A Harris Interactive survey conducted earlier this year found that two out of three consumers who have tried to make a purchase on their smartphone or tablet have stopped short because of various snags during the checkout process. Other reports have found mobile shopping cart abandonment rates exceeding 90 percent – some 20 points higher than on larger devices.Explanations typically range from hard-to-navigate mobile carts and mobile sites that aren’t optimized to fit the smaller mobile form factor, to problems such as high shipping costs, long delivery times and “window shopping” behaviors that put a damper on mobile and non-mobile commerce alike.One factor that many merchants and analysts miss, however, is the role of the mobile payment system itself.

Most mobile payment platforms still require too many steps to checkout, lack flexible payment models, have limited ability to offer promotional features like couponing, and completely ignore the realities of selling in a global economy.

Read more via VentureBeat.