Microsoft Windows Phone 8 Will include a Mobile Wallet Service

Microsoft’s new operating system for mobile phones Windows Phone 8 will feature a mobile wallet for credit, debit and loyalty cards that supports NFC payments. The service looks similar to Apple’s Passbook App, but also features NFC-based Tap to Pay payments. The mobile wallet will come preloaded on all Windows 8 smartphones. It’s still unclear when the service will be commercial available. Read more…

AppCharge: Yet Another Square Clone?

Payment service provider PowerPay moves in to mobile card payment market and launches AppCharge. AppCharge is service that turns mobile phones into a portable credit card terminal – just like Square. The reader works with iOS and Android devices and the App is available for free at the respective marketplace. So far the company has not disclosed details on transaction fees and availability.

BancBox Starts Customizable Payment Service Platform

BancBox has introduced a customizable platform that lets developers build their own payment service. BancBox enables companies to create all kinds of payment services – from basic features like send and receive money to full-fledged e-wallet solutions. BancBox’s CEO Sanj Goyle stated: “Our out-of-the-box set of APIs cover the entire money movement flow, so companies can deliver payment services in days rather than months and scale and adapt them as needed. And, because all of our services meet regulatory standards our customers don’t have to need to acquire a money transmitter license or maintain PCI compliance.” The service is available in public beta, developers can sign up here.

Facebook to Phase out its Virtual Currency Facebook Credits

Surprisingly, Facebook has announced to move away from its virtual currency Facebook Credits. In a post on their developer blog the social network company says that it is updating its pricing to local currency instead of Credits. It has only been one year since Facebook made Credits the mandatory virtual currency for games and applications on the Facebook platform. Most developers on Facebook still use their own virtual currency inside their games instead of adopting Credits for in-game purchases. As a result users have to convert their real-world money twice (real-world currency -> Credits -> In-game currency) to make in-game purchases. By discontinuing Facebook is not stepping out of payments but streamlining the payment flow, eliminating unnecessary currency conversions.

PayPal has released a Send Money application on Facebook. The App lets users send money to his/her friends on Facebook along with a e-card, photo or video that is posted automatically to the recipient’s wall.

Sending money directly from one person to another is nothing new to PayPal, the company originally started as a service to transfer money between Palm PDAs. In order to send funds to Facebook contacts via PayPal, the user has to log into Facebook and authorize the Send Money app. After login to his/her PayPal account, the client can select a recipient, the amount of money and the e-card. Person-to-person (p2p) transactions within the US are free of charge if the PayPal account of the sending person is funded by a bank account. The service has nothing to do with Facebook Credits, the social network’s own digital currency which does not support p2p transactions so far.

PayPal sees big potential in combining e-cards and p2p money transfer via Facebook – according to the Greeting Card Association Americans send 500 million e-cards each year. JB Coutinho, Senior Product Marketing Manager at PayPal commented in a blog post: “… we’re bringing the largest online payments company to the world’s largest social network to make it even easier to send money to your friends and family directly from Facebook”

Facebook starts to expand its virtual currency Facebook Credits beyond its social network platform. The initiative “Facebook Credits for websites” enables websites to process payments for virtual goods using Facebook Credits. Facebook announced a partnership with GameHouse, the RealNetworks games division, to test Facebook Credits with the UNO Boost and Collapse! Blast online games on GameHouse.com.

Facebook Credits is the mandatory virtual currency that enables people to buy items in games and applications on the Facebook platform. Of all revenue earned through Credits, Facebook keeps a 30% share. The social network company accepts MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover, JCB, PayPal and various local payment methods worldwide to purchase credits within Facebook.

Facebook did not disclose if they plan to expand the program to other websites, at the moment the company is focused on “gathering early developer feedback”. By turning Credits into a micropayment service available to anyone, Facebook could become a serious competitor of PayPal, Amazon and Google the emerging online payment market.