• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, April 30, 2010

A new report from Juniper Research forecasts big increases in electronic payments via mobile devices -- and that's good news above all for the burgeoning digital out-of-home medium, which stands to be the prime beneficiary of the accompanying increase in place-based marketing.

The Juniper Research white paper -- titled "Checkout the Mobile Payment Opportunity!" (get it?) -- is actually an extract from a longer report called "Mobile Payments for Digital & Physical Goods." After reviewing the various established and emerging technologies for enabling payments, including premium SMS codes and "contact-less" virtual credit cards in phones, the report goes on to explore different applications, including point-of-sale transactions. Transactions can also include "remote physical" purchases -- where the consumer uses the mobile device to pay for a physical product that isn't actually right there in front of them, for later delivery -- and "remote digital" purchases of virtual goods. Smartphone apps now allow marketers to incorporate e-commerce links in the same way they do on the Web.

Worldwide, Juniper predicts that over 2.5 billion people will use mobile devices to make an electronic payment for digital goods in 2014 -- an increase of over 50% from 2010. Remote payment for physical goods will also see big increases, albeit somewhat more modest than for digital goods.

DO networks stand to benefit from both point-of-sale and remote physical purchases, both as an advertising and marketing platform and as a part of the transaction itself. Eye-catching interactive displays can be a key part of in-store promotions, or the centerpiece of a standalone sales kiosk in a public space like the mall. The displays can be co-located with equipment to handle mobile transactions, if consumers are using their phone as a "mobile wallet." If payments are handled via their cellular service, the DO display can receive instantaneous instructions from the marketer to show a transaction-related message (for example, thanking the buyer and informing them of promotions or special offers); however this depends on the speed of the transaction and the marketers' ability to quickly "close the loop" with a return message to the consumer at that display.