Marketing mobile payments and mobile donations

For the Chinese New Year, hundreds of millions of people sent the traditional red envelope of cash to friends--but for 2017, these were digital packets and digital payments delivered via social media networks and mobile apps.

In fact, mobile apps facilitate many e-commerce and personal payments, not just holiday gift traditions.

Mobile payments are gaining ground around the globe, sometimes aided by government actions to remove obstacles, as India is doing. In-store mobile payments are also increasing, with Chinese shoppers especially enthusiastic about the convenience and speed.

French shoppers are less enthusiastic, however, and German shoppers are not adopting mobile payments in large numbers either.

In the UK, mobile payments are more popular than in many other markets. Why? One reason is that credit and debit cards are widespread in the UK, so linking them with a mobile payment app streamlines the process and makes everything simple. Also, national retailers like Tesco have their own mobile payment plans, which encourages shoppers to try when they buy.

Now Oxfam and other UK charities are inviting cashless mobile payment donations, making it convenient to give a small preset amount with just a tap or swipe or click.

Even a penny can help UK charities

Even a penny can make a difference--it costs individual consumers little to donate but spare change from many people adds up over time. This is an aspect of consumer behavior being applied by several non-profit groups to encourage micro-donations to charities.

For example, the UK charity Pennies has, for 5 years, been collecting pennies from consumers who agree to 'round up' their purchases at Domino's Pizza and other participating merchants. So far, the group has raised more than 2 million pounds for worthy causes, as you can see by reading its impact report here. Also check its Facebook page for the latest news.

Another non-profit group encouraging micro-donations is Penny for London, part of the Mayor's Fund for London. Here, the focus is on encouraging 1p to 10p donations by consumers who pay for transport or food with contactless methods such as smartphones.

Coinstar, the coin-counting machine network, also encourages micro-donations of coins for its participating charities, including British Red Cross, the Children's Society and Unicef. Pennies do count!