A year after Twitter began dipping its toes in the waters of e-commerce by testing “Buy Now” buttons,buttons, the company is expanding its foray into retail sales with new partnerships intended to give more businesses the ability to sell their wares directly through Twitter. [More]
mobile payments
Some Best Buy Stores Now Taking Apple, Android Pay
By 9.18.15
Best Buy continued its love affair with Apple this week, as several locations of the electronics retailer started accepting the tech company’s mobile payment system. Alert consumers began noticing a few days ago that some Best Buy locations now allowed customers to pay with both Apple Pay and Android Pay, just a month after the retailer’s exclusive agreement with MCX – a consortium creating payment platform CurrentC – ended. The retailer announced back in April that it would start offering Apple’s payment option at some point in 2015, but failed to elaborate on a timeline. [Apple Insider] [More]
Macy’s Customers Will Now Be Able To Use PayPal At The Register
By 9.16.15
At one time, PayPal was the method of payment preferred by people sending money to their friends or making a quick purchase online. Now, the payment company has upped its game – and its presence in physical stores – by inking a deal that will allow Macy’s customers to use Paypal at the register. [More]
Buy Buttons Coming To A Twitter Feed Near You
By 9.15.15
“Buy buttons” are all the rage right now: from Google search ads to Apple’s product pages, companies are streamlining the buying process by cutting out the need to toggle between several pages to purchase a product. Now, that simplicity can be found in your Twitter feed. [More]
Poll: Most People With Digital Wallets Don’t Bother To Use Them
By 7.13.15
Many of our readers have smartphones, and you could be reading this post on a smartphone right now. While they make fine Consumerist-reading devices, we keep hearing that smartphones will become out method of choice to make in-person payments, and we won’t have to carry physical wallets around. However, while Google and Apple would love for everyone to use their respective digital wallet products, consumers simply aren’t interested yet. [More]
Apple Pay Now Accepts All Major Credit Cards After Finally Adding Discover
By 4.27.15
Apple Pay now supports all major U.S. credit card companies, after Discover and the payment system finally reached a deal. [More]
Facebook Launches Payments System For Messenger App Users
By 3.18.15
Facebook is dipping its toe into the pool of mobile payments, announcing this week that it’s launching a system that will allow users of its mobile Messenger app to send money to friends. [More]
Starbucks Mobile Ordering Expands To Washington And Idaho
By 3.10.15
If you’re dreaming of the day that you can order and pay for your Starbucks beverage with no human interaction whatsoever, you’re apparently not alone. Customers have been asking for the ability to order in advance from the mobile app for as long as Starbucks has had a mobile payment app, and the test is expanding from just one city to two states. Starbucks says that it should go national later this year. [More]
Burger King, PayPal Join Forces So Consumers Can Buy Whoppers With A Touch Of Their Phones
By 11.3.14
Consumers partial to using PayPal for purchases can soon take the payment system offline to buy breakfast, lunch, or dinner at Burger King. [More]
Starbucks To Add Tipping Function To Mobile Payment App
By 10.4.12
One of the knocks against Starbucks’ mobile payment app is that it doesn’t have a way for the customer to add a tip if they want to. But the coffee colossus has apparently realized the error of its ways and is working on a way to allow for tipping. [More]
Banks Working On Linking Up Their Payment Systems To Make Person-To-Person Mobile Transfers Easier
By 9.12.12 — Updated: 9.8.16
The way younger generations are glued to their smartphones, there’s almost nothing they can’t do with the swipe of a touch screen. Old-fashioned things like writing checks or even paying a roommate with cash is such a bother to some, but yet transferring money to other people with apps hasn’t really caught on like the banking industry figured it would. That’s why the nation’s big four are discussing how they can link up their payment systems to make it easier for consumers to send money via mobile devices or even emails. [More]
Starbucks Hooks Up With Square & Hands Over $25 Million In Mobile Payment Deal
By 8.8.12
Starbucks and Square are totally hooking up and aren’t afraid to let everyone know about it. The sprawling, ubiquitous coffee chain says it’s going to invest $25 million in Square as part of the deal, which will also have Square processing the retailer’s debit and credit card purchases. [More]
Are Mobile Payments Going To Be Bigger Than Cash Or Credit By 2020?
By 4.18.12
There’s no doubt that mobile payments are on the rise. But do they have the momentum and provide enough benefits to give cash and credit cards a run for their money by 2020? Yes they do, says a new survey of technology experts and stakeholders by the Pew Internet & American Life Project released today. [More]
Think Your Mobile Payments Are Protected? Depends On Your Carrier
By 12.14.11
Just about any new cellphone or tablet allows the user to make digital purchases that are subsequently charged to their wireless account. And while the four major wireless providers — AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile — claim to provide ample protections for customers, our pals at Consumers Union have found that users may not be getting fewer protections than they would for purchases made using a credit or debit card. [More]
Would You Use Your Webcam To Pay By Credit Card?
By 7.26.11
We’re going to assume that most of you have made some sort of credit card purchase via an online vendor. We’re also going to assume that most of you did so by typing in your credit card number. But new technology is on the horizon that will let users pay by simply holding up your credit card to your webcam. [More]
