During the first days of mobile banking and payments, many debates raged about the different roles of mobile operators and banks. Will banks and mobile operators compete and how will they interact with each other were some of the questions asked.During the past period, discussions regarding mobile payments almost always featured a third category. In a large percentage of announcements, the handset-manufacturer also plays a role. Collaboration between banks and carriers regularly include references to the device manufacturer too. Some examples of such announcements are:
Many other examples can be found, but suffice to say that most handset manufacturers are busy trying to define their role in the new payment eco-system. In the process alliances are formed, implied and broken. The problem with this reality is that is likely to become even more difficult to develop a payment solutions that is fully ubiquitous - and this goes against the whole idea of a universal payment schema. It would probably be better for handset manufacturers to stay away from payments...
4 comments:
Let us not forget another component to complete the cycle of a mobile payment from and to all stakeholders; i.e. that of the Merchant Terminal, or POS. With numerous NFC announcements lately, no mention was made of a truly universal merchant terminal.
So if one has to consider a universal solution for mobile handsets, then one should also consider a solution for merchant terminals. Once this had been done effectively and on a very large scale, mobile payments could truly be the one-stop payment solution.
Currently one could sence the urgency on which many are working or claiming to have such solutions... very exciting times ahead
In my earlier comment on this subject, I referred to a merchant terminal/POS as the fourth carrier. This should actually be the Retail terminal/POS.
Retailers, equiped with an NFC enabled retail POS terminal, will complete the full circle of real mobile payments. In most cases currently, P2P (Person to person) mobile payments/transfers are in the order of the day, but no effective solution from a person (mobile) to a retail POS terminal had been deployed on a very large scale. Will the current swipe/smart credit card terminals soon be NFC equiped in order to take such mobile or "tap" payments, and who will lead this race....? Some very interesting times lies ahead in monitoring the fierce competition on a global scale for such an effective universal terminal.
In my earlier comment on this subject, I referred to a merchant terminal/POS as the fourth carrier. This should actually be the Retail terminal/POS.
Retailers, equiped with an NFC enabled retail POS terminal, will complete the full circle of real mobile payments. In most cases currently, P2P (Person to person) mobile payments/transfers are in the order of the day, but no effective solution from a person (mobile) to a retail POS terminal had been deployed on a very large scale. Will the current swipe/smart credit card terminals soon be NFC equiped in order to take such mobile or "tap" payments, and who will lead this race....? Some very interesting times lies ahead in monitoring the fierce competition on a global scale for such an effective universal terminal.
Not sure to what extent I agree with your comment that "It would probably be better for handset manufacturers to stay away from payments..." Look at what Nokia has done with MCB in Pakistan. A clear shift from the India strategy where they practically built and own the payments system. What is different with the MCB is that Nokia is sticking to what it is good at...so in that sense I agree that they are 'staying away from payments' and instead enabling the Mobile Financial Services providers to go to market. Moreover, interoperability is encouraged by ensuring that they remain bank and operator agnostic.
Let's see how things roll out in Pakistan....
Post a Comment