Tag: mobile transactions

Riskskill draws attention to risks in mobile payments field

Mobile payments have become quite popular with consumers, which also mean that they have become a bigger focus for businesses looking to engage with tech-savvy people. Many consumers praise mobile payments because of their simplistic and convenient nature. The mobile commerce field is, however, rife with risks that often go completely unnoticed by consumers. Riskskill, a leading corporate risk consultancy firm, has been working to raise awareness of the risks that exist in the mobile commerce space for some time and suggests that companies face a wide range of dangers when adopting mobile payments.

Study highlights problems with rapid pace of technological progress

Riskskill has released a new study concerning the risks that exist in the mobile payments sector. The study highlights several areas wherein these risks are most pronounced. One of these sectors concerns the rate at which technology progresses and the rate at which mobile commerce itself is growing. The firm suggests that mobile payments will reach $1 trillion in global transactions by 2015 and this growth could outpace the availability of reliable infrastructure. Exhausting existing infrastructure could inhibit future growth and make mobile payments significantly less efficient than they currently are.

Mobile payments may outpace standards and regulations

Another field of concern has to do with the current standards that are in place to regulate mobile payments. These standards tend to vary from country to country and are meant to ensure that consumers are protected while participating in mobile commerce. The problem, however, is that these standards may soon become outdated due to the rapid growth of mobile commerce itself. The rapid evolution of technology is putting further strain on these standards, but many countries have yet to adapt to the changing needs of the mobile commerce space. Inadequate standards could leave consumers open to exploitation.

Hackers target mobile commerce

Consumers are also faced with the risks associated with hacking. Mobile payments have become a very attractive subject to malicious groups that wish to exploit financial information. These risks do not disappear simply because they attract relatively little attention and Riskskill believes that hacking could be a significant problem that has yet to be fully addressed.

Juniper Research predicts that the channel will take off by more than double by the year 2017.

According to the latest predictions that have been released by Juniper Research, mobile commerce will experience more than a doubling between now and 2017, when it will reach $3.2 trillion.

This was one of the forecasts that it made in its recent report on smartphone and tablet transactions.

The firm released its data in the Mobile Commerce Markets: Sector-by-Sector Trend Analysis & Forecasts 2013-2017 report. It also predicted that by the end of this year, m-commerce would be able to break the 1.5 trillion level.

Though the majority of mobile commerce transactions started as digital good purchases, this is growing broadly.

As smartphone payments have diversified, this has allowed mobile commerce to considerably broaden its reach beyond the sale of digital products such as music, ringtones, videos, games, and ebooks. Though the majority of the sales remain within that area, as well as in the banking industry, retail is seeing a growing amount of action and will play an increasing role in the overall mobile sphere.

Retail and airlines are predicted, by Forrester, to be the ecosystems in which there will be the most considerable contribution to mobile commerce in the near future. Airlines have already been expanding their platforms for digital ticketing and are actively encouraging travelers to use these methods through apps as well as through loyalty reward programs and other forms of advantage.

Though it has been a learning experience until now – and continues to be to a certain degree – retailers are also now learning how to provide an engaging mobile commerce experience to consumers, encouraging them to use their devices on an increasing basis to shop and to make actual purchases.

As more retailers offer apps and optimized mobile commerce website experiences, it makes it easier for consumers to be able to learn about products, compare prices, and shop on the smaller screen, at times that are most convenient to them, no matter where they happen to be. Often, this includes assisting them to decide among different products that they will then purchase while in store.