New program designed for celebrities and specialty retailers
Intertainment Media Inc., one of Canada’s leading technology incubators, has announced a partnership with Ortsbo Inc., a developer of real-time chat translation applications for online platforms. The partnership aims to develop a new social media financial services program based on NFC technology. The NFC financial services program will be designed specifically for celebrities and socially active specialty brands. The service is code-named “Sweet Card” and will leverage the power of NFC technology to help make mobile commerce for celebrities and retailers more convenient.
Companies look to carve out their share of the U.S. market
Intertainment Media has also partnered with Visa and MastarCard to make the NFC financial services program a viable option for its chosen demographic. The company believes that mobile commerce amongst celebrities and specialty retailers is a growing businesses and holds profound opportunities. According to a study conducted by the Aite Group and the Mercator Advisory Group, consumers will purchases more than $214 billion worth of goods and services through mobile transactions by 2015 in the U.S. alone. Intertainment and Ortsbo have plans to establish themselves as leaders in the U.S. market with their new NFC financial services program.
Consumers to be rewarded for making mobile payments
Sweet Card is not only designed to facilitate mobile payments from celebrities and specialty brands; it also aims to allow these groups to engage with consumers as a whole. Consumers will be able to join a loyalty program provided by participating retailers and use a version of the Sweet Card system to make purchases. These purchases will benefit consumers with points, which can be used for a variety of purposes, such as winning a meeting with a particular celebrity.
NFC financial services could be a big hit with star-struck consumers
While Sweet Card is not the first NFC financial service program, it is the first of its kind that seeks to incorporate celebrities as a vital component to its services. Mobile commerce has already proven popular amongst consumers, but Intertainment Media believes that the popularity of the industry could grow more quickly with adequate incentives.