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The future is about continuing to push the Poynt mantra of ‘inspiration to action’, says Osis. “If I want to see a movie, I want to look at my phone, find a cinema, see a review, pick a film, buy tickets and walk in. It’s about the complete circle, inspiration to transaction,” he states.
“We are moving more towards the direction of a convergence of social apps and search, with more user-generated context, while social networking is adding the search element. But the big thing is the ewallet and near field communication (NFC) chips. Your phone is no longer just about your connection to the world, but it is also your ability to pay, and that fits neatly into the inspiration to transaction idea, from ‘I need’ to ‘I have’,” Osis observes.
“It’s early days for e-wallets and NFC,” continues Osis, “But we’re talking to Samsung, RIM, Nokia and others on where we fit with all that. There are a lot of different opinions on how it will all work. We’re also working with a major credit card provider on the area of voucher and discount deals, through to some payment methodology using NFC, but that is probably a year if not more away.”
For businesses, all this technology brings together the entire circle of commerce, concludes Osis. “You can make the consumer aware of your product and have a direct dialogue with them, through to transactions with mobile devices and apps like Poynt, advertising directly with customers who need your message. It’s really that full circle.”
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