Tag: smartphone payments

Mobile Internet could foster the growth of mobile payments

As commerce grows to be more mobile-centric, the quality of the mobile Internet is beginning to attract a great deal of attention. Most consumers with smartphones and tablets use their devices to browse the Internet for one purpose or another. The common consensus among these consumers is that a slow Internet connection is tedious and frustrating. In terms of mobile commerce, slow connections could be catastrophic as they could lead to multiple charges during a transaction due to consumer frustration and cause many to shy away from the idea of mobile payments altogether.

Faster Internet speeds provide better services to consumers

In order to ensure the continued growth of mobile payments, better Internet connections are required. MasterCard, one of the financial service companies investing heavily in the mobile commerce field, believes that current mobile Internet networks are simply not conducive to the long term growth and adoption of mobile payments. The company claims that 4G networks provide the ideal speed through which consumers can enjoy mobile commerce. These networks do not only allow for quick and efficient mobile payments, they also enable more connectivity between merchants and consumers, allowing both parties to interact more dynamically.

Businesses begin feeling pressure to modernize

High-speed Internet connections have long been reserved for stationary computers stuck in homes. The advent of mobile technology drew attention to a new way that the Internet could be used while people are away from their homes. Thus, the mobile Internet has become a major part of the lives of consumers, a growing number of whom are becoming seriously reliant on their smartphones and tablets. These consumers are forcing businesses to look at the mobile space more seriously and find ways to cater to the needs of a new generation of customers.

Some businesses may be unprepared for the adoption of 4G Internet

According to MasterCard, more businesses are beginning to see the value of mobile payments and how mobile commerce, as a whole, can be supported through the adoption of high-speed mobile Internet. MasterCard notes that many businesses may not be ready to facilitate 4G connectivity as the services they offer are based on slower Internet speeds, but the momentum behind mobile commerce may force these businesses to update their services if they want to get in on the action.

At the moment, in terms of merchants and consumers, the company may be considered the leader.

PayPal, already a leader in the online transaction industry, is starting to be considered to be the frontrunner in mobile payments, as well, as it boasts the largest estimated number of merchants and consumers within a “digital wallet” sphere.

Furthermore, the company is aiming to expand this possible lead with the addition of new partnerships.

PayPal has just announced that it is partnering with Discover and NCR in order to further boost its mobile payments offerings. The eBay owned company has been a leader in online purchases for fifteen years, but were able to process more than $14 billion in transactions over tablets and smartphones last year.

The PayPal Here mobile payments service has allowed the company to define itself in this channel.

The success that PayPal has had over mobile payments has been considerable enough that they feel that they are starting to chip into the transaction processing sector, which has long been held by major credit card companies. This has also allowed consumers to start to be able to pay for their purchases in a seamless way, using their cards, but without having to actually carry the plastic.

The PayPal Here mobile payments card reader is also rapidly becoming popular among small businesses. This is because it allows those companies to use any smartphone or table to have a small card reader plugged into its audio jack without the need for large POS equipment or its associated rental or purchase fees.

Now that the Discover partnership has been added to PayPal’s growing set of deals, it will mean that the company will be expanding to 2 million more brand name locations by the end of this year.

That said, one of the mobile payments company’s primary goals is to eliminate the need for a card reader altogether so that the app can be used on consumer smartphones in order to replace the plastic cards. Though this service is available at a few thousand stores already, the extra two million will exponentially grow this opportunity.