The mobile wallet is coming. Banks, card networks, telcos, retailers, and
the likes of Apple, Google, PayPal, Samsung and Square, are all lining
up to digitize our wallets, driven by a belief that mobiles will be central
to how we pay in the future. Forrester expects US mobile payments
to reach $90 billion by 2017, and Gartner forecasts a global market of
$617 billion by 2016. But exactly what the wallet will look like, who will
control it, and how many people will use it, remain open questions.
With so many competing technologies, standards, and players, it’s
impossible to say which companies, or combinations of companies, will
win out over the longer term.
Most observers agree that ubiquity, ease of use, and security will be
crucial in spurring consumers to leave their leather wallets at home.
Mobile wallets will take off once consumers feel the same sense of
solidity about their handsets as they do about using a credit or debit
cards. But even that may not be enough. Unless there are additional
inducements, over and beyond ease of payment, mobile wallets may
remain marginal. Other points of differentiation, including offers and
promotions, and shopping information and advice, are likely to be
crucial.
In other words, the battle for supremacy in mobile wallets may not be
about payments at all. Providing an easy, safe, and convenient service
will be hard for companies to achieve. But it will be the least consumers
expect, because – more or less – they already have it. Payment in itself
could be a commodity, pushing transaction fee income downwards.
The real battle may be around data collection and analytics, and
delivering the right offers and information, at the right time, based
on a full understanding of the customer. It will be about combining
payments with other sorts of services, including ticketing, identity
authentication, and loyalty schemes.
http://www.mformobile.com/mobile-wallet-wars-usa
