Commentary

Mobile Payments: How vs. Who Consumers Will Pay

There’s clearly some very big money at the transaction end of mobile shopping.

The latest from eMarketer earlier this week pegs payment by mobile at just north of $1 billion this year climbing to $58 billion within four years.

But much of the focus on mobile payments is on how a consumer will pay. Will they swipe, or tap, or scan or just be near a point-of-sale register.

Maybe a more significant question around mobile payments will become less of the how someone pays and more of who they pay.

Research earlier this year showed that unlike Web purchases, the majority of mobile transactions are not paid by credit card but by alternative methods such as PayPal and Amazon Payments.

There’s so much interest in the payment method since that can determine who acts as the middleman before the actual seller is paid.

Financial institutions and credit card companies have an obvious vested interest in their respective payment platforms being adapted to mobile.

A range of alternative payment methods from companies like Roam, Square, LevelUp, Byndl and Payvia look to innovate in the space and in many ways challenge some of the traditional payment methods. (The issue of the various ways to pay by mobile is the topic of one of the sessions at the MediaPost OMMA mCommerce conference Monday).

The potential of additional revenue also is not lost on the phone carriers, who already have a monthly billing relationship with mobile consumers.

The technology generally aims at determining how a consumer pays. After that process comes into view who the consumer pays.

Consumers ultimately may consider who they want to pay, which could have a great influence on how they pay.

  

UPDATE:  MediaPost OMMA mCommerce conference Monday at the Marriot Marquis, New York: All the speakers and panelists have been finalized and the AGENDA  has gone to press. We’re looking forward to a great turnout and lots of discussion around the world of mobile shopping and changing consumer behavior. If you’re coming to the conference, please grab me in the course of the day and say hello.

2 comments about "Mobile Payments: How vs. Who Consumers Will Pay".
Check to receive email when comments are posted.
  1. Bill Carter from Starlink, July 12, 2013 at 5:08 p.m.

    interesting article on who and where to pay..I'm sure you are aware in Europe and probably other places I am not aware there are methods other than those we use .A phone is placed on a dock next to the cash register or computer and the charge is done automatically. Charged in various ways . Some, the charge appears on the phone bill. Even there not every one has a bank acc't but like here they all pay their phone bill first..some go to a credit card and or debit card/bank. And every time I'm there there appears to be new innovative approach. Not always better but different and interesting.
    the other Bill Carter

  2. Chuck Martin from Chuck Martin, July 12, 2013 at 5:43 p.m.

    Thanks, Bill, and yes I am aware and track mobile payment approaches globally. In some countries, it's standard practice to receive an mail receipt at every credit card transaction, some are debit rather than credit oriented and others are moving to mobile payments as part of the banking transformation. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out over the long term.

Next story loading loading..
About the Author

Chuck Martin is Editor of the AI & IoT Daily at MediaPost and writes the daily Connected Thinking column. He is a NY Times Business bestselling author and his latest book is “Digital Transformation 3.0” (The New Business-to-Consumer Connections of The Internet of Things.) He is CEO of Net Future Institute and a frequent keynote speaker internationally. Follow him on Twitter @chuckmartin and contact him at Chuck@MediaPost.com.

More from mCommerce Daily

Discover Our Publications