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Friday, June 11, 2010

Mobile payments: solutions get dumber while cards get smarter?

Mark Bridge writes:

Last week I spotted a couple of mobile-related news stories that involved payment company MasterCard. One came from CPI Card Group, which had introduced a “next-generation, MasterCard-approved payment tag” (a.k.a. 'sticker') that enabled “any mobile device to be used to make payments anywhere using the worldwide contactless MasterCard PayPass standard” (by sticking it on the back).

But that's not really about the mobile payments market, is it?  Sticking a flexible payment card to the back of a phone is no more “mobile payment” than sticking it on my shoe would demonstrate CPI's commitment to the shoe-payment market – or swallowing an MP3 player would turn me into a cyborg.

It's convergence by gaffa tape, that's all.

Mind you, if I could replace a fingernail with one of those cards… hmmm… watch out, Professor Kevin Warwick.

MasterCard's own MoneySend application doesn't seem much better. Oh sure, it's online, but it's not really adding anything to the m-payment story. If you live in the USA you can use your iPhone to send or receive payments between friends. It works with certain banks and credit unions... and sounds a bit like PayPal to me. Except that PayPal launched its mobile service in those days of pre-history before Apple launched its iPhone.

This week there’s still no sign of smartphones turning into payment cards – but payment cards are definitely getting smarter. NagraID Security has developed a debit card and credit card that looks like other payment cards but includes a small display and a button to generate one-time passwords for additional authentication. These cards comply with MasterCard’s standards, so there’s no reason we shouldn’t see them soon. Very soon.

The moral?  There’s more than one direction that electronic ‘real-world’ payments could go. Or, as Saint Ben of Masabi puts it, “Just because you can do something with mobile doesn’t mean you should”.

 

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1 comments on article "Mobile payments: solutions get dumber while cards get smarter?"

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The Fonecast

4/19/2012 7:55 AM

Today Barclaycard has announced a stick-on credit card. That's all - no talk of apps or the web. And it's supposed to be 'mobile'. Pah!

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Opinion Articles

The fight against mobile bullying gets smarter with Bully Block

Mark Bridge writes:

With mobile phones becoming smarter – and increasing numbers of children using these smartphones – it's not surprising to hear that bullies are taking advantage of mobile technology. 'Cyber-bullying' is now in the Oxford English Dictionary... and some people have even called for a ban on mobiles in schools in an attempt to reduce bullying.

Taking a high-tech perspective in the fight against mobile bullying is Sedgrid Lewis, CEO of Spy Parent LLC.

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Never mind iPhone 5, it's the Apple iPad 3 that could change the world

Mark Bridge writes:

I like a bit of competition. It can encourage innovation, whether it's NASA's moon landings or Formula 1's telemetry. And it can be entertaining to watch, from Premiership football to the Tour de France.

It's one of the reasons the mobile industry still excites me. Although the frenzied growth of the 1990s is gone, there are still many competing forces.

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This week at The Fonecast: 17th July 2011

Mark Bridge writes:

Much like the mainstream media, this week's news summary begins with 'voicemail hacking'. In our podcast feature on Friday we spoke to industry crime-fighter Jack Wraith about the security of voice messages. He explained how remote voicemail access was now much more secure than it was ten years ago, which is good news for everyone (except dodgy investigators).

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How safe is your voicemail... and how safe is your phone?

Mark Bridge writes:

In this week's podcast feature we're joined by Jack Wraith, chief executive for the Telecommunications UK Fraud Forum and chairman of the Mobile Industry Crime Action Forum.

He talks to Iain Graham about the current state of voicemail security and the improvements to mobile security we've seen in the last few years.

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Dead phone boxes are now ready for saving lives

Mark Bridge writes:

The public telephone box is disappearing as mobile phone coverage improves. In 2002, there were 92,000 BT phone boxes in the UK. Today, there are a total of 51,500 payphones… including 11,000 traditional red boxes. In order to preserve the appearance of rural life - if not the landline connection - BT has been asking parish councils across the UK if they'd like to adopt their local kiosk. Just £1 lets a community keep its red BT phone box (with the payphone taken out)… and 1,500 have been adopted so far.

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Recent Podcasts

Reviewing our 2015 mobile industry predictions... and looking forward to 2016

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Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge return to review their mobile industry predictions from last year. Which mergers, partnerships and developments did they forecast correctly... and which didn’t work out as planned?

Later in the programme, the team anticipates some of the topics that will be hitting the headlines during 2016.

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We're taking a look back at the biggest mobile industry news stories from February 2015, including allegations that the UK's security service tried to breach SIM card security by hacking into one of the world's biggest SIM producers.

We also talk about the planned BT and EE merger, the creation of two new UK virtual networks, some acquisitions in the mobile payment arena and a new Ubuntu smartphone.

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Podcast - 24th February 2015

In today's programme Mark Bridge talks to Chris Millington, who's Managing Director for Doro UK and Ireland.

They discuss the state of mobile retailing in the UK, the future of wearable devices and - as you might expect - smartphones for seniors.

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A month of mobile: O2 counts on 3, Microsoft counts to 10 and Apple counts its profits

Podcast - 30th January 2015

We're back with a month of mobile industry news, including takeover talks and takeover rumours. O2 and Three are said to be discussing a merger... but is there any truth in the suggestions that BlackBerry could be up for grabs?

We also discuss Apple's record-breaking quarterly figures, the highlights of CES and the launch of Microsoft Windows 10, as well as saying farewell to the current version of Google Glass.

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