Thursday, May 10, 2007
Your Cell Phone: Mobile ATM Machine?
byPay your kids, pay your bills and collect your payments all from the comfort of your cell phone? Buy stuff simply by waving your cell phone in front of a “reader” at the checkout counter? Wireless banking and mobile payments are here, and they are about to get a lot bigger in a hurry.
As reported by Business Week, banking (and shopping) via wireless handset is set to take off in the next couple of months.
Giants Citigroup and AT&T are gearing up to launch campaigns touting convenience and the low cost of mobile banking.
Tech partner Obopay is helping make this possible, with its “cooler than cash” message and functionality that lets users pay via text, browser or cell Obopay phone application.
Visa and MasterCard, along with cell phone manufacturers Nokia and Kyocera, are piloting mobile payments using cell phones embedded with chips allowing for “contactless payments” (no cards to swipe, no PINs to enter or forget, and no signatures needed, shaving off 50% of your checkout time).
At stake here, says Business Week, is not just convenience for users, but $1.4 trillion in small payments (under $25) made each year in the U.S. In a matter of a years, analysts predict that 10%, or $140 billion, of all small payments will be made with contactless cards (based on near-field communications), many of those predicted to be paid with mobile phones.
Analysts see mobile banking/payments potentially impacting ATM machine use, as well as further decline in use of checks, while wireless carriers may in turn be looking for a cut of the transaction action fees.
Regardless of the economics, consumers will soon be talking, texting, browsing, banking, rocking (think iPhone) and shopping with a wave of a cell phone. Talk about multi-tasking!
