[telecom] Mobile payment systems fail to take off with consumers

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- Monty Solomon
  
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posted
9 years ago

Tue, Apr 29, 2014 4:02 AM

Mobile payment systems fail to take off with consumers

By Brian X. Chen | NEW YORK TIMES APRIL 28, 2014

SAN FRANCISCO - Millions of Americans use smartphones for tasks like hailing a taxi or checking in for a flight. But for buying something in a store? That mostly remains a tech entrepreneur's dream.

For years now, the promise of a mobile wallet - in which paying in person can be as simple as hitting a button on a phone - has led to a host of US startups trying to cash in.

Those companies, though, have faced nearly as many hurdles as they have competitors, including the most basic ones: Many people are not aware of the new payment systems, others are confused by the many choices, and some see no benefit in the mobile option over using cash or credit cards.

The hurdles have left all the payment companies scrambling to find the code for a profitable business model. And now, a feeling is growing that mobile payments systems will not replace traditional wallets, at least anytime soon.

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- tlvp
  
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posted
9 years ago

Wed, Apr 30, 2014 6:30 AM

One small data-point: some parking meters in New Haven, CT, accept payment in coin, via credit card, and by a near-field communications (NFC) method that suitable smart phones are enabled with (I think that, ultimately, the NFC method will result in the phone's authorizing a PayPal payment to the local Parking Authority).

More data-points are to be found in Europe, I'm given to understand.

Cheers, -- tlvp

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- Thad Floryan
  
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9 years ago

Thu, May 1, 2014 5:20 AM

It's also every burglar's and robber's wet dream given how many smartphones are being stolen each day with the number increasing apparently daily as I read in the Silicon Valley newspapers.

Which is probably for the best given the Target breach as a for-example.

As I've posted here before about FAS:

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they provide a "secrecy" mailing list and they also archive everything the US Government doesn't want us to know, such as the very informative Congressional Research Service's reports, military documents, and more, and they make such material freely available for download.

The CRS' report on the Target breach as a FAQ is here at 500kB, 34 pages:

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The Secrecy News Blog is at:

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To SUBSCRIBE to Secrecy News, go to:

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Secrecy News is archived at:

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And as I posted here about 3-1/2 years ago, Stanford experimented with a "mobile wallet"-like payment system described here (short article):

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Bling comes to campus By Matt Bettonville Monday, October 11th, 2010

AFAICT, the "Bling" is nonexistent today.

Such systems seem inherently foolhardy and risky to me especially given how so many people are inattentive to what's happening around them as they use cellphones and text while walking and driving.

Thad