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TheMobileBuzz
BLE, Taco Bell and the mobile cornucopia
obile payments is a hot topic in the pay- BW: BLE is a very interesting technology with huge
ments industry today. The Green Sheet asked potential and several different possible implementations
Brent Warrington, Chief Executive Officer of within a retailer's ecosystem. At the outset, BLE's use in
M Austin, Texas-based ISO SecureNet Payment beacons to provide store navigation and location sensitive
Systems, to comment on the issues and challenges facing coupons is making the physical stores relevant again
merchants and mobile payments service providers. and providing enhanced shopping experiences for the
consumers.
The Green Sheet: Describe the current state of mobile in-
store payments? As in the use of BLE in mobile payments solutions, there
are several possibilities that will play out over the next
Brent Warrington: Over the past few years we've seen few years, such as:
more and more fragmentation in the payments industry.
Consumer adoption of QR [quick response] codes has • BLE replaces NFC because of the wider penetration
been weak from the onset, and retailers are a bit spooked of technology amongst new smart phones.
by the high cost of NFC [near field communication]. So
we're at the point where we're continuing to see more and • BLE makes it possible to connect to a POS terminal
more solutions entering the market. I expect that trend or a cloud-based checkout terminal, which gives
will start to turn to consolidation over the next several consumers the freedom to pay from anywhere
years. in the store versus at a checkout lane only. For
retailers, this could possibly free up some retail
GS: What is the state of mobile wallets as it relates to real estate.
merchant adoption?
However, there will be some questions that will need to
BW: For many smaller retailers, it's not practical to devote be answered before BLE truly takes off:
significant resources to develop a customer-facing mobile
app. It's also not realistic to think the average consumer • Security: BLE's longer range (versus NFC's shorter
will have room for dozens of apps on their phone range) makes transactions more vulnerable to
dedicated to paying at different retail locations. spying, hacking and spoofing.
Right now we're seeing a lot of retailers with a point-of- • The BLE-enabled transactions could be considered
sale infrastructure and separate mobile and e-commerce card-not-present (since the consumer is not
platforms. So retailers are increasingly looking for one physically in front of a clerk at checkout), making
solution that works across those three channels and them more expensive for retailers.
reconciles their data on the back-end. • Last but not least, consumers are not going to
adapt unless there is a significant convenience
GS: What is significant about the mobile ordering app factor associated with BLE powered mobile
Taco Bell expects to roll out nationally later this year? payments.
BW: The sheer scale of the Taco Bell implementation is GS: And what about Apple? The company seems to be
incredibly interesting. Companies like Taco Bell, Chipotle taking a sort of wait-and-see approach to mobile in-store
and others are seeing consumer smartphone adoption hit payments.
a tipping point. They also view a large-scale mobile rollout
as an investment to attract millennial dollars, which has BW: Google moved first and hasn't been particularly
been a key concern for quick-service restaurants like successful. Historically, Apple doesn't jump into markets
McDonald's. unless it can be the No. 1 or No. 2 player off the bat. With
iTunes, Apple is already the king of micropayments, so it's
And if you thought ordering fast food couldn't get any a logical step for them to make the leap to mobile in-store
faster, think again. Look for mobile ordering apps to be commerce.
able to 'vault' payment information, meaning consumers
will be able to store their credit card or gift card securely Also keep an eye out for Facebook. Their acquisition of
on the app and pay instantly without that card in-hand. WhatsApp has expanded their user base internationally,
and similar chat apps are already being used for mobile
GS: What do you think of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) payments in China.
technology as a mobile payment solution?
36
BLE, Taco Bell and the mobile cornucopia
obile payments is a hot topic in the pay- BW: BLE is a very interesting technology with huge
ments industry today. The Green Sheet asked potential and several different possible implementations
Brent Warrington, Chief Executive Officer of within a retailer's ecosystem. At the outset, BLE's use in
M Austin, Texas-based ISO SecureNet Payment beacons to provide store navigation and location sensitive
Systems, to comment on the issues and challenges facing coupons is making the physical stores relevant again
merchants and mobile payments service providers. and providing enhanced shopping experiences for the
consumers.
The Green Sheet: Describe the current state of mobile in-
store payments? As in the use of BLE in mobile payments solutions, there
are several possibilities that will play out over the next
Brent Warrington: Over the past few years we've seen few years, such as:
more and more fragmentation in the payments industry.
Consumer adoption of QR [quick response] codes has • BLE replaces NFC because of the wider penetration
been weak from the onset, and retailers are a bit spooked of technology amongst new smart phones.
by the high cost of NFC [near field communication]. So
we're at the point where we're continuing to see more and • BLE makes it possible to connect to a POS terminal
more solutions entering the market. I expect that trend or a cloud-based checkout terminal, which gives
will start to turn to consolidation over the next several consumers the freedom to pay from anywhere
years. in the store versus at a checkout lane only. For
retailers, this could possibly free up some retail
GS: What is the state of mobile wallets as it relates to real estate.
merchant adoption?
However, there will be some questions that will need to
BW: For many smaller retailers, it's not practical to devote be answered before BLE truly takes off:
significant resources to develop a customer-facing mobile
app. It's also not realistic to think the average consumer • Security: BLE's longer range (versus NFC's shorter
will have room for dozens of apps on their phone range) makes transactions more vulnerable to
dedicated to paying at different retail locations. spying, hacking and spoofing.
Right now we're seeing a lot of retailers with a point-of- • The BLE-enabled transactions could be considered
sale infrastructure and separate mobile and e-commerce card-not-present (since the consumer is not
platforms. So retailers are increasingly looking for one physically in front of a clerk at checkout), making
solution that works across those three channels and them more expensive for retailers.
reconciles their data on the back-end. • Last but not least, consumers are not going to
adapt unless there is a significant convenience
GS: What is significant about the mobile ordering app factor associated with BLE powered mobile
Taco Bell expects to roll out nationally later this year? payments.
BW: The sheer scale of the Taco Bell implementation is GS: And what about Apple? The company seems to be
incredibly interesting. Companies like Taco Bell, Chipotle taking a sort of wait-and-see approach to mobile in-store
and others are seeing consumer smartphone adoption hit payments.
a tipping point. They also view a large-scale mobile rollout
as an investment to attract millennial dollars, which has BW: Google moved first and hasn't been particularly
been a key concern for quick-service restaurants like successful. Historically, Apple doesn't jump into markets
McDonald's. unless it can be the No. 1 or No. 2 player off the bat. With
iTunes, Apple is already the king of micropayments, so it's
And if you thought ordering fast food couldn't get any a logical step for them to make the leap to mobile in-store
faster, think again. Look for mobile ordering apps to be commerce.
able to 'vault' payment information, meaning consumers
will be able to store their credit card or gift card securely Also keep an eye out for Facebook. Their acquisition of
on the app and pay instantly without that card in-hand. WhatsApp has expanded their user base internationally,
and similar chat apps are already being used for mobile
GS: What do you think of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) payments in China.
technology as a mobile payment solution?
36
