Tag: apple

Will Apple Change the Mobile Payments Space?

Apple has taken its first official step into the world of mobile commerce with the introduction of the iPhone 6 and Apple Pay. The new iPhone will have a variety of features that make it popular with long term iOS fans, but it will also be equipped with an NFC chip that allows it to participate in mobile commerce. NFC support has been something that Apple customers have been wanting for a long time. When the iPhone 5 was unveiled, iOS fans criticized Apple for its lack of NFC support.

Apple Pay is meant to make mobile payments more convenient among consumers. Numerous financial institutions have announced their support for the service, which means that a lot of people will be able to use Apple Pay without having to open accounts with financial firms that they are not comfortable with. The service has also been embraced by numerous companies in the retail industry, which are beginning to grow more inclusive when it comes to mobile commerce. This is nothing new in the mobile space, however.

Mobile Payments Space - AppleWhen it comes to mobile commerce, many financial institutions and retail organizations embrace new services in order to connect with mobile consumers more effectively. This behavior is also common among consumers. People often embrace new services as they become available, but jump from one service to the next as they see fit. Apple Pay is not immune to this behavior, and if it cannot provide consumers with enough incentive to continue using it, people will find something similar, but more aligned with their interests.

Apple Pay has one thing that is working against it: NFC technology. Ironically, Apple had initially been leery of NFC because of its supposed lack of security. With the iPhone 6, NFC technology has been embraced by the company, but the device will not work with any other mobile payments platform apart from Apple Pay. This means that iPhone 6 owners will not be able to use their device’s NFC chip with any other NFC-enabled mobile commerce service.

Mobile commerce platform embraces biometric technology

Alipay to adopt biometric technology to make mobile payments much more secure than they are currently

Apple may not be the only name in the biometric game. Alipay, the prominent mobile payments platform from China’s Alibaba, is preparing to launch its first biometric-based identification system. Biometric technology is becoming more important in the field of mobile commerce. Because this field has to do with the trafficking of financial information, security is a major priority for the industry as a whole. Biometric technology can help ensure the security of a person’s financial information while using a mobile device.

Biometric technology from Nok Nok Labs to be used on Galaxy S5 devices

Alibaba plans to enable secure online payments through fingerprint scanners on Samsung Galaxy S5 devices in the near future. These devices are equipped with biometric technology that will allow for secure mobile payments through the Alipay mobile application. The Alipay Wallet will also take advantage of this technology, replacing the password it needs with a fingerprint instead. The technology that is being used for this purpose comes from Nok Nok Labs.

Mobile security continues to receive relatively little attention, especially when it comes to matters of digital commerce

mobile commerce - biometrics security technologyMobile commerce security is a major issue that has received only modest attention in recent years. Despite the massive number of people that have embraced mobile payments, relatively few of them take steps to protect their financial information when shopping online. Some mobile commerce platforms also lack the security solutions needed to protect their users, which has lead to serious problems for certain companies in the past.

Biometric technology could make people much more comfortable with the concept of mobile commerce

Biometric technology is one of the most aggressive solutions to the security problem. A hacker can exploit the security faults of mobile devices and applications, but mimicking a person’s biometric information is a much more difficult task. Using a fingerprint to keep a mobile device secure could introduce a greater degree of security to the mobile commerce space and make people much more comfortable with shopping online from a mobile device.