Mobile payment is a hot topic that has been eagerly anticipated and discussed for quite some time. Nokia, Philips and Sony have been investing in Near Field Communication (NFC) technology since the early 2000’s. In 2010, Mashable release and article entitled, “Why Your Smartphone Will Replace Your Wallet.” Who can forget Apple’s big rollout of Apple Pay in 2014? And just last week, Google announced Android Pay, which will allow consumers to utilize NFC with less hassle, as well as the ability to make payments within apps. Yet, even with the tech world abuzz over mobile commerce, it hasn’t quite caught on with consumers as initially forecasted.
Most contemporary mobile payment platforms aren’t holistic in their approach; meaning, they still haven’t evolved into truly digital wallets by solely offering payment processing. Moreover, they aren’t currently accepted in enough retail outlets necessary for universal adoption. Midtown Atlanta-based Sionic Mobile looks to tick all the boxes by uniting mobile ads, loyalty rewards, eGift cards, and mobile payments in a simple, affordable service with their ION Rewards app (check out our previous coverage here). They recently announced a partnership with CashStar, which will give them more than 100,000 locations that accept ION Rewards. We recently chatted with the Sionic Mobile team to learn more.
With Sionic Mobile’s latest partnership, ION Rewards’ merchant footprint will more than double. This recent surge in merchant locations comes just weeks before the company releases the highly anticipated, fourth generation ION Rewards app on June 15th. IONs are real-time, instant rewards. There’s no restrictions and they never expire.
“Retailers realize the importance of mobile, and recognize the growing consumer awareness of mobile payments and loyalty,” says Ronald Herman, CEO and Founder of Sionic Mobile. “We’ve made it easy for mobile-savvy consumers to earn 2% rewards at every checkout, on top of the rewards they get from their bank or credit card provider. By doubling the ION merchant locations and adding thousands of coffee shops, restaurants and other merchant types, we are making it practical to earn and spend IONs every day.”
“Simply downloading an app is not enough; consumers must have motivation and opportunity to use the app at a wide variety of merchants on a daily basis,” he continues. “We reward consumers instantly at every checkout. Our app users not only have the convenience of paying for purchases with their smartphones, but also have the peace of mind that each transaction is secure and free of fraud. We removed the restrictions typical of other loyalty programs and as a result, ION Rewards is quickly becoming one of the go-to apps used by consumers as a part of their daily routine. ”
Download ION Rewards on the App Store for iOS and on Google Play for Android.
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