

For more information, contact us.

Why your Business Needs a Mobile Loyalty Program

Businesses use customer loyalty programs to promote brand loyalty and encourage repeat business from new and existing customers. To understand why repeat business is essential for enterprises, here are three surprising facts about its impact on companies.

• Increasing customer retention by 5% can boost the overall profitability of a company by 75%.

• 61% of SMEs report that they generate more than 50% of their revenues from repeat customers.

• According to Marketing Tech Blog, the worth of loyal customers is approximately up to ten times as much as their first purchase.

It takes fewer resources for an enterprise to retain its customers than to acquire new ones. Many entrepreneurs are aware of this fact, and that is why most stores use loyalty card programs to engage and reward their regular customers. However, as mobile technologies such as mobile wallets and mobile payments continue to revolutionize the retail sector, the traditional card is increasingly becoming a thing of the past, and businesses need to adopt mobile loyalty programs to keep up with the competition.

What are the advantages of having mobile loyalty programs?

• They reduce the operational cost of businesses

You don't need as much money to invest in mobile loyalty programs as is the case with traditional cards. You also spend less time updating offers, and you can send them to all your customers instantly.

• They help you to understand your customers

Mobile loyalty programs provide insight into the purchase behavior of your clients which assists you to understand their needs. Using this information, you can send customers relevant offers at the right time. Based on market statistics, 75% of customers will most likely use loyalty programs if the promotions are relevant.

• Mobile loyalty programs improve customer relations

Through mobile loyalty programs, you can communicate directly with your customers at any stage of their purchase process. Excellent customer service is crucial for customer retention, as clients are 79% likely to defect to a competitor if they feel that you are offering poor customer service. Clients also want to access your rewards and redeem them with ease, which is what mobile loyalty helps you to achieve.

To help you get started with mobile loyalty programs, Netclearance has a turn-key mobile loyalty program that integrates seamlessly with our state-of-the-art beacon technologies. 

The Benefits of Payments Decentralization

A blockchain distributed ledger is a synchronized database spread across multiple networks. Simply imagine a repository of data that is accessible to everyone and which receives instantaneous updates from two locations at the same time. This technology powers and underlies cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

Blockchain distributed ledgers have significant implications in business technology. The focal ramification is decentralization of payments. This technique creates advanced gateways for the transfer of mass data, cutting out the middleman through assured peer-to-peer connectivity, security, and anonymity.

Blockchain distributed ledger technology is quickly succeeding traditional money transfer infrastructure that relies on centralized payments. Consumers want a secure, efficient, and swift payment experience.

Centralized payment infrastructure requires the use of a middleman, who has to carry out multiple verification before the flow of money can proceed. For instance, your bank has to wait for the power company to balance its accounts for a successful transfer of funds.

Netclearance leverages blockchain distributed ledger technology in its applications to enable merchants to accept cryptocurrencies or tokens as payments without relying on a merchant processor or financial institutions to handle the payment transactions.

The Netclearance's next-generation applications, mBeaconSAM and mBeaconPay, integrate seamlessly with multiple payment terminals and retail registers, allowing traders to make payments using Bitcoin. Furthermore, mBeaconSAM and mBeaconPay offer alternative payment methods for users who prefer to use cryptocurrencies to settle bills.

Blockchain distributed ledgers offer foundation to decentralized payments. This opportunity provides you and your clients compelling, flexible, incorruptible, seamless, and fast money transfer options.

To learn more about our decentralized payment solutions, visit our website or contact us. 

Modern-Day Decentralization of Payments Through Blockchain and Cryptocurrency

For the longest time, we trusted and held banks, financial institutions, and other centralized intermediary systems accountable to coordinate and safeguard all our valuable monetary transactions. Currently, however, the world is experiencing a paradigm shift towards decentralization. The foundation of this shift is on a framework known as blockchain. The technology involves the real-time recording of transactions of value on an unalterable, copy-proof digital distributed ledger. One can share information on this continually updated database, but it is incorruptible and does not exist in a single location. Therefore, records are public, decentralized, easy to verify but unchangeable. Netclearance is playing vanguard in the move towards such kinds of decentralized payment methods.

Transactions, transfers, and payments by crypto or digital currencies use the blockchain framework. Some in the trade sector, most recently in retail, already know of or use these types of payments. Cryptocurrency is global, not nation-specific. It does not limit trade to a particular region, and this feature supports decentralization.

The recent stabilization of this highly fluid type of payment, its rise in value, and decreased fluctuation are also among the reasons for its increasing popularity. A store, online or physical, only requires internet connectivity to facilitate payment through Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum or any other kind of similar currencies. Our company is keen on supporting such straightforward ways of making payments.

Most importantly, the security of the payment is unlike any other seen before, even with banks and electronic money transfers. With fraud reduction and chargeback and rolling reserve elimination, there's nothing more a trader could require security-wise. And along with all that, the technology is one of the speediest ways to perform transactions. All these advantages motivate the move from centralization to decentralization and are in line with our objectives as a leading payment provider.

Netclearance is therefore at the forefront of supporting the decentralization of payments. We are building our latest infrastructure with digital currencies in mind. Our products such as the BLE-enabled mBeaconSAM mobile payment terminals and the mBeaconPay now allow tokens and cryptocurrency as disbursement upon a business transaction. We are also keen on providing merchants the current exchange rates. Hence, they have the opportunity to convert digital currency into its monetary equivalent in US dollars among other national or regional currencies.

For both the merchant and the consumer, try our product today and experience all the above conveniences of decentralized payment methods using our platforms on-premises or online. As we move to a fast, non-cash, low-reliance-on-intermediary-financial-institutions world, you can trust Netclearance to help you move with the times. Modernize your shopping and business experience and join us as we blaze the trail for decentralization of payments in the enterprise world. For more information on our payment platforms that support decentralized payments, contact us.

Cryptocurrency Acceptance on the Rise in the Retail Industry

While it is still a relatively novel technological innovation, cryptocurrency continues to gain popularity in today's digital world. Bitcoin is one of the first digital currencies based on a decentralized peer-to-peer network hence it is not tied to any country and does not necessitate any go-between, for instance, the Central Bank. Record of all transactions is in a decentralized database known as Blockchain technology. There is, therefore, need to understand how one can apply it in the retail business industry.  

Bitcoin has evolved into the retail sector’s payment solution. Bitcoins are acceptable as a means of payment for products sold or services provided.  As a currency, it is widely accessible to anyone with an internet connection.  An online business can readily accept bitcoins by adding this payment option to the others it offers like PayPal. Bitcoin, therefore, makes shopping easier for people or enables them to shop leading to the growth of a potential new global customer base.

Speed is another imminent benefit of using Bitcoin. This is because when a customer pays with bitcoins, they are available at immediately. In the meantime, this enables the retailer to dispatch the requested product or provide the service required instantaneously. Retailers are also able to take advantage of the swift delivery if they make use of bitcoins to procure their merchandise especially goods from other countries without any delays. Bitcoins have the upper hand over conventional means like credit cards which could take days for transactions to materialize.

Integrating Bitcoin requires no added infrastructure because the solutions are well-matched with most store systems. Businesses can directly incorporate the online currencies into existing payment terminals. Bitcoin is gaining momentum as a mode of payment and perhaps we are on the brink of a radical paradigm shift in the retail sector as it continues to influence how clients and retail businesses conduct transactions. For more information, contact us.

Decentralization of Payments and their Benefits

Decentralization of payments system sets off the primary payments and mutual claims from other payments for specified short periods. The system combines credit and clearing operations. It is a means of substituting non cash operations with cash operations. It concentrates all payments for incoming commodity material values or services in the bank in special liability and assets accounts that suit the users of the system.  

Credit allocation completes decentralization of payment and pays off unaccounted for values in operation. The system ensures acceleration of funds turnovers to settle accounts and to strengthen financial control under certain conditions. The payment system depends on the nature of users and their financial relationship. It obtains credit on time for utilizing operations and completing payment.

Block-chain technology is the best-known cryptocurrency that is fast spreading into the mainstream. It handles money transactions similar to spreadsheets. Whenever someones transacts, the system automatically updates the ledgers with new information. Block-chain technology eliminates the need to deal with merchant processors or financial institutions. Instead, you hook directly into the block-chain alternative which handles all your payment processing.

The mBeaconPay and mBeaconSAM payment acceptance systems accept tokens and cryptocurrencies as payment methods. Integrating mBeaconPay or mBeaconSAM with your current payment acceptance system enables you to reach people who are using cryptocurrencies. The block-chain technology takes care of currency conversion and everything else. The system processes cryptocurrencies like other payments.  

The block-chain ledger facilitates and verifies transactions and is a digital public ledger proof of all activities on your system. Participants in the network can access the shared data anonymously and view transactions. However, decentralized network takes care of security and record of digital assets without leaving any weak spots in the system that someone can exploit to steal or alter information.

To learn more about our decentralized payment solution contact us.

Solving the Crypto Payments Acceptance Challenge in Retail

                                                                   mBeaconSAM

Blockchain technology, and the accountability and security that it affords has given rise to a new form of currency called Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency that began on January 3, 2009, and has gained acceptance with circulation currently exceeding $7 billion. With Bitcoin and cryptocurrency becoming mainstream, retailers will need to find payment solutions to meet the desires of consumers who prefer to pay with Bitcoin.

Bitcoin and blockchain technologies are still in their infancy, but the practicality they offer has big banks paying attention. Financial institutions have discovered that using Bitcoin allows faster, more efficient, clearing and settlement of accounts between banks. The technology enables the sending of money directly between parties securely and accurately, between banks as well as retailers and consumers. While Bitcoin has become accepted by people and is growing in usage, consumers are finding that they can't use the currency for retail purchases.

Netclearance is leading the industry in providing solutions to merchants, enabling them to accept Bitcoin and other cryptos in consumer transactions. Netclearance applications allow merchants to receive cryptocurrencies and tokens as payments, increasing business opportunities and customer payment options.

                                                                  mBeaconVault

Netclearance offers payment solutions utilizing next generation, Smart Wireless Proximity Technology, offering advantages for consumers and retailers. Netclearance's mBeaconPay and mBeaconSAM integrate seamlessly with retail cash registers,payment terminals,unattended vending, and enables acceptance of Bitcoin payment by retail businesses, helping consumers to adopt it as a method of payment.

Bitcoin represents a growing trend in the financial industry and will continue to influence the way consumers and retail businesses conduct transactions.

To learn more about this or anything else contact us today.

Decentralization of Payments Frees Your Business From Merchant Processing

Blockchain technology is likely best known for being "under the hood" of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, but it now spreading into the mainstream and being used to handle real-money transactions. As explained by BlockGeeks, it all starts with what is known as a "distributed ledger." This is similar to a spreadsheet that is duplicated thousands of times across many computers. Whenever a transaction takes place, these ledgers are updated with the new information.

The distributed nature of the technology can eliminate the need for the current centralized system and thereby eliminate the need to deal with financial institutions or merchant processors. Instead, your company hooks directly into the blockchain alternative to handle payment processing.

Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies Are Going Mainstream

When Bitcoin first hit the scene, few people thought it would succeed at all, let alone last. Now, however, it is being used as currency in an amazing number of places. This makes it so that there is a large pool of Bitcoin holders who would be glad to be able to use it at physical stores as well as more online merchants. Now is the time for your company to add Bitcoin and other "cryptocurrencies" to its roster of accepted payment types.

How You Can Cash In

Our mBeaconSAM and mBeaconPay payment acceptance systems are now fully enabled to accept cryptocurrencies and tokens as payment methods. Integrating them with your current payment acceptance systems makes it easy for you to reach people who use these alternative currencies. You don't have to figure out how Bitcoin works or how to convert it into your country's standard currency. Instead, our system takes care of everything so you can process cryptocurrencies like any other form of payments.

To learn more about mBeaconSAM and mBeaconPay and how they work with cryptocurrencies, just contact us. We'll be glad to explain everything.

Transformative Banking and Payment Methods with Open API

Banks are not the same as they were some years back. Financial technology futurists foretold the takeover of Application Programming Interfaces (API) in the banking industry. Such digital transformation means breaking the bank’s domination over matters like client information and payment details, for the sake of convenient services. The revolutionary move to open API banking, however, stands to benefit the clients, merchants, and financial institutions. Some of the major underpinnings driving towards the move include instant payments and fast, effortless transactions.

One of the most radical technologies in modern-day digital and convenient banking is the Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2). It advances the original Directive of Payment Services. Taking on this directive means that the bank has to allow third-party financial providers access to crucial information like client data, banking products, payment infrastructure, and interest rates through open APIs. All banking stakeholders stand to benefit. For the bank, PSD2 comes with new partnerships and services that stream in more revenue. It also brings about the potential for commercial growth, especially through retail banking and the bank can widely extend its roles to various commercial sectors.

The technological innovation brought about by PSD2 enables customers, including merchants and consumers, access to banking services via APIs. Transactions and payments are instant. It supports further innovation by fintech companies like Netclearance which enables them to offer diverse payment services and options at a low-cost and great convenience to traders and their customers. PSD2 in banks, for example, supports mobile payment technology such as the use of beacons. Netclearance’s mBeacon family has diverse mobile payment solutions such as the mBeaconPay and mBeaconSAM that offer new and innovative payment methods. Using mBeaconPay mobile wallets and PSD2 transactions empower retailers and service providers and their clients to cut transaction costs and time. With the bank involved, a merchant does not have to worry about developing a convenient payment option as mbeaconpay ensures the payment goes from the customer’s phone to the trader’s account. What's more, the payment is very secure.

Open API banking with PSD2 is a great convenience to all stakeholders involved, including the bank, third-party financial service providers, financial technology companies, traders and consumers. It is a solution worth the investment. For more information, contact us.

Proximity Payments Technology: The Next Step in Technological Evolution

New technology usually doesn't evolve all on its own. Instead, it arises as a result of advancement in a different, but related, type of tech. Proximity payments, for example, have come about because smart phone technology has become ubiquitous. Before almost everyone carried a modern phone, it would have been useless.

Now that people are less likely to forget their phones than even their wallets, proximity payments have become the fastest-growing segment of mobile payment technology. All that customers need to do to pay this way is bring their cell phones close to proximity-detection sensors, so there is no need for them to carry cash, credit cards, or even ID. As long as they know the passwords to their mobile wallets or other proximity payment accounts, they're all set.

This level of convenience is what has changed proximity payments from being mere curiosities to a well-accepted new way to pay for things in physical stores. In fact, customers in many areas prefer them since there is no need to carry anything else. This reduces the risk of theft, reduces the risk of card reader fraud, eliminates the chance of forgetting to take their money, and speeds checkout. Therefore, it's a very good idea to add proximity payments technology to your payment acceptance system as soon as possible.

Our mBeaconPay proximity payment solution is perfect for established retailers who want to upgrade without the need for a major investment. It integrates with existing payment systems to add proximity payment capabilities, can work with proprietary mobile wallet systems, and more. To learn more about it and other Netclearance payments solutions, just contact us. We'll be glad to demystify the latest advances in payment processing and help you get on board.

Decentralization of Payments - The Benefits of Blockchain for Merchants and Consumers

                                     Netclearance mBeaconSAM for Payment Terminals

Blockchain technology has created a new type of Internet (The Internet of Money), allowing the circulation without duplication of digital information. In its simplest form, the system builds data blocks, on average ten minutes in duration, each block recording a set of recent transactions. Blocks of verified transaction data become nodes in the ledger which then get added to the end of the chain and become a permanent and unalterable part of the blockchain database.

The Blockchain Ledger is a digital public ledger, a decentralized network facilitating and verifying transactions, and stands as incorruptible proof of all activities on the system. All participants in the network have access to the shared data (albeit anonymously) and can view transactions, but the decentralized network ensures record and digital asset security, leaving no individual weak spot in the system to exploit, to alter or steal information.

The decentralized system means that data is not under the control of any one entity, no bank, card scheme or tech company with control of the entire system, thus opening the doors to circumventing the centralized system that exists today. What's revolutionary about this, is that the underlying technology allows the encrypted accumulation and transfer of any data, thing, or digital assets including the exchange of value via payment transactions between two parties using a public and private (secret identity) key pair. Blockchain technology can record any transaction with value, including financial ones, making it ideal for digital currencies and assets' exchange.

Alternative mobile payments technology paves the way for decentralizing payments at the point of transaction hence leaving no room for intermediaries that could interfere in the asset transfer and leveraging the incorruptible self-governed nature of the blockchain ledger. By using smart wireless proximity technology based on Bluetooth LE (BLE) with Blockchain-grade encryption merchants and consumers could conduct secure decentralized transactions which can lead to increased profits and faster transactions.

Netclearance's next generation mBeaconSAM and mBeaconVault are one of the many form factors that offer a compelling proposition, with several key benefits, for merchants and fintech providers looking for decentralized payments. Thus making transactions more efficient and affordable without costly upgrades to the existing payments infrastructure. It can live outside the walled gardens of Google and Apple or centralized middle-men creating a completely new ecosystem of value without the traditional fees associated in a multi-party centralized model of gatekeepers and tollbooths.

                                  Netclearance mBeaconVault - Blockchain mPOS/mWallet

Netclearance easy to use APIs and small form factors, based on blockchain-compatible wireless proximity technology removes the need to rely on a financial institution, merchant processor or any other third-party to handle digital payments. Netclearance technology allows merchants to accept crypto-currencies or tokens as payments, digital cash, coupons, account to account transactions (i.e. PSD2) at a minimal cost compared with others. Alternative mobile payments can help merchants grow revenues, improve margins, and manage businesses more efficiently.

To learn more about decentralized mobile payments solutions and how you can take advantage of this trend contact us today.

How PSD2 is Improving Access to Mobile Payment Technology

Mobile payment technology is already making inroads into major stores in the United States, and this is bringing benefits to customers, merchants, and banks. It is expected to boom even more over the next several years, so it's a good idea for both stores and financial institutions to get in on it now. This will position them as leaders in their fields and allow them to gain a strong foothold before their competition is all in on the change.

What is Driving this Growth?

Surprisingly, the driving factor behind mobile payments isn't the simple advance of technology. It's the release of the new PSD2 guidelines in Europe. These guidelines govern how banks and other financial institutions that do business in Europe must behave. The relevant section mandates that these companies must open up access to their services via API systems. Such systems allow merchants, other banks, and similar companies to set up their own payment systems instead of using credit card clearinghouses. They also make it easier for new financial technology companies to offer both hardware and software to support mobile payment processing.

How Can My Company Benefit?

Getting in on the change is as easy as setting up a mobile payment system or terminal. Here at Netclearance, we can provide you with everything you need to run your own white label private mobile payment processing system. If you'd rather hook into one run by a local bank, our mBeaconPay hardware will make it simple to integrate this option with your existing payment terminal. Either way, you'll gain access to more customers and they'll love the convenience.

How Proximity Payments Technology is Helping Stores Increase Sales

People are all about convenience, especially when it comes to payments. This is the main reason that proximity payments, which are generally made by bringing a cell phone near some type of payment beacon, are taking off across the retail world. With these systems, customers don't have to bring either cash or credit cards with them to shop. Instead, all they need is their cell phones and the appropriate app for making their payments.

With these things in mind, it's no wonder that RetailDIVE reported that in-store proximity payments are taking off. They were projected to be the fastest-growing segment of the mobile payments industry, with 137 percent annual compound growth expected. At the time of their report, the biggest growth was expected to happen in 2014 and 2015. That projection turned out to be off by just a couple of years, with even more growth actually seen in 2016 and continuing now. Now, big stores like Walmart have expanded their accepted payment methods, and in retail, a giant's entry into a new technology soon pulls other stores along.

How to Get In on the Proximity Payment Boom

Your customers will soon demand more payment options if they aren't already doing so. Fortunately, it's easy to expand your register capability to accept proximity payments. Our payment beacons and mobile wallet systems are simple to integrate with your existing systems. We can also create a white label mobile banking app or e-wallet system to allow your customers to hook up with your new payment system. Just contact us for a consultation. Once we learn about your specific needs, we can design and implement a solution that combines hardware and software to address them perfectly.

How Mobile Payments Benefit from PSD2

The Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2) will have an important impact on banks that they all have to be aware of. This regulation is rapidly coming into effect and will change the way banks operate by requiring open access via APIs. It will also allow fintech payment firms to reduce transaction costs and lower their prices.

The requirement to allow interaction through APIs will have a major impact on the market. In particular, it will allow direct interaction between consumer and merchant via one third party app. This radically reduces the steps required to make a payment with bank issued cards. Those cards need to 

Instead, consumers can have accounts with payment providers including behemoths such as Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon. These firms have payment systems where the user can directly build up credit and accounts. They can instantly pay merchants online or in person rather than waiting for approval through a credit card or debit card system.

Of course, that reduces the number of intermediaries as well as the costs involved in payments. Additionally, the PSD2 is expected to incentivize new entrants to the payments market who will provide innovative solutions that have yet to be conceived. The lower barrier to entry will hopefully allow more consumer friendly services to infiltrate the market.

For example, mBeaconPay is a new service that directly interacts with bank APIs. It provides a number of convenient services to consumers to allow payment tracking and instant, frictionless payments. Merchants love it because there are no long waits for approval and lower costs for payment services. These type of services will rapidly take over the market.

PSD2 Rewrites The Rules on Mobile Payments

Introduction to PSD2

This post PSD2 and impact on mobile payments is about the coming PSD2 and its impact on mobile payments across the European Union.  It will take effect on January 13, 2018.  It will, indeed, have a tremendous impact on how merchants process electronic payments using a banking card because it aims to make banks open access to their servers. 

Indeed, the new directive will affect the relatively new electronic mobile payment industry like nothing ever before it. As the article "PSD2-A Game-Changing Regulation" points out, virtually all new regulations since 2008 have focused on tightening the banks' business and operating models. Essentially, they are trying to avoid a situation like the world economic collapse that happened that year.  Also, they are endeavoring to win back the trust of their customers.  Certainly getting people to trust the banks enough with their money to securely use the banks to transact business--such as payment of rent and energy bills, and other such expenses--will be key to getting more people to use banks and more advanced systems of mobile payment.  Today these methods are not more widely used because of concerns about security.  For concerns still exist about Internet hacking.

Purpose of the New Rules

What the purpose of the new rules is, according to Tom Hay, is that it will "require banks around the European Union to open their infrastructure up to third-party financial service providers." What this means is that it will open such markets as Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon to introduce millions of Europeans to idea of using their bank accounts to pay bills. 

One of the main reasons these service providers will win, say proponents, is that this system will process and post payments faster.  For the faster a payment posts, the sooner the payer gets credit for paying the bill.  For indeed, a payment that takes almost forever to post is like one that has never happened. That is the whole reason that mobile payments, including payments made through a bank, have become an idea to begin with.  Neither the company nor the consumer feel they should have to wait.

Consequences

Because of all these changes, the consumer wins because payment service companies will be able to offer their services at a lower rate.  This reduction in transaction costs will attract more consumers who do not want to continue to pay bills the old way.  Also, as payment companies continue to address security concerns, this will also attract people who otherwise would not use this method of payment. In addition, more merchants will accept this method of payment.  Indeed, watch for changes in the way merchants accept payments the more secure they become.

Netclearance's line of products aims to meet the need for increased electronic ways to fulfill financial obligations that will be timely and secure as technology continues to change and we continue move away from the old way of presenting our utility companies and landlords with cash and traditional cards.

Enable Contextual Paymets at the POS with mBeaconSAM

Thanks to mBeaconSAM, there is no need to replace your expensive POS equipment to integrate the latest mobile wallet technology at your cash registers. This new product uses an open interface to allow transactions with smartphones and other mobile devices via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology. Using this method avoids the "walled garden" systems set up by mobile device manufacturers, so every modern device will work with this product.

There is no need to worry about security with the Netclearance mBeaconSAM upgrade, either. It uses bank-grade encryption to ensure that the information cannot be sniffed and decoded during the transaction.

With this development, it is now much easier to catch the latest wave in transaction innovation. You'll be able to offer branded mobile wallet service, partner with local banks to be one of the participating merchants in their services, and more. In fact, you can accept multiple mobile wallet options so that your customers have an even wider variety of ways to pay.

It has long been known that you'll have a larger pool of potential customers if you accept multiple payment methods. In communities where people usually don't use credit cards and shy away from bank accounts, the ability to take alternative non-cash payments is even more important. Your customers will appreciate your mobile wallet system since almost everyone does have a smart phone, regardless of their preferences for handling transactions.

Netclearance makes it easy to set up all aspects of a branded mobile wallet system or to integrate with a local bank's offering. With the arrival of mBeaconSAM, it just got easier on your own wallet as well. Just give us a call to learn how it all works together and get started on your custom solution today.

The Global Impact of PSD2 on Mobile Payments

While events in Europe often seem remote to American businesses, one new piece of European legislation is definitely of global interest. It is known as PSD2, and regulates financial institutions that do business there. Since many such institutions operate internationally, this makes it so that the new framework affects pretty much every large financial company.

For this discussion, the relevant part of PSD2 is the aspect that mandates that financial institutions make key information available via API interface. Obeying this regulation will require the development of the necessary backend technology, and as you might imagine, financial companies will be looking to get the most ROI (return on investment) possible from the money they put into this. The easiest way for them to do that is for them to roll out the new development to all of their locations - including those outside of Europe.

This will make it much easier for retailers, service providers, and others to find banks and similar institutions that can work with their mobile wallet systems. It will also lead to many institutions offering mobile wallets of their own.

Netclearance's hardware, software, and other technology will make it easy for companies to realize the full benefit of PSD2's impact on mobile payments. For stores and service providers, the tools of the mBeacon family of hardware offerings will serve perfectly. They allow for the simple integration of mobile wallet readers with POS equipment so that customers can easily pay using the new methods. Banks and similar institutions will be interested in Netclearance's white label mobile wallet software solutions and related support. By using one of these solutions, financial institutions can avoid the cost and hassle of developing their own and still offer mobile wallets to their customers.

With Netclearance can bring PSD2 based transactions at the POS.  Contact us to learn more

Cryptocurrencies in Retail: Why Should You Accept Bitcoin?

If you keep up with what's occurring in cryptocurrencies, then you know a lot about bitcoin, now in existence for eight years. Even though you've seen bitcoin sanctioned by major corporations and some of your business competitors, you've maybe held off using it in your retail store.

One reason behind your decision is probably because of how unregulated bitcoin is. While true, the benefits are starting to outweigh some of the negatives over the last few years.

Bitcoin has also been challenging to use in retail without proper technology. With quality mobile beacon technology, you can start to use it this summer.

No Worries About Fees

One of the main attractive aspects to bitcoin is the fact that you have little to no fees involved as you do with ordinary payment methods. Since it doesn't require a bank to verify transactions, you're already saving money for your business.

Adding beacon technology to integrate seamlessly with your retail cash registers lets people use this through mobile devices to avoid using credit cards.

For cash flow savings, it's ideal since merchant transaction fees are often 2%-3%.

Obtaining or Sending Money Quickly

Using bitcoin also allows you to receive your money immediately without lags. No more having to worry about slow intermediaries or waiting to get money from credit.

If you're already experiencing cash flow issues, you'll be able to receive money in your account immediately to keep your head above water.

When you make your payment system easier for customers with beacon technology, it becomes a symbiotic payment process.

Keep in mind payments to other countries are also easy and fast with bitcoin.

A Good Investment

Considering bitcoin value continues to rise, it's a good way to cash in when the value price rises. In this regard, you could make a bigger profit when you cash in your bitcoin later once the value takes a major uptick.

As of this writing, it's valued at over $4,000  and showing huge indefinite growth.

At Netclearance, we offer our mBeaconPay platform, allowing you to easily accept bitcoin with your payment system. Now you can move into the future while accommodating customers you've lost because you couldn't use this cryptocurrency in the past.