Near Field Communications World » Blaze Mobile

Blaze customers access their mobile wallets nine times a day

Sarah Clark — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:58:51 +0000

Blaze Mobile, the US mobile banking and mobile wallet services provider, has revealed that its active users are now accessing their Blaze Mobile Wallets an average of nine times a day.

The Blaze Mobile Wallet gives customers access to a variety of services such as performing mobile banking functions, purchasing movie tickets and paying bills. Since April 2009, customers have also been able to make payments via the Blaze Mobile MasterCard PayPass, a contactless sticker-based prepaid card issued by MetaBank. The company is now also working with Tetherball to enable customers to use their mobile wallet to collect and redeem mobile rewards and coupons and to make purchases using their mobile phone.

Over 50% of Blaze Mobile customers now use the service to view their account balance and receipts, the company reports. "The ability to safely & securely access your bank balances on your cell phone is critical to today's busy professional," says Blaze Mobile's CEO Michelle Fisher. "The usage data supports our belief that mobile banking will continue to gain traction with working professionals and young bank customers."

This article was first published at www.NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com.

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Blaze Mobile adds Tetherball’s loyalty system to the Blaze Wallet

Sarah Clark — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 10:55:10 +0000

Blaze Mobile and Tetherball are to provide US consumers with the ability to both redeem mobile rewards and coupons and make purchases using their mobile phone.

Blaze Wallet users already have the option of using a Blaze Mobile Prepaid MasterCard PayPass sticker to make payments using their phone at the point-of-sale. Now they will be able to use the same sticker to both make payments and receive/redeem offers from retailers such as Dairy Queen that are already using Tetherball's contactless mobile marketing solution.

To redeem an offer, the consumer simply holds their cell phone, with the Blaze Sticker on the back of the phone, near the POS device at the check out stand. Once the offer is validated in real-time, the consumer holds their cell phone near the POS device once again to pay for their purchase.

“The mobile coupon and rewards solution that Tetherball provides is a great catalyst for getting consumers into the store and the contactless payment solution that Blaze Mobile provides a simple and convenient way for customers to pay for their purchases," saysMichelle Fisher, CEO of Blaze Mobile.

“We are thrilled that Blaze Mobile will include the Tetherball Rewards loyalty application on their platform,” added Scott Yancey, CEO of Tetherball. “Now consumers can participate in a mobile loyalty program and make payment with one mobile device.”

This article was first published at www.NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com.

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NFC stickers continue to gain acceptance

Sarah Clark — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 10:12:37 +0000

OPINION: Despite a raft of recent announcements by those involved in the development of NFC handsets, it's clear that contactless stickers still have an important role to play in the widespread adoption of NFC.

Both MasterCard, with the new Blaze Mobile MasterCard PayPass programme, and Belgacom, with its new national PingPing initiative, have chosen to move forwards now with NFC stickers rather than waiting for NFC handsets to become commonly available. Both clearly, though, are planning to switch to full NFC as soon as it becomes practical to make the upgrade.

Sarah Clark, Editor

This article was first published at www.NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com.

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Mastercard and Blaze Mobile launch PayPass mobile stickers

Sarah Clark — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:25:47 +0000

The new Blaze Mobile Mastercard PayPass sticker can be attached to any phone and is seen as a bridge to offering full NFC capabilities.

HOT IDEA: Blaze Mobile's sticker brings contactless payment to ordinary mobile phones

Blaze Mobile and MasterCard Worldwide have introduced the Blaze Mobile MasterCard PayPass, a mobile payment sticker that can be used at any of the 141,000 merchant locations that are currently equipped to accept PayPass contactless transactions.

The mobile payment sticker is tied to a prepaid account that is issued by US-based MetaBank.

"This innovative mobile payment sticker leverages the ubiquity and convenience of mobile phones, as well as the increasing comfort level among consumers with converging technologies on mobile devices," said Art Kranzley, chief emerging technology officer at MasterCard Worldwide. "Contactless payment capabilities on the device will make life easier for mobile users who can quickly make purchases at retail locations without their wallets," he said.

MasterCard says it sees this approach as a bridge to fully integrated contactless payment capabilities using NFC technology. "Having a payment capability on the phone is a great way for consumers to see the benefit of having a payment capability in the phone," added Kranzley.

"We created this unique mobile payment sticker to meet the needs of today's busy consumer," said Michelle Fisher, CEO of Blaze Mobile. "With the help of MasterCard, we believe that this technology positions Blaze Mobile as a key enabler in the mobile commerce marketplace."

The mobile payment sticker was designed to complement the Blaze Mobile Wallet, a free service that enables mobile phone users to purchase movie and event tickets, manage bank accounts at more than 8,000 supported financial institutions, view electronic receipts and create expense reports. The Blaze Mobile Wallet also offers location based services such as maps and points of interest, including ATMs, restaurants and more.

This article was first published at www.NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com.

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