Author: Denny

Google aims to make changes to its mobile payments products

Google is expected to reveal plans to reform its mobile payments products at its annual developer conference this year. The company has been involved in mobile payments for some time, having launched Google Wallet in 2011. The Wallet was meant to serve as a way for consumers to pay for products online and in physical stores while also storing digital information from retailers and financial information. The product proved relatively unpopular, however, which lead Google to develop Android Pay.

Android Pay and Google Wallet will receive new features in the near future

Android Pay is expected to be the subject of reforms coming from Google. One of the changes the company is reportedly interested in making will allow merchants to accept credit card payments from within their mobile application, while also integrating support for loyalty programs. Google also intends to make further changes to its Wallet platform, reintroducing peer-to-peer payment options that will allow consumers to send money to one another directly through their bank accounts.

Apple also intends to make enhancements to its mobile payments platform

Google is the not the only company planning to make changes to its mobile payments products, of course. Apple has also announced that it will be unveiling enhancements to Apple Pay. The company has been working to promote its mobile payments service quite aggressively, intending to bring the platform to other markets throughout the world. The enhancements to Apple Pay, which include support for loyalty programs coming from retailers, may make the platform more attractive to consumers, many of whom are becoming more interested in mobile payments as a whole.

Improved platforms will provide Google and Apple a competitive edge

Both Google and Apple are competing in the mobile payments field, which has become flooded with a wide array of platforms that have won the favor of consumers. These companies see great potential in this sector, especially due to the mobile activity being seen in countries like China. Improving their mobile payments platforms may give them the edge they need to establish footholds in these markets.

The tech giant from China is taking aim at gamers and doesn’t plan to slow down any time soon.

Tencent Holdings Ltd. has already grabbed hold of the top spot when it comes to being the leader in the mobile games category in China, but now it is stepping outside its home borders and is aiming to lead the way throughout other marketplaces, as well.

The company intends to start exporting games made in China into the United States and other markets.

In order to accomplish this goal, Tencent is working with San Francisco mobile games publisher, Glu Mobile Inc. Back in April, Tencent purchased a considerable stake in that company and they will now be working together to bring “WeFire”, Tencent’s most successful shooting game app, into the United States as well as other Western countries in 2016. Another one of its games – though the name has not yet been revealed – will be taken into the Japanese market next year by way of Aiming Inc., a local mobile game publisher.

Should Tencent be successful in taking its mobile games into other countries, this could change the entire marketplace.

This will also provide Tencent with a powerful new avenue of growth as the current global mobile gaming marketplace is currently expected to grow to about $30.1 billion this year. That would mean that the figure would nearly have doubled since 2013, when it had been $17.6 billion. This, according to Newzoo research firm statistics.

The WeFire game app from Tencent is currently the most successful shooting game in China. Now it will be brought to the U.S. and other countries in order to go up against the top games in those markets. When a top grossing game reaches a leading spot in a specific market, it can bring in over $1 billion in revenue. However, when it becomes a global sensation, that figure can rise to $3 billion or even $4 billion, said the chief exec of the Kabam Inc. U.S. mobile game company, Kevin Chou.

That company intends to step into the mobile games market in China, next year. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, a massive rival to Tencent, has a minority stake in Kabam.