Apple’s next mobile operating system, iOS 6 will have a better version of Siri- the voice-assistant and will work on iPad and Facebook with over 200 new features. There is another feature that was added including the introduction of Passbook in iOS 6, which is believed to speed up the expansion of digital gift cards.
The helpful app, Passbook is really great to keep a track on loyalty cards, boarding passes, event tickets, coupons, movie tickets and much more into a single virtual home.
While most of the talk in mobile payments spins around banks, credit card companies, phone suppliers and web-centric or social web companies, keys to the acceptance will be initiated in pairing of consumer and merchant benefits linked with digital gifts.
The value of the traditional gift card is being expanded with the chance to deliver a gift card to a mobile device directly and make it work from the phone.
A solution for gifting is now regularly pulled as promotional or incentives tools. Various mobile applications launched in recent years have influenced a digital gift card.
Groupon came out with “Now!”, Wrapp’s gifts, Viggle’s rewards and Shopkick’s “kicks”. All these cards rely on the digital delivery of a promotional card that can be redeemed at a merchant’s point of sale.
Letting a promotional card to continue from the iPhone’s Passbook gives users an appealing experience.
With plethora of digital gift cards in flow, eGift Cards may be a gateway to full mobile payments. But in order to make it work, there are few things that iOS developers must know to deliver digital gift cards and pass them in to Apple’s Passbook:
Apple should leverage the functionality of what a consumer expects such as checking a balance or reloading a gift card, which requires a connection to the merchant’s gift card processing platform.
The presentation of a digital card requires a merchant’s consent. Apple can’t count on being able to make it look any way they wish.
There are many consumer protection laws that the firm needs to be aware of, especially the need to plainly communicate terms and conditions.
In case the card needs to work from more than an iPhone, Apple should think of SMS delivery, email delivery and changing look and feel of the card based on the device the card is being viewed from.
Giving many opportunities, an operational version of a mobile wallet may one day lead to consumers parting with their physical wallets soon!
Source: Venturebeat.com
