Mobile transaction network mBlox has launched what it describes as “the industry’s first secure, cloud-based, mobile app enabling services”. mBlox says the services provide brands with unprecedented opportunity to interact with mobile consumers and social networking group members, offering richer, more personal and relevant one-to-one interactions between large brands and users of smartphones and tablet computers. The services are available to Android, iOS, Windows and Symbian smartphone and tablet users, and can run over both wi-fi and cellular networks.
Initially, the services embrace secure message delivery, location, payment and campaign management services. mBlox says it will target global Fortune 500 companies with the new product suite, and is currently in discussions with numerous marquee brands, as well as their app development teams and developer partners. Initial projects include secure distribution of PIN numbers and virtual credit/debit cards; video and other large data download management; secure and broader payments’ and the targeting of consumers based upon location, regardless of connection type and mobile network. An analytics tool will enable a brand to see, for example, a mobile subscriber’s geographic location when they viewed a video clip, and for what length of time, all in real-time.
“We are now bringing our transaction network expertise to the next generation of the mobile app economy in a way that delivers ‘smart apps for smart devices,’” says mBlox CEO, Andrew Dark. “The mobile industry is in the midst of an explosion of innovation, and our new mobile app enabling services provide the kind of reporting, location, and rich media features for app development and consumer interaction that is unprecedented. The use of this functionality to provide closed loop marketing on a mass one-to-one basis turns the marketer’s utopian dream into a reality. This will lead to further enablement of mobile commerce, which is clearly destined to outperform web commerce.” 
The first of these smart services is a secure text product. mBlox says the solution will enable firms in areas such as retail, financial services, and healthcare to send secure text messages that appear in a user’s regular SMS in-box on their mobile device. Firms can set controls for time-defined expiration of text messages and can also use their own encryption controls to tailor privacy and security of transmission.
The secure text product has been optimized for enterprises that manage private information, including the secure distribution of PIN numbers and virtual credit/debit cards; patient health information; and consumer purchase data for the delivery of rebates, store discounts, or cash value via mobile devices.
The solution leverages geolocation features for mobile purchases, and provides two-way, end-to-end encrypted messaging (up to 2048 bits), with proof of delivery and read receipts. Enterprises can send secure messages via a mobile carrier network, or via the SMS data channel; establish a secure inbox on a user’s device, and exceed the standard 160-character limit for text messages, without dividing the message. The product incorporates a SMS push wake-up feature that delivers a message even if a device application is offline.
