BWild |
February 28, 2014
As smartphone based transactions take off at breakneck speed, everyone is trying to hop aboard.
The speed with which mobile payments services are growing and are becoming accepted have now made it clear to most large banks that if they want to be able to remain relevant into the future, they will need to be able to offer their customers the ability to pay for goods and services through the use of smartphones.
Many telecoms and credit card companies are also hopping on board this massive trend.
Even retailers are starting to come up with their own opportunities to hop onto the mobile payments bandwagon and are coming up with their own unique strategies. As the shift toward smartphones as a platform continues, a growing number of companies from massive international giants to small mobile app development startups are trying to turn themselves into important players in this sector.
As mobile payments adoption becomes more common, the competition for those positions is growing.
In fact, it has already reached the point that solutions providers are trying virtually anything to carve out their share of this market, and to continue clawing to broaden that share. Unfortunately, as this continues to occur at an increasingly rapid rate, it is also causing this particular market to fragment. The technology as a whole is owned by many groups and within each group there is a flood of different players. Every one of them is looking to dominate as opposed to creating a consistent experience overall.
The result has been the development of what David Sear, Weve managing director, called a “mess”. He pointed out that “It is confusing for people and for banks, as well as being costly all round.” He explained that scalability is critical in order to make this market work. While it is currently questionable whether the situation is contributing to bank revenues in any way, it is undoubted that these institutions must hang onto it, regardless, in order to succeed in the future.
This fact makes the future of mobile payments extremely hard to predict. The form of it, at the moment, suggests that it will only continue to become more muddied and complex before it has the ability to improve.
This low cost technology can help to improve efficiency overall, including both smartphones and tablets.
The managing director of TBS Enterprise Mobility, Steve Reynolds, has been making technology news with his announcement that mobile devices will “transform fleets in 2014,” as they are employed to help to boost efficiencies further than they already are.
This makes it looks as though smartphones and tablets are on their way in to fleet management in an important way.
Reynolds has explained that as the costs of these mobile devices drop, but their durability rises, this trend will “drive a shift in the industry from paper-based to automated processes.” The most recent data available has indicated that in the United Kingdom, about 61 percent of the adult population is currently a smartphone owner, and that this number is rising. This also suggests that the majority of the workforce is becoming increasingly familiar and comfortable with the use of smartphones and tablets.
This makes 2014 the easiest time in history for deploying mobile devices and enterprise apps.
According to Reynolds, “More and more, blue collar and task-oriented staff are coming to expect to carry out their work supported by user-friendly consumer devices.” In this same vein, smartphones and tablets are expected to take on a growing role when it comes to processes that take place in the field. Their low price point makes this mobile development a practical and realistic opportunity for businesses of this nature.
This year, it is already expected that the global sales of these gadgets will reach the 1.7 billion mark. Reynolds has predicted that with the combination of all of these factors, there will be a notable spike in the adoption of smartphones and tablets by businesses, this year, “transforming fleet management.”
Mobile app development companies will also be interested to note that it isn’t just the hardware that will be increasingly embraced by fleets. Cost cutting through improved efficiencies could also be improved through applications and gamification. That said, as there are already approximately two million downloadable apps across all operating systems at the moment, this could mean that the competition will be fierce in this new category.
