Why nearly everyone is wrong about Apple Pay

From news reports, you might think that the main use case for Apple Pay is contactless payments. Well, it’s not, says exasperated industry watcher Tim Green... Almost exactly a year ago, Tim Cook unveiled Apple Pay. He showed a video of a woman struggling to pay in-store with a bunch of plastic cards. Then he showed the same woman taking a second to pay by tapping her iPhone. He whooped: “It’s so cool!” with all the charisma you’d expect from a man who really knows supply logistics. But despite Cook’s almost hypnotic lack of presence, there was huge and inevitable applause from the …

10 trends that will impact mobile money in 2015

Mobile Money is taking off.  Buoyed by the launch of NFC payments from the likes of Apple and Google in developed markets and the lowering cost of smartphones in growth markets, it offers convenience, financial inclusion and incredible reach. Yet the technology is typically fragmented and necessarily has varying levels of government regulation to protect consumers. Here, Adel Shahin, Research Manager MEF member and mobile money provider, Novatti discusses the 10 key trends that are shaping mobile money. Mobile money generally refers to financial services provided by Mobile Network …

The Mobile Money Landscape Update

Since the last edition of MEF's Mobile Money ebulletin there have been many new milestones in the ever evolving space. Microsoft announced plans to introduce direct operator billing to all Windows 10 devices, claiming that the move will result in an 8X increase in purchases, while elsewhere Apple Pay continues its roll-out to more countries and Google announced the launch of Android Pay succeeding Google Wallet. The big difference between the two services is that AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile will pre-install Android Pay on phones when the service is ready later this year. Check out the …

Mobile payment drivers: why we need to incentivise users

Mobile payments are growing globally.  With Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay all maneuvering to capture market share, much of the future growth is touted to come from NFC payments - in-store (in developed markets at least).  For the consumer however the process of unlocking a phone, signing in, sending payment, receiving an e-receipt etc, is perhaps - when compared to tap and pay card payments- still a process that has *friction*. Here John Doornbusch, Solution Architect at global mobile payments provider and MEF member Novatti discusses what the mobile money levers are and how to …

Industry Views: the NFC payments opportunity

Last week MEF launched its annual Global Mobile Money report, which studied 15,000 mobile users across 15 countries.  The headline statistic is that mobile banking and mobile commerce continues to engage consumers - especially in mobile first markets. 69% of mobile media users globally carried out a banking activity via mobile whilst 66% have carried out a transaction. In tandem this year has seen the launch of Samsung Pay and more recently Android Pay, with Apple announcing its expansion plans for Apple Pay earlier this month.  Yet MEF's own report shows that in-store (where NFC payments …

Global Mobile News Round-up – Week 27th April

12 ways mobile money can go further, Mobile ads in Mexico and on Spotify, the Apple Watch Verdict, end of the road for Secret, Google's mobile friendly algorithm and more... Each week the MEF team curates mobile stories from around the world. Essential news you may have missed, the latest market insight & data nuggets, the Global Mobile News Round-up offers an instant international mobile content and commerce snapshot.  Global News Stories 12 ways mobile money can go further Guardian Establish trust: M-Pesa won the trust of the people when they came to Kenya as a brand …

Industry Views: mobile money – is cash on its way out?

Last week UK Bank, Halifax, released an interesting report.  The headline statistic is that cash makes up just £18.33 of every £100 spent (18%), with digital transactions soaring over the last few years. Smartphone usage has powered the change, and mobile transactions are expected to grow from £9.7bn this year to £53.6bn by 2024. With the launch of Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, plus giant steps forward in direct operator billing and a host of other mobile money technologies and business models, can the industry finally trumpet the beginning of the end of cash? We asked MEF members and the …

12 stats that show how mobile money is growing globally

Mobile Money continues to gather pace.  This year’s Christmas period saw another record breaking year in mobile transaction volumes.  At the same time the halo effect of Apple Pay has seen the launch of similar services, notably Samsung’s Samsung Pay. Here we’ve collected the original reports, research and forecasts over the last three months that illustrate just how mobile money is taking hold, bringing mobile service providers in to direct and collaborative relationships with regulators, banks, and retailers and typify how the ecosystem is evolving, cross sector, cross border from …

MWC15 News Round-up Day 4 – say goodbye to passwords, hello to connected cars and pizza

This year at MWC consumer trust and privacy have taken up position as a central theme.  There's also been plenty of announcements at the device level on how consumers can protect themselves with more sophisticated biometric authentication technology.  ZTE, Fujitsu and EyeVerify all announced eye scanning technology and Qualcomm putting forward its own 3D unltrasonic finger print scanning tech as a credible alternative. Elsewhere there's more evidence that the automotive sector is increasingly embracing mobile as the latest poster-boy of the ecosystem.  Visa announced that it has joined …

MasterCard is making mobile money a reality in Egypt

In growth economies, where handset penetration is high, mobile is typically the first and sometimes only digital touch-point for consumers within a large under-banked or un-banked population.  Characteristically commerce in the these countries is predominantly cash based, where routine financial tasks like transferring money to friends, paying utility bills or topping up phone credit is a matter (for most at least) of paying with hard cash. However in recent years that situation has begun to change.  Banks, credit card companies, mobile carriers and regulators are increasingly working …

Direct Carrier Billing and Boku’s e-money: from digital to physical purchases

Until recently, in Europe, direct carrier billing (AKA direct operator billing) was restricted to the purchase of digital goods and operated under an exemption to the European Union’s Payment Services Directive (PSD). This regulatory framework was largely established to deal with the purchase of ringtones and wallpapers. Now however, it’s possible for carrier billing providers to operate in full compliance with the PSD using an e-money licence, enabling carrier billing to be used for physical purchases, presenting a major new commerce opportunity. MEF member Boku is one such company that …

Meffys 2014 – All the Nominees and Winners

Last month MEFTV met the Meffys 2014 nominees and winners at the 11th Annual Awards Gala Dinner in San Francisco as part of MEF Global Forum 2014. Watch backstage interviews with all of the winners below. You can also check out all of the finalists – it’s a fantastic round-up of the best in mobile content and commerce from around the world in 2014. The Winners Mobile Education - Wikimedia Foundation > [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t-S7EFPasw&feature=share&list=PLRqxWUlaeOT44_rxTLex3OHGw2vQPUXmx&w=600&align=right]mHealth - Eko Devices > Big Data …

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15 stats that show how mobile money is taking shape globally

Earlier this month we created this Mobile Money Landscape diagram - a who's who of the companies that are booting up the mobile money ecosystem. Take a closer look at the statistics below which we've picked out to illustrate how mobile money is pushing out in every direction, bringing mobile service providers in to direct and collaborative relationships with regulators, banks, and retailers, creating a powerful mix of companies that are all committed to making a secure and sustainable future. Understanding how mobile money is taking shape in growth and established economies will also be …

Enabling the move from cash to mobile money

Its no secret that much of the innovation around mobile money and mobile financial services is coming from growth markets.  Typically large sections of the population in these countries are un-banked and have limited access to any physical banking infrastructure yet feature phone and smartphone penetration is high.  Taken together these circumstances have paved the way for mobile money services which are maturing to become essential banking tools that allow more sophisticated financial services to be brought to market. In this guest blog, Sunil Sachdev, MD of financial technology company …

Digital Wallets – Transforming the retail experience

Srinivas Nidugondi, Senior Vice President at Mahindra Comviva heads the mobile financial Solutions business unit. Here he discusses how mobile wallets present a huge opportunity for creative merchants to add value to digital transactions, while sharing his key tips for success and the pitfalls to avoid. The way we use money has undergone a sea-change. After several false starts, financial services and mobile connectivity have forged a mutually beneficial relationship. According to industry estimates, the volume of global mobile transactions is expected to witness 35 per cent annual growth …

11 Facts That Demonstrate The Global Impact and Growth of Mobile

Don’t panic! the deadline for entering the 11th annual Meffys has been extended to 8th August. To celebrate here’s 11 essential mobile facts from across the mobile landscape representing some of the categories that will be awarded in Silicon Valley later this year. Categories include Mobile Money, Entertainment & Life Tool Apps, Social Responsibility and Consumer Trust as well as four new categories Big Data, Innovation in FinTech, Mobile Health and Mobile Education. 1. 90% of all data has been created in the last two years.  The proliferation of smartphones is accelerating this growth.  …

Paym mobile payments service launches in the UK

New payment service, Paym, launched in the UK yesterday, enabling bank customers to send money using just their mobile phone number. Backed and developed by The Payments Council, over 300,000 people have already registered for the new service since registration opened three weeks ago, with nine banks and building societies on board at launch. The Paym service enables even more consumers to use mobile as a fast, secure and convenient payment channel, reflecting the global trend toward mobile payments. Earlier this year MEF released its Mobile Money Insight Report which indexed the …

Mobile payments driving global m-commerce adoption

MEF this week released the first report in its Global Consumer Insights Series on Mobile Money, authored by editor in chief of Mobile Money Revolution, Tim Green and with Analytics partner, On Device Research. The report analyses data from 10,000 respondents in 13 countries, highlighting regional & global trends in mobile money uptake and how it is stimulating growth across the mobile value chain. In 2013, 15 per cent of mobile media users used some form of mobile money scheme to buy things at retail. They did so via a mobile wallet (NFC or otherwise), a mobile loyalty scheme or a …