Small businesses are gaining traction in the mobile payment landscape. Mobile credit card readers attached to a smartphone or tablet now account for billions of dollars in m-commerce sales. “Together, mobile and social are transforming the way SMBs acquire and retain customers, With the heavy use of social media, SMB marketing is quickly becoming a two-way engagement rather than a one-way promotion.” Said Steve Marshall of BIA/Kesley. As more people switch to and upgrade their smartphones, AT&T, Verizon and T-mobile are looking to partner with digital wallet provider Isis.
Isis recently partnered with American Express to extend their services making American Express Serve accounts interact with Isis’ digital wallet offering. American Express users would then be allowed to use the Near Field Communications or NFC wireless technology to pay with their American express through the digital wallet offering. Banks are moving in as well competing with Isis, PayPal and Square and are expected to give them a run for your money.
PayPal recently introduced a trial phase of its facial recognition technology in London through a dozen merchants. Shoppers use the PayPal app for Android or Windows phone and check into the location. The shoppers name and photo appears in the merchants payment system and the cashier can verifies the PayPal photo is in fact the paying customer. The cashier then clicks on the users photo to complete the transaction. The PayPal user then receives an alert and the typical PayPal verification email and receipt. PayPal claims it is the most secure way to perform electronic transactions and they expect more than 2000 merchants to adopt the PayPal mobile payment system by years end.
Biometrics is entering the mobile payments environment through voice, facial and retinal recognition. Bi-modal authentication occurs with recognition combined with a PIN for payment authorization. Remembering PINs could be a thing of the past as recognition systems improve their accuracy. Fingerprint sensors are another biometric sensor that could come equipped on new iPhones. As adoption of these payment schemes increases a clear winner will emerge with people choosing between many different digital wallet providers. Adoption is key in mobile electronic payment processing.
August 12th, 2013 by Admin
