Mobile Payment Magazine

Apliman Technologies and Creova team up to deliver Mobile Money to Africell

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According to a new report from Juniper Research, the global mobile money transfer market will grow beyond $65bn by 2014. The service mainly focuses on developing countries where users do not have access to banking services and use traditional means of payment instead, such as physically transporting the money or storing cash at home. Mobile Money offers a speedy remittance channel for people to send and receive money efficiently, encouraging circulation of money nationwide.

Apliman Technologies and Creova have partnered to offer a secure and practical mobile money transfer solution to Africell, allowing people to send and receive money, nationwide, to friends and family who themselves may not have bank accounts. Consequently, it brings many unbanked customers under the formal financial system, and enables money transfers to break through rural areas which allows for economic growth in developing economies.

Africell is a mobile telecommunications company serving The Gambia and Sierra Leone. It is a subsidiary of the Lebanese telecommunications company Lintel Holding. Africell has 652,000 subscribers (2q 2009) in the Gambia and 600,000 in Sierra Leone. Africell is the Leading GSM Operator in the Gambia with more than 69% of the GSM market Share. All its core network and radio equipments are supplied by Siemens.

‘Apliman-Creova’ Mobile Money solution is a customizable system that works on a role-based model: Sender, Dealer, Point of Sales Agent, Cashier, and Administrator, to ensure reliable delivery of funds, anytime, from a customer to any other mobile phone user. No special interface is required besides a mobile phone. It is designed to be integrated into the existing mobile network infrastructure, allowing mobile operators and financial institutions to offer a value added service without incurring additional costs. The platform can be further customized to support other payment methods which helps customers and dealers not only to perform paperless money transfer, but also to complete financial settlements in real-time. Fraud reduction is guaranteed with three security levels and extensive set of transaction reports. This simplicity, reliability, and flexibility add to the attractiveness of the service and create exciting opportunities for the mobile money ecosystem.

“Apliman Technologies is proud to team up with Creova, one of the major international players in Mobile Money. We are looking forward to a continuous and prosperous cooperation that will expand this technology into many other African countries, where it is becoming one of the most important money generating VAS services.”, said Mr. Tarek Itani, Executive Director of Apliman Technologies.

“Our solutions are at the forefront of the mobile payments industry,” said Ramzi el Fekih, CEO of Creova. “The Mobile Money service provides an innovative set of low cost financial solutions, proven to increase banking activities and create customer loyalty. It is easy-to-use, accessible, secure, and traceable. Creova is unique in providing innovative technology, managed services, and go-to-market partnership models to ensure success of the Mobile Money service. It will revolutionize the world of mobile telephony and financial services while optimizing and providing alternative choices and freedom to customers. Our rich and completely modular platform design has been developed with the goal of allowing our customers a fast deployment, get a preferred position in the market, and open to future applications according to the needs of customers and the local market(s).”

“We believe Apliman is the right partner for Creova in the region, and our expectations on the current and future projects that will arise from our partnership are very high. This is the first of many more that will surely follow”.

Source: Apliman, Wikipedia

YESpay to Offer Mobile Payments in Europe and North America

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YESpay International announces that it will shortly enable smart phone based mobile payments at many of its selected merchants that participate in its web and mobile YESpay-Wallet card payment program, allowing customers to pay for web, mobile and in-store purchases with select smartphones.

YESpay has already launched its YESpay-Wallet service for web-based card payments with many merchants such as YES-secure.com Peer-to-Peer Social Lending web marketplace. These innovative merchants encourage their customers to create personal YESpay-Wallets™ in order to make card payments on their websites.

YESpay is expected to launch its YESpay-Wallet Mobile App for select BlackBerry and iPhone smartphones, and iPod touch. Dr Chandra Patni, CEO at YESpay International said, “Customers of participating YESpay-Wallet merchants will have access to one of the most extensive global mobile payment program that enables the fastest way to pay on the web, on the mobile and in-store. This global program over the next 18 months could include over 3,000 YESpay merchants”.

YESpay regularly processes millions of cardholder payments for its merchants and predicts mobile payment will attract customers and merchants alike looking to experience the speed, ease and convenience of paying with their mobile phone. “Customers can create their individual YESpay-Wallet™ in which they can add details of their credit and debit cards as well as create YESpay Virtual Cards – they can then make card payments at YESpay web merchants or by using the YESpay-Wallet™ Mobile App in-store. This will extend customer experience at potentially all our merchant locations,” said Tasneem Bunglowala, YESpay Mobile App Product Manager. “With mobile payment, the YESpay-Wallet platform with support for Virtual Cards further elevates the customer/merchant experience by delivering convenience, rewarding loyalty and continuing to build an emotional mutual connection.”

To experience mobile YESpay-Wallet payments at participating YESpay merchants, customers just need to download the free YESpay-Wallet Mobile App for select BlackBerry smartphones, iPhone or iPod touch mobile devices. Possibly one-quarter of U.K./USA/Canadian customers of YESpay merchants use smartphones, of which nearly three quarters use BlackBerry smartphone or iPhone mobile devices.

The YESpay-Wallet  Mobile App allows customers to manage their virtual and credit cards, check their Virtual Card balances, reload their Virtual Cards with any major credit/debit card, check their Retailer Discount Coupons and Promotions status and find a nearby YESpay Merchant store with the store locator feature. In addition, using the mobile app customers can pay with their smartphone by selecting one of their credit/debit or Virtual Cards in their electronic wallet, holding their mobile device in front of a scanner on the countertop and scan the card Mobile App’s on-screen barcode to make a purchase.

Mobile payment is built on the YESpay-Wallet and Virtual Card platform, which continues to experience significant customer adoption. Mala Chauhan, Marketing Manager at YES-secure.com said, “Our lending members have loaded more than £0.3 million using their YESpay-Wallet just in the first full quarter of operation in Q4 2010. We are now feverishly working on the introduction of the quick and easy YESpay-Wallet Mobile App for greater convenience. A growing segment of our members use smartphones, and through the YESpay-Wallet Mobile App, we can provide them with the fastest way to pay.”

Source: PRweb

Intuit to Develop Mobile Payment App for Android 3.0 Honeycomb

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Intuit GoPayment, which lets anyone who sells products or services get paid via mobile devices, is one of the first mobile payment apps being developed for Android 3.0, Honeycomb.

Building on the capabilities of Honeycomb, GoPayment allows people and businesses selling products or services to process credit card payments no matter where they are–on the road, in a store or at their home.

GoPayment for Honeycomb lets users:

  • Take photos of frequently sold items – Using a device’s camera, save time by photographing products and storing details to create a visual product list to quickly take customer orders.
  • Drag and drop frequently sold items from a product list – Quickly complete a sale by dragging and dropping items into the shopping cart and easily add or delete items as needed.
  • Work within an easy-to-view, large-screen environment – Easily view transactions and work faster when processing payments on a tablet.
  • Find data quickly – Find items in a product list or locate past transactions using new search capabilities. Authorize transactions with touch screen signature – For added security and professionalism, customers can quickly sign a tablet’s touch screen to authorize their transactions.
  • Swipe cards within seconds – Save time and money by swiping a card instead of entering numbers manually with support for a variety of credit card readers. All compatible card readers also encrypt the credit card data for added protection.

“We are excited about bringing one of the first mobile payment apps to Honeycomb,” said Chris Hylen, vice president and general manager of Intuit’s Payment Solutions division. “We are continually looking to support the newest mobile platforms and devices so that more people can start taking credit card payments no matter where they are.”

Availability and Pricing

Intuit will publicly demo GoPayment for Honeycomb at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, from Feb. 14 to 17 at the Android booth. GoPayment for Honeycomb is expected to be available this spring on Android Market.

The GoPayment app is free and offers various pricing plans including no monthly fees and a free Intuit Credit Card Reader for people who are just getting started. For those who frequently process credit cards, there is also a plan with lower rates for higher-volume processing. GoPayment has no set-up, cancellation or gateway fees.

More information: GoPayment

Source: Business Wire

ProPay Releases Mobile Payment App for Smartphones

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ProPaym which provides merchant services, end-to-end payment security, credit card processing, and electronic payment services, has introduced its new social mobile payment (m-payment) platform, provisionally named Zumogo,  during the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.

Zumogo is a mobile payment application that facilitates payments and bi-directional communication between merchants and their consumers, allowing customers and businesses to connect. With Zumogo (pronounced “Zoo-MOE-Go”), businesses can market to new and existing customers and improve operating efficiencies, while customers can communicate with and make payments to businesses — all through a smartphone.

“The mobile payment movement is definitely in full gear and ProPay is excited to be at the forefront,” said Chris Mark, Executive Vice President of Emerging Markets at ProPay. “Not only does Zumogo allow consumers to connect with and pay merchants in an entirely new way, it does so in a manner that protects the sensitive payment data. Zumogo combines data security with the flexibility of mobile payment options, and the connectedness of social media, giving merchants and consumers the best aspects of each.”

The application provides benefits to both consumers and businesses. Consumers no longer need to carry all of their payment cards with them to make a payment. They can locate nearby Zumogo merchants, and even announce themselves to the merchant and ask questions via Zumogo’s chat function. Businesses can more efficiently service their customers while developing a deeper relationship with them. In addition, Zumogo can enable businesses to expedite the payment and checkout processes, allowing them to more efficiently serve their customers.

Zumogo leverages ProPay’s PCI DSS-compliant ProtectPay system, which combines end to end encryption and tokenization to secure payment data, and no sensitive data is exchanged between the merchant and the consumer.

According to Gary Goodrich, ProPay’s Chief Executive Officer, “Our new social m-payment platform demonstrates our commitment to leading the industry in both innovation and in the protection of consumer data. The addition of this mobile payment application to our existing product suite is a natural evolution of our secure payment services, and we’re excited to introduce it to our merchants.”

Zumogo is currently available on the Android Market and the iPhone App Store, and  will be available for the Windows Phone 7 platform by the end of the first quarter 2011.

Source: MarketWire

LG to Launch NFC European Mobile Payment System in 2012

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LG Electronics has announced plans to launch an NFC mobile payment system in Europe in 2012, enabling consumers to pay for products and services using their smartphones. Near Field Communication (NFC) will be the dominant system for mobile phone payments by 2015 according to Frost and Sullivan.

Near field communication or NFC, is a short-range high frequency wireless communication technology which enables the exchange of data between devices over about a 10 centimeters (3.9 in) distance.

The technology is a simple extension of the ISO/IEC 14443 proximity-card standard (proximity card, RFID) that combines the interface of a smartcard and a reader into a single device. An NFC device can communicate with both existing ISO/IEC 14443 smartcards and readers, as well as with other NFC devices, and is thereby compatible with existing contactless infrastructure already in use for public transportation and payment. NFC is primarily aimed at usage in mobile phones.

via LG to launch European NFC mobile payment system in 2012 – Business News – Business Review Europe.

Additional sources: Wikipedia

Glenbrook Payments Boot Camp: Feb. 16-17, 2011 – Santa Clara, CA

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Glenbrook’s Payments Boot Camp is an intensive, two-day “deep dive” into the U.S. payments systems, providing a unique cross-payments system view of the industry. Throughout the two days, these sessions will focus on  understanding how current trends and issues will affect the status quo and on how new and emerging players may complement–or threaten–the industry incumbents.

The February 2011 session will be held in Santa Clara, California. The instructors for the session are Scott Loftesness and Carol Coye Benson. The event provides  plenty of time for interaction with the instructors, and with the other people at the camp. There is a complementary networking reception on the first evening.

Each section is designed to encourage interactive participation by the audience.

Overview – payments systems designs, functions and uses; payment system volumes and the dramatic shifts in actual and projected payments usage; key trends and issues in payments systems in the United States; how payments systems compare by economic model, regulatory environment, processing support and risk management; how cross border payments and other country payments systems compare to domestic U.S. payments and systems Students listen during the “What is Interchange?” discussion.

Core Systems – how the basic payments systems in the U.S. market work. Cards, checking, ACH, cash and wire transfer are covered “soup to nuts”. You’ll learn how the “wiring” actually works, who the players are, what drives the fundamental economics of the systems, who the regulators are and how the rules are set and changed.

Perspectives – how each of the key constituents of the industry view payments; economic and other motivations; how behavior is changing and why. Constituents include consumers, banks, merchants, billers, enterprises, networks and processors.

Emerging Payments – how to understand the many emerging players, products, technologies in payments. This section covers:

  • Mobile Payments – a comprehensive review of activity in the U.S. market, across multiple domains and technologies, using Glenbrook’s “Mobile Payments Market Map”
  • Chip and Contactless Cards – what’s happening in the U.S. and how to understand it in context of the global payments industry
  • Online Payments – eCommerce market structure and segments, the leading alternative payments providers and an emerging set of new players with surprisingly different offerings
  • Bill Payments – multiple consumer options, all growing at the expense of check
  • POS Payments – new card products and new ACH products – is the tipping point anywhere near?
  • B2B Payments – new ACH and card products; why checks are still important; handling cross border payments
  • P2P and Social Payments – prepaid and mobile offerings for domestic and international remittances

More information: Glenbrook Payments Boot Camp

Jumio Announces Advisory Board of Former Google and Amazon Veterans

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Jumio, the soon-to-be-launched payment solution based in Mountain View, California, today announced part of its high profile advisory board, with industry veterans from Amazon, Google, and NASA.

Daniel Mattes, founder and CEO of Jumio, who also started Jajah.com, has invited Internet pioneers Zain Khan (former Google executive), Mark Britto (former Amazon executive) and Maarten Linthorst (former NASA partner).

“We are extremely pleased that our ideas and technology attract such talent. It shows me that we are right on track with our approach to make online and mobile payments easier and more secure,” says Mattes.

Zain Khan, a former Google executive known as the “Ops guy,” built Google’s impressive infrastructure from scratch in 1999. Zain, now turned private investor, says about Jumio: “It’s mainly the technological brilliance and the complexity that lies in this payment solution that excites a tech-person like me. Add a proven team and the product is bound to be successful.”

Board member of Bill Me Later (acquired by eBay) and founder of Accept.com (acquired by Amazon), Mark Britto was responsible for building the main payment infrastructure for Amazon. He sees Jumio as the solution to one of the few remaining Internet problems: “The challenge of fully securing online payments has been an ongoing one. Jumio is perfectly prepared to solve the problem.”

Working with NASA back in 1969, Maarten Linthorst paved the way for the Internet as we know it, interconnecting the first two servers to become the ARPANET. He also developed the X25 protocol, which is used for every credit card transaction worldwide. Linthorst believes that “Jumio will revolutionize the way we think about online payment — both from a technological and a social point of view.”

A former CEO of one of the largest online gambling groups worldwide, Bjorn Evers sees “Jumio as a definite game changer and the answer to online payment fraud.”

According to the company, Jumio’s mission is to make payments simpler, faster, more convenient and — above all — more secure. “$191 billion is the annual cost caused by credit card fraud in the United States, and it’s time to act,” says Mattes. “With our advisory board of brilliant minds, we are well-prepared.”

Source: LaunchSquad

CHARGE Anywhere Releases Mobile POS Payment App for Android

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CHARGE Anywhere has released an updated payment application for Android smartphones. The app accepts multiple tender types–in addition to credit card payments, the CHARGE Anywhere mobile payment app can facilitate cash transactions, check transactions and ACH payments.

“Merchants can increase their cash flow and their customer satisfaction by accepting every available payment type from a mobile phone,” said Dmitriy Lerman, Director of Marketing at CHARGE Anywhere.

The app is available for Android smartphones and Android tablets, such as the Samsung Galaxy, and allows businesses to complete cash and check sales on the app for free, according to Paul Sabella, President and CEO of CHARGE Anywhere.

There’s also an optional Bluetooth card reader/receipt printer. The battery-operated, peripheral device generates a printed receipt at the point-of-sale. Receipts can also be emailed to customers.

CHARGE Anywhere’s mobile payment software and payment gateway solutions are supported by all major card processors in the US and Canada.

The application can be downloaded from the Android Market.

Source: PR Newswire

BMW SmartKey Can Act as NFC Electronic Payment Device

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BMW Group Research and Technology has developed a multifunctional car key which enables cashless payment and personalized vehicle access, bringing another device–the car key–into the running to be the next cashless wallet.

“As part of our research project we first integrated a security chip into the key casing, which communicates across short distances by radio with a card reader,” says Hans-Jörg Vögel, project manager at BMW Group Forschung und Technik. In future the key could also be used for other transport systems. Indeed, electronic tickets for bus, train and air travel could all be stored on the chip. The credit card function in the security chip allows electronic payments to be carried out quickly, securely and conveniently from the prototype key.

Adding a personalized credit card function to the car key opens the door to a wealth of other mobility scenarios. For example, the holder of the key can enjoy secure in-car access to personal data since the key gives the driver authorized online access to his personalized ConnectedDrive services inside a BMW–not only when he’s traveling in his own car, but also from a BMW hire car, for example. Here, the driver identifies himself using his personal key and the car adopts his individual settings. Access to personal data such as address books, favorite radio stations and personal subscriptions to services and content providers is activated through the multifunctional key.

Because the driver can be identified with total certainty, the key can now–for the first time–be linked to the car owner rather than any particular car. This also makes hiring cars and car sharing, for instance, even easier.

“With the concept of integrating a cashless payment function into a car key, we are working on ways of linking up vehicle technology and lifestyle,” says Prof. Raymond Freymann, Director of BMW Group Research and Technology.

NFC Technology in Smartphones Spurs Commercial Vialbility of Mobile Payments

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The near field communication (NFC) market has moved from an ‘innovator’ to an ‘early adopter’ phase and from trial development to the first commercial roll out.

The key driver for the market is the wide adoption of the NFC solution in mobile phones, as without massive number of NFC-enabled mobile phones in use, the market will not be able to realize its immense potential.

According to industry analysts at Frost & Sullivan, NFC-enabled mobile phones will reach 863 million units in 2015. At this time, NFC-enabled mobile phones will represent more than 53 per cent of the overall market.

A recent report from the company entitled :NFC: When Will Be the Real Start?” states that in 2015, NFC will clearly be the most-used solution for mobile payment, and analysts expect that the total payment value for NFC globally to reach approximately $180 billion in 2015, while the NFC payment value in the EU is expected to reach $67.55 billion.

Frost & Sullivan forecasts a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 118 per cent between 2010 and 2015.

“There are two possible business models for the NFC market; the first one is based on a memory rental model where the NFC application will rent the memory space used by its application and the second is a pure rental model coupled with extra cost per use where the application will pay a cost per year with a given number of actions,” explains Frost & Sullivan Global Program Director Jean-Noël Georges. “When this number of actions on the application such as update, patch, read and write is reached, extra costs are charged to the application provider.” Frost & Sullivan anticipates the second model to be the most applicable. The pure rental model will probably be the most widely used in future.

“Different secure elements for NFC methods have allowed different technology players in industries such as telecoms operators and electronic device manufacturers to establish their own payment infrastructure,” remarks Jean-Noël Georges. “This lack of harmonization has been an obvious restraint for the NFC industry.”

For nearly a decade, the NFC solution has been facing political and commercial problems. Most industries involved in NFC trials did not want to share the substantial revenues generated by this solution. Illustrating this point was the commercial discussion between banks and network operators, neither of whom wanted to share revenues. At the beginning, each wanted to force the other to adopt their business model. At the end, after network operator acquisition of banks and financial company acquisition of network operators, they were forced to admit that cooperation was the best compromise.

The NFC market also has the potential to create revenues for the entire NFC ecosystem. Even if it seems that purely hardware–SIM card and NFC controller–revenues will decrease, the gain will still be really important.

However, most technology providers have been able to offer new services directly linked with NFC. Handset manufacturers, trusted service management system providers and marketing and commercial NFC service providers all stand to benefit.

“Many marketing companies are already involved in the NFC ecosystem,” concludes Jean-Noël Georges. “This is a good signal because, in the past, marketing companies were involved in new technology roll-outs only when the transition occurred from purely trials to first commercial deployments.”

More information: NFC: When Will be the Real Start?

Source: Frost & Sullivan