October 18th, 2013 by Elma Jane
All Alerts, All The Time
Will mobile payment apps hail the arrival of mobile interruptions that never let up? Consumers worry that adopting a mobile wallet app will open them up to a barrage of alerts, sounding the alarm every time the local supermarket has toilet paper for half-off. The services can even track your purchases, opening the floodgates for targeted ads. Frequent alerts could be a deal breaker.
Battery Woes
As smartphones gets bigger, badder and more powerful, battery technology is struggling to keep up. That’s a problem if you want to make a call — but it could be an emergency if your smartphone is your wallet, too. Users are already scrambling to find a charging outlet by lunchtime. Soon, failure to recharge might mean you lack the funds to buy lunch in the first place. Meanwhile, credit cards never need a battery boost, and paper money has worked faithfully since well before the invention of the light bulb.
Do I Have The Right Phone?
You’re ready to make a mobile payment — but is your smartphone? Only the most popular new Android and Windows smartphones have NFC support to enable tap-to-pay services, and Apple has decided to forgo NFC altogether with its iPhone handsets. Users of budget smartphones are likewise out of luck. And though smartphones may seem ubiquitous, only a little more than half of U.S. adults have one.
Is It Secure?
Mobile payments open up a whole new frontier for fraudsters — or so cautious consumers worry. In fact, tap-to-pay technology is as secure as swiping a plastic bank card, and cloud services like PayPal Here support two-factor authentication for extra reassurance. Still, consumers worry their personal information could be intercepted during a transaction, and not everyone is convinced that Google can provide the same level of protection as their bank. But hope remains. The survey found about half of the most security-conscious respondents were much more likely to be interested in mobile payment options if they could be promised 100 percent fraud protection.
Limits, Limits, Limits
Even with a glut of mobile payment options, most lack at least one critical feature. Google’s Wallet app lets you stow your payment information in your phone to buy items in brick-and-mortar shops, but its touch-to-pay functionality is limited to Android devices on Sprint and other smaller carriers. Last year, Apple introduced Passbook, a mobile wallet app that lets users store gift card credits, loyalty card information and more on their iPhones — but only a handful of participating businesses support the app. The mobile payment model isn’t just fragmented — it’s fundamentally limited by countless companies competing for an ever-smaller piece of the pie.
Mobile What?
A recent CMB Consumer Pulse survey showed about half of smartphone users have never even heard of mobile payments. And of the 50 percent who have, a meager 8 percent said they’re familiar with the technology. Banks, credit card companies and others hoping to cash in on consumer interest will have to invest in better messaging first.
What Are The Perks?
Credit cards come with alluring perks — signing bonuses, cash back and travel accommodations, to name a few. But mobile payment systems have serious benefits. They can utilize GPS technology to direct you to deals, keep tabs on your bank account to alert you when you’re near your spending limit, and store unlimited receipts straight to the cloud. Businesses profit from mobile wallets, too, which often charge lower fees than credit card companies and encourage return trips by storing digital copies of loyalty cards.
What’s In It For Me?
To convince consumers to abandon trusted payment options for something new, companies must strike an undeniable value proposition. In the late ‘90s, electronic retail giants like Amazon compelled consumers to enter their 16-digit credit card numbers into online portals, opening up a whole new world of convenience with online shopping. But today’s consumers aren’t convinced that mobile wallets are any more convenient than their physical counterparts. Credit and debit cards already offer a speedy, reliable way to pay on the go. And since they’re accepted virtually everywhere, customers can fork over a card without worry or confusion. Convincing people that new technology is worth their time and effort might ultimately be the toughest nut to crack for mobile payment purveyors.
Where’s The Support?
Even the most enthusiastic adopters are out of luck if their favorite shops lack the infrastructure to process mobile payments. Big-box retailers sprang up in the infancy of computer technology, so joining the mobile payment revolution could necessitate updates to check out hardware and software. Mobile payments could be a boon to businesses, but installing the upgrades could be expensive and disruptive — especially when consumer interest remains low.
Which to Pick?
Even curious consumers are confounded by the array of mobile payment options available. Google, Visa, MasterCard and even mobile carriers like Sprint and Verizon are among the heavy hitters on the mobile payment scene, each offering a discrete service with different apps — and different rules. Some rely on Near Field Communication (NFC) technology that lets users simply tap their smartphone against a special reader to pay, while others offer up scannable QR codes. Mobile payments may never take off until one company rises above the rest with a single killer service.
Forget about cash or credit. In 2013, consumers can simply swipe or scan their smartphones at the checkout to pay. A huge array of mobile payment services have sprung up in recent years, urging customers to abandon their plastic credit cards for the “mobile wallet” revolution, but so far, adoption of mobile payment technology has been dismal.
Posted in e-commerce & m-commerce, Electronic Payments, Gift & Loyalty Card Processing, Internet Payment Gateway, Mobile Payments, Mobile Point of Sale, Near Field Communication, Smartphone Tagged with: alerts, Android, Apple, bank card, battery, cautious, consumers, crack, credit cards, deal, digital, fraud, gift card credits, google, GPS, information, Iphone, lower fees, loyalty cards, mobile, nfc, online, options, paper money, Passbook, payment, PayPal, personal, phone, plastic, portals, powerful, protection, purchases, secure, Smartphones, sprint, storing, support, Swiping, Tap to Pay, touch-to-pay, track, two-factor authentication, wallet, windows
October 1st, 2013 by Elma Jane
As Capital One drops support Isis’ future darkens
Capital One pulling its support points to the challenges that near-field-communications is having with scale as non-NFC mobile wallet initiatives take off, as Isis gears up for a broader launch.
Capital One was one of Isis’ three founding card issuers, and the company’s drop of support as the company prepares for a larger roll-out emphasizes the challenges in gaining scale and momentum for mobile payments. PayPal and Apple’s recently announced their own mobile payment options that also avoid NFC reflect the opportunity that marketers see in services beyond NFC.
“Capital One dropping its support for Isis is significant in what it telegraphs about the problems issuers will continue to face with the wallet provider.” “Issuers must pay each time a consumer loads their card onto the wallet.”
“The caveat is that whether or not a consumer uses the card, the issuer must pay to have it in the Isis Wallet. Card issuers are interested in encouraging card spend whereas Isis is purely interested in getting consumers to link their cards to the wallet. This conflict of interest will continue to be problematic.”
Losing support
Capital One pulling its support from Isis could indicate that the financial institution did not see a substantial amount of consumers using their mobile devices to pay during the pilot for repeat visits, which is key in driving consumer adoption ahead. The number of mobile payment options available for card issuers to partner with is clearly growing, meaning that Capital One might see a bigger opportunity elsewhere.
However, Capital One’s pull-out could be well-timed since Isis is signing new partners, and Isis has an opportunity to recover quickly. “Many financial institutions and merchant acquirers see PayPal and Apple as threats and the moves that these companies are making could cause financial institutions, payment networks and acquirers to accelerate their mobile payments efforts in response to the perceived threat.” Since Isis is looking to partner with the financial institutions, payment networks and acquirers, the moves made by Apple and PayPal could drive partners into Isis’ embrace.
Google expands mobile wallet
Yesterday Google made a significant upgrade to Google Wallet that continues to focus on NFC, but also adds additional payment options for consumers. The Google Wallet app has been updated to let consumers send money to friends and family in the U.S. via an email address. Consumers can either send money directly from their bank account or from Google Wallet balance. Additionally, the app is now available for all Android devices that run the 2.3 operating system and higher. Previously, Google Wallet was only available on select Android devices. Consumers can also store loyalty cards from retailers that can be redeemed by scanning a mobile device in-store. Similar to Apple’s Passbook, Google Wallet will now also alert consumers when they are nearby to a store where they have a loyalty program.
Google said that it plans to support the one of 29 different NFC-enabled devices with NFC, but the company’s focus on additional features points to NFC as un-scalable by itself. In fact, Yankee Group estimates that 18 percent of device owners have a mobile device that supports NFC.
Apple, PayPal news
The interest around NFC has also significantly decreased as both PayPal and Apple are rolling out their own mobile payment options. For example, PayPal recently introduced its PayPal Beacon device that lets consumers pay hands-free in exchange for downloading the company’s app. The technology uses Bluetooth to pick up when a consumer is in-store to trigger a payment.
Apple is also working its way around NFC with its iBeacon technology that is rolling out in iOS 7. The technology lets marketers use Bluetooth around stores that can then be used to push out offers and relevant deals.
Both Apple and PayPal’s announcements emphasize the slow adoption that NFC has had in the United States. Although the technology has taken off internationally, it has had a harder time picking up steam in the U.S. because of the low number of NFC-enabled devices.
Broader roll-out
After running pilot programs, Isis is gearing up for a broader roll-out nationally. To date, most of the activity around mobile wallets has focused around the payment section of mobile wallets, which do not have as strong of a value proposition as the coupon and offers side that Isis is forced to prove to merchants.
Additionally, the education behind getting consumers aware of how to use the technology is still clunky, as evidenced by a test at a participating location in Austin by a local mobile consultant.
“Anything in the digital wallet space is a high-risk/high-reward venture at the moment and there are few if any profits being made in this space.” “When that is the case, business continuation is more a question of resolve than a question of competition.” Having multiple players in the market increases the overall quantity of marketing efforts that will take place in the mobile payments arena, increasing the probability that at least one product will succeed.
Posted in Credit card Processing, Credit Card Reader Terminal, Mobile Payments, Near Field Communication Tagged with: Apple, Capital One, google, ISIS, mobile, near field communications, nfc, Passbook, payment, PayPal, wallet, wallets
September 30th, 2013 by Elma Jane
Future of Marketing Lies in Mobile Payments…Why?
Marketing and payments might seem like strange bedfellows to the average retailer, but in fact, they are converging rapidly to bring more value to consumers and merchants alike. Here are 10 reasons why the future of marketing is inextricably linked to payments innovation:
1. Cross-Platform Acceptance
Better yet, these targeted offers can be acquired and redeemed through different mediums…online, offline and mobile…and utilized interchangeably. This makes life easier on the consumer and thus makes them more likely to engage with new loyalty and rewards programs. Moreover, as the Internet and mobile solutions continue to merge, the digital “wallets” that many of us use online today (think PayPal) are, logically, moving to our phones. When these payment and marketing applications are accessible from the same device, customers can seamlessly receive pertinent offers and pay for goods at the same time in the same place. Other apps will give consumers the ability to shop in one medium and buy in another, simplifying omni-channel marketing to affect commerce across all channels. This kind of convenience and value is a win for both customer and merchant.
2. Loyalty and Rewards get Simpler
The reality is that it’s much easier to issue and redeem loyalty rewards, gift cards and discounts when they are integrated into the POS experience and don’t require customers or merchants to alter the existing in-store purchase or checkout stream. You can see these simplified applications already in practice at chains like Starbucks, as well as independent merchants that use systems like LevelUp.
3. Merchant adoption
The payment technologies that succeed will be the ones that are ultimately adopted by merchants, which in turn will lead to consumer usage. Key technologies that will likely facilitate widespread adoption of mobile payments…either proactively because merchants want to see what they can offer them, or passively as they upgrade devices…include:
EMV (chip and pin), which will force merchants to update their POS systems, likely catalyzing them to update all points of interaction.
NFC – Cloud Computing – Geofencing – QR Codes and even Basic Bar Codes
4. More Value for Consumers
And for consumers, the convergence of payments and marketing should deliver highly valuable deals, offers, comparisons information and more, ultimately providing drastic improvement of the buying and shopping experience.
5. More Value for Merchants
So what does this value look like? For merchants, the convergence of payments and marketing should bring in new customers, increase sales from existing customers, and provide more customer data. It should also create a more streamlined multi-channel experience so consumers have little barrier to adoption.
6. No Single Technology will Win
These new technologies introduce an interesting question: What should merchants do to prepare for this brave new world where payments and marketing collide? For one, merchants should avoid betting on any one technology. In fact, the POS needs to morph into something a little more complex, becoming instead a POI, where a broad variety of payment types, loyalty programs, coupons and more can be redeemed. Merchants should be in a position to choose what types of payment they want to accept and in what medium, and not be limited to fixed payment tenders.
When the convergence of marketing and payments will happen
The increasing adoption of mobile payments by merchants and consumers, when combined with new POS environments, will jump-start the convergence of marketing and payments. However, we’re still in the early stages.
Mobile commerce technologies are widespread but still working to gain traction from consumers en masse. Additionally, merchants haven’t yet felt the need to upgrade their POS systems to accept mobile payments
However, the October 2015 EMV Liability Shift, a date set by Visa and MasterCard for certain charge-back liabilities to fall to the merchant unless they have upgraded to EMV-capable POS systems, is likely to push merchants to upgrade their systems.
Once merchants begin to upgrade these POS systems, the smart ones will take the opportunity to add more features and functionality to the systems, including the ability to accept payment…and marketing-driven solutions from mobile handsets. That’s when we’ll see the value of two-way communication between merchants and consumers dramatically change the shopping experience and bring payments into the marketing mix.
7. Smartphone Adoption is Speeding Up
Consumers’ mobile phones are already equipped to deliver highly valuable offers, and adoption is increasing at a rapid pace. Smartphones bring with them new app technologies that include not only mobile payments but also loyalty and rewards programs that are designed to drive preference for stores, good and services.
8. Targeted Offers and Single-Use Applications
Of course, these solutions are still in their infancy. Elegant single-use applications, such as mobile wallets and gift cards, will soon grow to provide highly targeted offers that take into account everything from shopping preferences to location, providing incentives as a customer walks the aisle of a store. Just about every player in the payments ecosystem is thinking about these new commerce technologies. The winners will be those that demonstrate clear value for both the merchants and customers.
9. The “POS” is now a “POI”
A point-of-sale (POS) solution used to be a place where goods were purchased and money traded hands. Usually, this took the form of a cash register or credit card machine. Though these still exist, a wave of new value-added marketing services, such as targeted offers, discounts and highly valuable loyalty applications, have led to the transformation of the POS into a point-of-interaction (POI), a place where consumers and merchants meet to exchange value for value.
10. Two-way communication
When embedded in smartphones, new technologies…like near-field communication (NFC), QR codes, geofencing and cloud authentication solutions…allow for two-way communication between the consumer and the POS solution, enabling merchants to deliver coupons and offers directly to customers’ mobile phones through targeted integrated programs.
Posted in Digital Wallet Privacy, e-commerce & m-commerce, Mobile Payments, Mobile Point of Sale, Smartphone Tagged with: bar codes, cloud, device, EMV, handsets, innovation, loyalty, marketing, merchants, mobile, nfc, offline, omni-channel, online, payments, PayPal, phones, POI, point of interaction, POS, qr codes, rewards
September 26th, 2013 by Elma Jane
Mobile checkout integrated into transportation ticketing app by Barclay’s Pingit
Barclay’s Pingit mobile payments service is teaming up with Corethree to bring the financial institution’s mobile checkout to public transportation customers in Britain.
Corethree offers a mobile wallet for transport ticketing in Britain. By including Barclays Pingit in its wallet, Corethree can offer users more flexibility in how they pay for tickets.
“Providing a variety of native payment solutions within the application enhances the customer experience by allowing them the same type of purchasing experience that they currently enjoy from their favorite websites and ecommerce sites.”
“In the U.S. this includes integrating with payment option like PayPal and eventually electronic wallet providers as well.”
Mobile checkout
Pingit was introduced in early 2012, enabling users to make person-to-person payments.
The app’s breadth of services have been expanded several times since to include mobile payments from NFC tags and mobile checkout for Web sites and print ads.
Corethree reports that it is the first business to integrate Barclays Pingit mobile checkout, enabling bus passengers to browse, select, purchase and use bus tickets from their mobile devices.
Over the next 12 months, Corethree and Barclays will roll out their mobile payment services to other transport operators, with the goal of reaching up to 1 million passenger journeys per day.
The service will be available via Android and iPhone devices on any mobile network.
Mobile payments entry
Public transportation organizations around the world are embracing mobile ticketing to make it easy for riders to purchase and use tickets from their smartphones. Enabling users to purchase transit tickets anywhere at any time that can be used. Last year, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority rolled out a new mobile ticketing service, giving commuters a way to purchase and display rail tickets on their smartphones.
“Transit is an integral part of consumers’ daily lives, and as such providing consumers with a secure way to pay with their phone and not have to carry cash or exact change is a great starting point for people to get comfortable using mobile payments.”
“Mobile ticketing is a great way to introduce customers to making payments from their mobile device.”
Posted in Credit card Processing, Digital Wallet Privacy, e-commerce & m-commerce, Electronic Payments, Mobile Payments, Mobile Point of Sale, Travel Agency Agents Tagged with: checkout, devices, electronic wallet, integrating, Iphone, mobile, nfc, payment, payments service, smartphone, Tags, ticket, ticketing, tickets, transportation, travel
September 20th, 2013 by Elma Jane
U.S. Bank integrates to simplify mobile money transfers with Western Union
U.S. Bank has offered Western Union Money Transfer services since 2009, but now customers can do so via mobile. According to U.S. Bank, it is the first bank in the United States to integrate the Western Union Money Transfer services into its mobile app.
U.S. Bank is collaborating with Western Union to let U.S. Bank customers use the Western Union Money Transfer services via the U.S. Bank mobile application. “Adding Western Union enhances overall digital money movement strategy.”
“Primary goal is to make it easier for customers to send money on any device to anyone across the country or around the world.” Giving customers the most convenient banking experience by delivering and allowing customers to bank anywhere and anytime they want.
Money transfer
In order to qualify for the new service, customers must have been a customer of U.S. Bank for at least a year and have a registered mobile phone and eligible deposit account. Western Union Money Transfer services let consumers conveniently pay other consumers via mobile or desktop.
Eligible U.S. Bank mobile banking customers will now see the Western Union logo in the person-to-person money transfer options. Online banking customers will see Western Union as a funds transfer option.
U.S. Bank decided to offer the new service to make moving money as convenient as possible for its customers. Customers will be able to send money around the world from the comfort of their own home.
When consumers receive a payment through the Western Union services, they can be paid in cash and use it immediately.
Mobile banking
U.S. Bank has rolled out a number of mobile initiatives in the past few years.
In July, U.S. Bank integrated with the Square digital wallet, enabling users to fund payments made via the mobile application from their bank account.
Earlier this year, U.S. Bank even offered customers the ability to pay via NFC by providing a customized U.S. Bank Go Mobile iPhone case equipped with NFC technology.
The bank also rolled out mobile photo bill pay services last year to let customers pay their bills by simply snapping a picture of the document using the camera on a smartphone or tablet.
“As device ubiquity grows, as people become more comfortable using their phones for all their banking activities, a lot of new ways to leverage a phone’s capabilities to make banking easier for customers, customers expect their bank to offer a full rich set of money management and movement capabilities on their phones, tablets and laptops.”
Posted in Digital Wallet Privacy, Electronic Payments, Mobile Payments Tagged with: banking, mobile, money, nfc, payment, transfers, U.S. Bank, US Bank, western union
August 6th, 2013 by Admin
In Canada, the game to corner mobile payment systems and the Digital Wallet is being played seriously. PayPal and Square are present but the 800 pound gorilla may have just entered the ring. Canadian banks are presenting merchant accounts capable of handling tap to pay transactions competing directly with Square and PayPal. Royal Bank of Canada has launched a mobile payment solution to provide contactless payment using Near Field Communication (NFC) enabled smartphones and tablets. Shoppers can simply wave their smartphone over a cash register or payment terminal and be on their way. No more swiping a credit card into a terminal or punching keys into a terminal and no more fumbling with cash or coins to settle a payment. Read more of this article »
Posted in Credit card Processing Tagged with: bank, bankers, blackberry, Canada, Canadian, Canadian travel agency agents, digital, electronic, financial services, ipad, Iphone, mobile, nfc, payments, PayPal, Rogers Communications, Royal Bank, smartphone, Square, tablet, travel
August 1st, 2013 by Admin
With mobile payment services clamoring for space in the digital wallet domain movers and shakers are positioning themselves for growth opportunities presented in mobile commerce settings. Google Wallet has been live for a while but now a new player is entering the arena. ISIS is rounding the ninth month of it’s pilot program in Austin Texas, and Salt Lake City Utah using near field communications based mobile payments. AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile. and Verizon Wireless have partnered with ISIS and will be providing the electronic wallet services later this year. Read more of this article »
Posted in Mobile Payments Tagged with: Coca-Cola, contactless, Digital Wallet, Google Wallet, ISIS, mobile, near field communications, nfc
Cashless electronic payments are the latest rage. Estimates for smartphone payments using NFC chips is expected to explode, though many estimates are being adjusted. The technology seems to be expected but digital wallet offerings are lacking for sure. AT&T customers still cannot use the default Google Wallet app, and ISIS is in a forever Beta mode. Starbucks seems to have embraced NFC based electronic transactions as well as digital wallet providers Lemon, LevelUp and others. Sprint adopted Google Wallet early on, while Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile users have been waiting for ISIS to come out of beta in Texas and Utah test beds. The other half of the problem, adoption, is slow as merchants need to invest in new credit card terminals and readers that incorporate the NFC technology to be able to accept these digital payments. Read more of this article »
Posted in Electronic Payments Tagged with: AT&T, Cashless electronic payments, Debit Card transactions, Gift Cards, Google Wallet app, GPS, Lemon, LevelUp, Loyalty Programs, MicroChip Payments, nfc, NFC chips, Offerings, RFID, smartphone, T-Mobile
In discussions about merchant service providers, Square and PayPal entering talks is a given. Sqaure offers free credit card readers to entice merchants to switch their credit card processing to them. PayPal recently launched an initiative to expand it’s reach into retail stores and offers to waive processing fees through 2013. With the coming rush to mobile transaction processing more companies are entering the fray. AT&T, Verizon, T-mobile and Sprint are looking to get into the credit card transaction processing gig as they already carry that data over their cellular networks. ISIS Wallet and Google’s digital wallet bring credit card transactions to Android smartphones and tablets, and Visa is expected to launch its Visa Ready program as it rolls out test merchants. Read more of this article »
Posted in Mobile Payments Tagged with: Android, bluetooth, Chip & PIN, credit card processing, Digital Wallet, EMV, fees, google, ISIS, m-commerce, merchant, merchant account, nfc, payment processor, PayPal, Rates, Square, transactions, Visa MasterCard American Express
Visa is going all out against cash driving the adoption of mobile payment services. In Europe Visa expects that over 50 million contactless payments will be made each month by years end. Head of Visa’s mobile business Sandra Alzetta expects a wave of NFC enabled smartphones from smartphone and tablet makers such as Samsung, HTC and LG. The European versions will ship with Visa’s mobile PayWave and Mobile wallet services driving their growth in mobile payment services. Read more of this article »
Posted in Mobile Payments Tagged with: Digital Wallet, HTC, LG, nfc, point of sale, POS, Samsung, Visa MasterCard American Express
