The Green Sheet Online Edition
September 9, 2013 • 13:09:02
The Mobile Buzz
Opportunities on mobile horizon
When merchants ponder their way forward with mobile payments, the one thing they know for sure is that consumers are starting to expect the option of paying for in-store purchases with mobile devices. It is left to merchants and their service providers to figure out the rest.
An August 2013 white paper from VeriFone Inc. recognizes that merchants need help in understanding the mobile payment options and need guidance when deciding which ones are right for them. In Keeping Pace with Mobile Payment, VeriFone likened the developing mobile payments sphere to the fragmentation of the PC and cell phone markets in the early days, when confusion and skepticism were prevalent. "[B]ut today life without either is unimaginable," the paper stated. "Mobile payment is following a similar path." NFC and one-rate-fits-all The mobile payments landscape is indeed fragmented, with no scheme or player dominating. VeriFone said larger merchants seem destined to adopt near field communication (NFC) -based mobile contactless payments as a by-product of the transition from the mag stripe card to the Europay/MasterCard/Visa chip card standard.
NFC-enabled POS devices and other mobile applications will help large retailers "expand their reach beyond the countertop and find new ways to enrich the shopping experience," VeriFone said. Smaller, independent merchants have taken a different path, however. They routinely adapt smartphones to accept mobile payments and pay providers a flat fee for processing. But, as VeriFone pointed out, that fee grows less cost effective the more card-based transactions a merchant conducts.
VeriFone said that, despite these trends, many small to midsize merchants are hesitant to proceed for fear of becoming locked-in to solutions that could prove obsolete in the fast evolving ecosystem. VeriFone noted that the "promise of mobile payments and related applications is too great to ignore and those who do so risk losing customer loyalty to more adaptive competitors."
The good news is that once merchants take their first steps into mobile payments, a rich array of value-added services will follow – services such as couponing and loyalty applications that VeriFone is confident will create new opportunities for merchants and consumers alike.
Whether you want to upgrade your POS offerings, find a payment gateway partner, bone up on fintech regs or PCI requirements, find an upcoming trade show, read about faster payments, or discover the latest innovations in merchant acquiring, The Green Sheet is the resource for you. Since 1983, we've helped empower and connect payments professionals, starting with the merchant level salespeople who bring tailored payment acceptance and digital commerce tools, along with a host of other business services to merchants across the globe. The Green Sheet Inc. is also a proud affiliate of Bankcard Life, a premier community that provides industry-leading training and resources for payment professionals.
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