MasterCard gives m-commerce a fillip

Mastercard is introducing a Mobile Payments Gateway that delivers end-to-end mobile payment solutions. This is a milestone feat for m-Commerce. It will be much easier to send and receive money through the mobile device than it’s occurs currently and it will boost initiatives due to technologies like these. Anyone within the payment cycle can build quick and cost-effective customized mobile solutions which all will serve to offer a convenient and secure -mobile- payment process.

Mobile Payments/M-Commerce are heralded as the next growth frontier for Mobiles. M-PESA in Kenya has set examples enabling people to have their first banking accounts on their handheld phones. Juniper estimates the opportunity at $860 billion generated made by close to 450 million consumers with 285 billion transactions by 2013. Money Transfer is expected to generate more than $200 billion in 2013. The ticketing segment will be driven by consumer usage on rail, air and bus networks as well as sports and entertainment events This will represent over 40% of the global transaction value by 2013. In 2008, only 67 million mobile phone users accessed mBanking services, whereas in 2013 the figure could reach one billion.

Last year, <a href="“>VISA had demonstrated a NFC led mobile point of sale payment in a pilot at Malaysia spearheaded by Maxis, Nokia, Maybank under the aegis of VISA.

“The Mobile Payments Gateway will help to make mobile payments a way of life for mobile phone users around the world,” said Joshua Peirez, group executive of Innovative Platforms for MasterCard Worldwide. “Through our global, integrated payment network we are efficiently connecting financial institutions, merchants and consumers together to mobilize MasterCard payment solutions in a way that truly reflects today’s on-the-go lifestyles.”

Vivo, the largest mobile operator in Brazil along with Itaú Unibanco and Redecard will be the first ones to partner up with the gateway. Mastercard will introduce its Mobile payments solutions in select markets around the world. Adoption, usage and diffusion are important for a further development of Mobile Commerce and Marketing.

A quick Stat showing the obvious acceptance of Mobile payments as a technology to be higher within the younger agen individuals in US. The obvious inference is to catch the customers young. The Mobile payments technology has to be pivoted around the young adults. It would be interesting to see the acceptability of M-payments across the SEC categorizations.