Pay With Mobile Phone

Last year, I was engaged in evaluation Mcommerce deployment for a large integrated Telco. I found that it’s an interesting field with good revenue opportunities. But there are various uncertainties in mobile payment value chain.

Here, I will discuss about current status & future of mobile payment.

Technology is a leveler. Costs of smartphones are decreasing but features are increasing. Next year’s $100 phone is this year’s $400 phone.

Actually today people are using mobile phones within price range $100 to $150. Andy Rubin revealed last year that about 850,000 Android devices are activated every day, reaching a total of 300 million so far, and there are 450,000 apps in the Android Market. Once people get Smartphone in the range of $70, a new huge market will open up.

Telecom operators believe that pay by mobile phone will be a new revenue opportunities for Telecom operators. It is estimated that 1.4 billion people will use cell phones to remit money domestically and across borders by 2015.

The promise of mobile phone financial services lies in their delivery platform. Mobile phones are unrestrained by the infrastructural and cost requirements that have traditionally hindered banks and others from reaching the impoverished.

How mobile payment services set up in various countries?

1.    In India, Movida, a mobile payments joint venture backed by Visa and Monitise, has signed an agreement with India's HDFC Bank to introduce mobile payment services. The new service allows HDFC Bank customers to pay bills, top up prepaid airtime and buy tickets from their mobile phone and is designed to operate across all mobile networks using any Visa and non-Visa branded payment account.
2.    Sweden's four mobile networks -- Telenor, Telia, Tele2 and 3 -- have formed a joint venture to handle mobile payment services. The jointly owned company is expected to launch commercial services around 2013..
Today hundreds of thousands of Swedes paying their public transport travel or parking using their mobile phone and the goal of operators’ collaboration is that the cell phone will be used for more transactions. For customers, this means that all mobile operators have the same solution, which facilitates, for example, when changing mobile operator.

What are the challenges to the operator’s collaborative model of working

(1)    ¬Operators must rethink their traditional role in the mobile payments value chain in order to remain relevant, according to Ovum. Despite operators' belief that mobile wallet services will keep them centre stage in the value chain, growing competition and the threat of rival services from powerful over-the-top (OTT) players and other parties means this will not be the case for most.
A new report from the telecoms analysts reveals that one of the most difficult challenges for operators’ will be from those OTT players offering mobile wallet services free to end users and merchants, shifting the business model to mobile advertising where operators have little or no experience.
"This is exactly what Google is aiming to do with its mobile wallet service and if it gains critical mass then it will have a disruptive impact on operators," says Eden Zoller, principal analyst and report author. "It will also make the SIM rental model being explored by operators more difficult to sustain."

(2)There are also fundamental questions about how substantial revenues from such large scale collaborative ventures can be when revenues have to be shared between an increasing numbers of parties. Another issue faced by large scale operator collaborations is regulatory scrutiny on anti-trust grounds.

(3) A new survey conducted by Radius Global Market Research shows that the majority of Americans remain quite skeptical of mobile payment services and in the near-term are not likely to give up traditional forms of payment.
"There's been a lot of speculation about how quickly consumers are moving to a wallet-less existence. Based on our recent survey, it won't be anytime soon," says Chip Lister, Managing Director of Radius. "The benefits of convenience, speed, and portability, are resonating with a niche population of younger consumers. But even with this segment there are important obstacles that must be addressed before pay-by-smartphone technologies will be widely adopted as a replacement to more traditional modes of payments."
Security tops the list of consumer concerns about mobile payments. Half of all American consumers say potential security and fraud significantly influence their likelihood to use smartphone technology to make purchases in the future. In comparison, only 14% say security and fraud don't influence their future likelihood to make those purchases.

Interestingly, the segment most likely to make purchases via smartphone, consumers under 35 and those identifying as digitally savvy, are also the most likely to be concerned with security and fraud issues. Fifty-four percent of consumers under the age of 35 are concerned with fraud. That figure rises to 62% among digitally savvy consumers.

(4) Concerns on money laundering and terrorist financing risks have made identifying the actual risks an even more daunting task.

How operators can add value?

"One way of adding value is to act as a facilitator for card issuers that could see operators provisioning cards virtually or via stores, helping with authorization by distributing cards to verified users on their own networks, leveraging customer data from user accounts and credit checks," explains Zoller. "This will be invaluable to credit card issuers struggling to obtain reliable user data/ identification on potential owners of cards and the service described could save card issuers time and money."

Is BOKU the future mobile gateway?

Google, PayPal and major credit companies are all making land-grabs for the emerging mobile payments industry. Mobile carriers — used to controlling profits made from mobile phones — want to avoid being squeezed out.

A startup called BOKU, brings a mobile payment solution that could satisfy all sides.     The product, BOKU

Accounts, works like a debit card issued by your mobile carrier instead of your bank. Users receive an NFC-enabled sticker they can attach to any phone — as well as a mobile-carrier-branded MasterCard. BOKU’s value proposition is this: it’s a mobile payment system not tied to specific phones or terminals.
Unlike Google Wallet, which requires an NFC-enabled phone, or the PayPal wallet, which requires merchants to install a software upgrade in their terminals, BOKU works with whatever hardware each party in the transaction happens to have. If the retailer’s terminal isn’t NFC-enabled, that means the customer is just swiping a regular credit card.

Tips on Electronic Hazardous Waste Management

Industrial revolution followed by the advances in information technology during the last century has radically changed people's lifestyle. Although this development has helped the human race, mismanagement has led to new problems of contamination and pollution. "E-waste" is a popular, informal name for electronic products nearing the end of their useful life.

There is over three million tons of e-waste produced every year.  Electronic items like televisions, phones , microwaves, hair dryers, electric toothbrushes contain hazardous products include cadmium, mercury, lead and other harmful chemicals.   The main challenge to ewaste management is recycling of these hazardous electronic Toxic elements, such as brominated flame retardants and lead in circuit boards, batteries and other components, along with caustic acids and burning methods used to dismantle the old electronics, pose serious environmental and health risks for the people.

7 tips for you to manage your ewaste.

1.    Many times you purchase to replace items that are working perfectly. You should find a correct way to dispose the material.  You should buy from companies who accepts your old product and have a recycling program like Apple and Dell. Dell even offers to pick up old computers. Apple will give you a ten percentdiscount on an iPod if you bring in your old iPod in to recycle. 

2.    You can select some organizations that have partnered with charities. This is always an option to use if you have products that are still in good working order.  Goodwill has partnered with Dell since 2004.  

3.    There are recycling programs that offers schools with recyclable equipment. Students are given the opportunity to refurbish the donated electronics giving them practical skills. This is a great way to recycle old electronic equipment.

4.    You can contact companies like The Wireless Foundation, Computers 4 kids that strives to provide technology to lower income families. 

5.    eBay is another company that has developed a charity through recycling. Their program is called Giving Works. When you auction your old item you can donate some or all of the proceeds to the charity of your choice.

6.    Donating electronics is a great way to get all the useful life out of the equipment. If you discover that your electronic item is not usable you need to find a responsible method to dispose of it. Donating phones and computers to be refurbished is one good way to help more than one cause.


7.    Many municipalities have facilities that will handle your electronic waste. Check with your cities Department of Sanitation to see if they have a recycling center for electronic products. In rural areas there may be collection centers that pick up these products on a routine basis. Not only electronics can be dropped off but batteries, paint, solvents and other hazardous materials as well.

8.    Visit website of National Solid Waste Association of India (NSWAI) ( www.nswai.com ) , a leading professional non-profit organization in the field of solid-waste management, including toxic and hazardous. Its objectives include development of solid-waste management as a profession, research and development, development of expertise, standards and goods practices with regards to solid-waste management .Some of the others include improvement in legislation and creating awareness and community involvement.

 Being responsible when you are finished with an item will keep many hazardous components out of landfills. For a better today and tomorrow donate, recycle or otherwise dispose of all electronic items responsibly.

As a sensible global citizen,it is important for you to know how to manage hazardour electronic items."Wasteology" is also a new business opportunity in developing countries.

What inspired me writing this article ?

I am just planning  for relocation from Mumbai to Pune and discovered that I have several old electronic gadgets. I can't carry them. I just donated the working ones but in deep problem with old TV and micro wave sets. This personal experience actually motivates me to write this article.