We must say the Square Stand + iPad installation reminds us little on the iMac but I guess that was the idea — to piggyback on the proven design Apple fans are used to.

In the official press release, Square co-founder Jack Dorsey described the $299 Square Stand as “elegant, fast, affordable and easy to use,” and as such – perfect for any merchant whether it sells cupcakes, cardigans or cappuccinos.

In addition to card swiping capability, the Square Stand can also sing along a receipt printer and barcode scanner, both of which are available for purchase from Square.

Finally, it’s worth adding that the stand currently selling is only compatible with second- and third-generation iPads (it has a 30-pin connector), with a model supporting the fourth-gen iPad’s Lightning expected to be launched later in the year.

If you have one of those device and would like to benefit from NFC-based contactless payments, download the Google Wallet app (linked below) and try it out at the growing list of participating merchants. You’ll get as seamless as possible payment experience in return…

Google Wallet (FREE) [Google Play Store]

[Via: Engadget]

The new service builds on the existing partnership between the two companies that involved the inclusion of FNB’s branches into MoneyGram’s agent network. This in turn provided customers with nearly 1,000 new MoneyGram money transfer locations across South Africa from which to send and receive money. Now they [customers] no longer need to visit the physical store in order to beam their money and will rather visit these branches only when they need to get hold of cash.

According to the World Bank, there are close to 900,000 South Africans living abroad who send money back to their families. Almost 50% of all remittance users remit funds once a month…

And while that’s a significant progress, it only affects a small fraction of Walmart’s more than 4,000 stores across the country.

The pilot began near Walmart’s home office in Bentonville, Arkansas in late 2012, expanding afterwards to Atlanta.

At the moment, only iPhone users can “scan & go” though an Android app is in the pipeline as well.

The system allows shoppers to scan bar codes on items they want to buy to keep track of the planned purchases and the total cost. Then they pay at a self-checkout screen, bypassing the typical registers.

As I’m writing this, some 1,500 stores have self-checkout lanes, with another 1,000-1,500 stores getting them later this year. All these stores are potential “targets” for this program…

[Via: Reuters]

Last year, Apple acquired a security firm, AuthenTech. Apple’s $356 million purchase of the company was focused on AuthenTech’s “Smart Sensor” technology, a fingerprint scanner that can scan 500 pixels per inch. Apple began acquiring components for the iPhone 5S during the second quarter of 2013, and the device is believed to launch in mid to late 2013.

Apple seems to have done most of the grunt work when it comes to a mobile payment system with Passbook, which now just needs the hardware to turn it into the beast of a system that it could be.

Monday’s details are concurrent with previous rumors by analyst Ming-chi Juo of KGI Securites, who has provided pertinent information to Apple’s releases in the past. According to Kuo, the iPhone 5S will launch in June or July, with the same design aesthetic as the iPhone 5 but with a built-in fingerprint sensor, a beefed up A7 processor and an improved camera.

Kuo also claims that the fingerprint sensor will be placed underneath the home button on the device, which will allow for identity verification when transferring files, making mobile payments and more.

As this is all still rumor, we will have to wait and see what Apple has in store for us when it releases the iPhone 5S.

Check out the photo below  for a look at how the fingerprint sensor technology functions.

[Via: Apple Insider ]

And this solution works both in developed and developing markets as it allows carriers to reach users that have no credit cards or are using prepaid service (younger demographics). Moreover, the whole process is easier for end users, allowing for few-click purchases. Therefore, it is expected that the scale of the opportunity for app monetization through this mechanism will grow in the years to come.

In fact, there are reasons to believe that direct carrier billing will extend beyond the “pure” mobile realm to include some “real world” items and services such as books, flowers, petrol, tickets, coupons and more.

Plus, with the addition of analytics of the BSS (Business Support Systems) Big Data, the operator can add far more value to mobile commerce, enabling personalized content discovery and super-targeted ads.

The Mobile Payments in the App Store Economy: Winning Strategies for Telcos White Paper is available to download from here.

The research shows the number of active mobile money users grew impressively with more than 30 million people undertaking 224.2 million transactions totaling $4.6 billion during the month of June 2012 alone. The impressive figure exceeds the 196.3 million transactions performed by PayPal customers on average each month during Q3 2012.

The study demonstrates that the mobile money industry continues to expand at an unparalleled rate, with 150 live mobile money services for the unbanked, 41 of which were launched in 2012. In addition, the industry is also becoming increasingly competitive, with 40 markets identified as having at least two different mobile money services available.

GSMA’s report counted 81.8 million registered customers globally and the number of deployments on a global basis growing by almost 38%. There are also 6 services with more than 1 million active customer accounts and in the last 12 months, three of these services have crossed the 1 million active customers threshold.

It’s also worth adding that in some countries — including Kenya, Madagascar, Tanzania and Uganda — there are now more mobile money accounts than bank accounts. In fact, the total value of mobile money transactions is equivalent to a significant proportion of the country’s overall GDP — in June 2012, it was equivalent to more than 60% of GDP in Kenya, more than 30% of GDP in Tanzania, and more than 20% of GDP in Uganda.

And you can get the full report from here.

As part of the deal, the bank will offer iZettle’s Chip & PIN reader which connects to Android and iOS devices sans any wires via Bluetooth — unlike iZettle’s Chip & Signature reader that plugs into a phone or tablet.

Getting started with iZettle only takes a few minutes and is done entirely online. Merchants pay no subscription, setup fee, monthly or minimum fee, and only pay 2.75% of each transaction amount. iZettle’s app and card readers work with all major credit cards, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express Maestro, Visa Electron and V Pay.

The card reader, which can be purchased at iZettle.com, costs £49 though Banco Santander customers in Spain are eligible for a discount that will be paid into their bank accounts after purchase.

Aside from Spain, iZettle also offers its Chip & PIN reader in the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Norway and Finland.

OPX’s goal is to make mobile payments a secure and easy experience for the more than 208 million Opera Mini users around the world. As a result of this deal, Opera Mini users will be able to buy digital goods and services easily and securely on their mobile devices, through direct carrier billing in the more than 36 countries worldwide where Binbit offers its mobile entertainment services.

Binbit, for those who haven’t heard about it before (myself included), specializes in delivering mobile entertainment services to mobile operators, media groups and end users. Binbit provides mobile content including music, video clips, games, wallpapers and screen savers to countries in the Americas, Africa, Asia, Australia and the Middle East.