Mobile payments – Is it another solution looking for a problem in the US?
Heretofore I considered contactless, NFC and RFID, as solutions seeking a problem here in the United States. Prevalent in many other parts of the world it just hasn’t gained traction in this country for a multitude of reason.
Mobile payments in the US could just as easily suffer a similar fate. Why? Again, a multitude of reasons.
The continued fight over who owns the transaction
Generational demographics
Security concerns
Who pays to up grade the hardware at the merchant level
Consolidation continues across all segments; telecommunications, carriers and gateways, banks and processors along with a myriad of other entities somewhere between the two end points, each lays claim to the transaction.
If there were ever a time for the merchant community to draw a line in the sand, now is the time to do so. If you (everyone else other than the consumer) want me as a business to facilitate and accept your mobile payment, what are you willing to pay me to do so?
Pilots by several key participants in the mobile payments area have yielded nothing solid simply because the respective parties are unwilling to give up what the other wants.
I’m reminded that pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered just like in the housing debacle.
Adults are at a loss to fully understand much less accept the impact technology, particularly cell phone and mobile computers, have on the segment of the community that is younger than an adult. Personal interaction is in the cloud versus face to face yet this is the target generation for mobile payments.
Adults are concerned about lack of responsibility, in fact understanding what personal responsibility and accountability are in non-adults.
Younger people don’t see their mobile device as their wallet. It’s disposable
An adult looses their wallet and they are deeply concerned and rightly so because much is at stake since they have much to loose. Non-adults could care less, it’s just a cell phone I or someone (parents) will simply get another one. Nothing is lost. I’ll reload my music and my favs. They don’t get it.
Mobile payment for irresponsible generations is highly risky. Responsible generations have difficulty accepting it for security reasons.
Security of the personal and financial data in the device is a true concern. The ability to remotely pull that data from the device is a concern, real or not. Security of the financial data in transit between the device and reader during a transaction is also a valid concern.
Loose your wallet and you can call to cancel the cards and your driver’s license. Loose your mobile device, how do you call to cancel anything since every bit of information you need is in the device?
Too different physical things required to consummate a transaction are protections in and of themselves. A mobile payment device is a single device with instantaneous, anonymous access to all your financial accounts.
Lastly, a reader is necessary at brick and mortar businesses to accept and transmit the mobile payment. The merchant already has a cash register with a printer, a counter point of sale device with a printer for magnetic stripe card transactions, a check imager and now they must integrate a reader to one or both of those devices for mobile payments. Who pays for that? What is the ROI or payback on that investment?
With the cost as a percentage of the card transaction going up and up, cash is beginning to look attractive.
