7 Ways Mobile Wallet Tech Is Being Reinvented

April 1, 2016 10:26 AM

An Iphone 4S is arranged for a photo in Hong Kong China, on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014. Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg

Brent Lewin/Bloomberg

Mobile wallets and related technologies are starting to look very different. Whether they are absorbed into other mobile offerings or removed from the phone altogether, these systems are looking less and less like the old-fashioned billfolds they replace.

A worker demonstrated facial recognition security features on the MasterCard Inc. stand at the Mobile World Congress in this arranged photograph in Barcelona, Spain, on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016. Mobile World Congress, an annual phone-industry event organized by GSMA Ltd., runs from Feb. 22 to Feb. 25. Photographer: Pau Barrena/Bloomberg

Pau Barrena/Bloomberg

Selfies Taken Seriously

"Selfie" authentication once considered so laughable a concept that it was treated by some as an April Fool's joke is becoming a reality. MasterCard, Amazon and other big names are testing the concept, which takes advantage of the widespread availability of front-facing smartphone cameras.

A customer tries out the new Touch ID fingerprint scanner on an Apple Inc. iPhone 5c during the launch at a Verizon Wireless store in West Valley City, Utah, U.S., on Friday, Sept. 20, 2013. Apple Inc. attracted long lines of shoppers at its retail stores today for the global debut of its latest iPhones, in the company's biggest move this year to stoke new growth. Photographer: George Frey/Bloomberg

George Frey/Bloomberg

BMO and Biz Accounts

Biometric authentication is often associated with consumer payments such as the Apple Pay wallet, but BMO has other plans for the tech. It wants mobile fingerprint authentication to play a part in streamlining the way people make low-dollar business expenses.

The new Apple Inc. iPhone SE smartphone is arranged for a photograph on top of an iPhone 6 Plus after an Apple event in Cupertino, California, U.S., on Monday, March 21, 2016. Apple Inc. unveiled a new, smaller iPhone that will start at $399, seeking to jump-start sales of its flagship product by enticing more users to upgrade, especially in high-growth markets such as China and India. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Changing for China

With mobile, bigger isn't always better. The shrunken iPhone SE is part of Apple's strategy to build an Apple Pay user base in China, where it faces competition from Alipay, Tencent and Samsung.

Wolfe, Daniel

Dash Gains Speed

Amazon's Dash Button is an odd concept; the company expects consumers to order a separate WiFi-connected button for each brand-name product they want to order instantly from Amazon. But it must have a following, since the e-commerce giant recently tripled the number of brands that support Dash.

The Ebay Inc. Venmo application (app) is arranged for a photograph on an Apple Inc. iPhone 5s in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, Aug. 22, 2014. After downloading the Venmo mobile-payment app onto a smartphone, users can connect them to bank and credit-card accounts, and then link up with friends to send and receive money on-the-go. Venmo, based in New York, alone handled $314 million in mobile payments in the first quarter of this year, up 62 percent from the prior quarter. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Ledge Leans on Venmo

The Venmo person-to-person payments app is empowering new business concepts, such as Ledge's approach to marketplace lending.

Pep Boys' Mobile Marketing

Pep Boys' mobile wallet strategy is more about marketing and relationship-building than it is about payments. Pep Boys transforms its mobile advertising into digital coupons that consumers can save for a later date and even revisit for updated offers.

Ayako Yajima, owner of her vegetable store Suika, swipes a credit card through a credit card-reader of Square, a US mobile-payment company, connected to an Apple Inc. iPad at her store in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013. Japan, where majority of retail purchases are made in cash, is attracting US mobile-payment companies such as Paypal and Square. Photographer: Yuriko Nakao/Bloomberg *** Local Caption *** Ayako Yajima

Yuriko Nakao/Bloomberg

Square's Maturing Loan Strategy

Square's credit offering, Square Capital, relies heavily on data Square gathers from users of its mobile point of sale tech. But the product is quickly growing beyond its roots as an alternative to merchant cash advances. By partnering with Celtic Bank, Square is able to offer more traditional loans.