Tag: mobile payments australia

Mobile payments projects capture the attention of consumers

As mobile payments become more common, so too do the various trial projects that aim to spur progress in the mobile commerce field. Trial projects are important as they help expose consumers to the idea of mobile payments and let them experience the convenience that mobile commerce platforms offer. These trial projects are not solely for the benefit of consumers, of course, as the companies responsible for these projects have an opportunity to ensure that their mobile payments systems actually work.

Eftpos to launch new project in July

Eftpos, a commerce company based in Australia, has announced that it will launch a new mobile payments trial project in its home country in July of this year. The trial project is associated with an overarching partnership the company has with C-SAM, another company invested in the mobile commerce field. The project itself will promote the use of NFC-based mobile payments systems in Australian stores, which will be used to facilitate transactions from consumers as they make small purchases.

Mobile payments projects to make use of NFC technology

NFC technology is often considered one of the pillars of the mobile payments world. The technology is chiefly responsible for supporting mobile transactions as it is capable of transmitting and receiving digital information over short distances. NFC technology has recently been attracting criticism due to concerns regarding mobile security. While the technology can be used for mobile payments, it can also be targeted by hackers to access a person’s financial information. Eftpos, as well as the other companies invested in mobile payments, has made security a top priority.

Etfpos eager to accommodate consumer needs

Eftpos represents more than 80% of the daily transactions made in Australia. The company has a strong interest in mobile payments due to the changing interests of consumers. Those with mobile devices are beginning to demand new commerce services in order to accommodate their needs. Eftpos is well positioned to meet these needs and believes that mobile payments may soon replace traditional forms of commerce in the future.

This year will make it much easier for consumers in Australia to make purchases using smartphones.

Telcos in Australia are giving a significant kick to their intentions to bring mobile payments to consumers throughout the country so that they will be able to use their smartphones or tablets to pay for products or services at a store’s checkout counter.

This could be the first step toward making credit cards obsolete within the country.

Although mobile payments are a move that has been in the works for several years and very little action has actually been seen until very recently. Even the most recent steps have not been enormous, and the term “contactless payments” remains unknown to the majority of consumers, even among those whose devices are capable of the transactions.

Though the contactless mobile payments concept has great potential, it has been failing to gain traction.

The idea behind mobile payments is quite simple. It involves using a smartphone or tablet that is either waved over an enabled reader at a point of sale in a store, or tapped against it. This automatically transfers the funds necessary for making the purchase from the user’s credit card or bank account, into the account of the store.

The primary barrier faced by this type of mobile payments is the fact that only a small percentage of smartphones are actually enabled with the necessary NFC technology (near field communication) that allow these transactions to occur. This was held back even further by the release of the iPhone 5 by Apple, which shocked the mobile world when those chips were notably absent.

Vodafone and Telstra believe that this year will mark a difference in this trend. They believe that with many more NFC technology enabled devices entering the marketplace, it will represent a brand new opportunity for mobile payments to take off.

According to Dr. Hugh Bradlow, the chief technology officer at Telstra, “It’s been promised for a long time, but by next year many devices on the market will incorporate near field communication.” He went on to explain that in the mobile payments marketplace, “NFC has been a slow burn, but it will likely become entrenched next year and we plan to be a big part of that.”