Mobile phones have increasingly become tools that consumers use for banking, payments, budgeting, and shopping. Given the rapid pace of developments in the area of mobile finance, the Federal Reserve Board began conducting annual surveys of consumers’ use of mobile financial services in 2011. This 78-page report, “Consumers and Mobile Financial Services” (March, 2015) examines trends in the adoption and use of mobile banking, payments, and shopping behavior and how the emergence of mobile financial services affects consumers’ interaction with financial institutions.
Carrier Billing Coming to All Windows Devices
Devindra Hardawar is reporting via Engadget’s live-blog from the keynote of Microsoft’s Build 2015 event: Terry Myerson says Microsoft is bringing carrier billing to all Windows devices [including desktop devices] — which lets you send app purchases to your cellphone bill. Myerson says it’s the largest carrier-billing experience out there now, covering 90 mobile carriers.
According to Myers, carrier billing will now work on phones, tablets, and computers that use Windows 10: “Not everyone has a credit card, but everyone has a mobile phone,” he said during the keynote address.
In December, 2014, Microsoft announced carrier billing in China, India and Brazil, writing at the time: “Today we’re proud to announce that Windows Store has become the first global smartphone platform to enable carrier billing for app purchases in China through China Mobile, India with Idea and Brazil via Claro. China Mobile alone is estimated to serve nearly 800 million customers, including millions of Windows Phone users. The largest carrier in the U.S, Verizon Wireless, has also added Windows Phone to the platforms it supports with carrier billing.”
According to Microsoft’s blog: the company has “now established connections with 81 carriers in 46 markets, with a combined subscriber base of 2.6 billion – that is 46 percent of all subscribers worldwide.”