Mobile Payment Magazine

Global Mobile Software Market to Reach $79.7 Billion by 2017

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Proliferation of mobile computing devices, such as, mobile phones, laptops, palm computers, and the rise in the number of supporting platforms, such as, Android, has resulted in the development of several killer mobile software and applications revolving around device customization, internet connectivity, and other mobile computer related activities.

With mobile computing devices quickly transforming from an emerging niche market to a mainstream force, changing not only the way people conduct business, but arguably the consumer electronics and telecommunication industry as a whole, the global market for mobile software, a key enabler of these mobile devices continues to remain promising.

Growing popularity of mobile communication applications such as email, IM, mobile video, on device portals, Internet browsers, Internet web, and social network clients, multimedia applications such as presentation viewers, video players, audio players, graphics/image viewers, word processors, and spreadsheets, among others provides tremendous opportunities for global mobile software market.

Growing use of smartphones especially opens up the channel for development of innovative software and consumer applications, driving demand for next-generation mobile software. Top consumer mobile applications for upcoming years, including Location-Based Services, Money Transfer, Mobile Browsing, Mobile Health Monitoring, Mobile Search, Near Field Communication Services, Mobile Payment, Mobile Instant Messaging, Mobile Advertising and Mobile Music are all expected to drive present substantial market opportunities for mobile software market in the years to come. Location based services such as Location Enabled Search and Location based Social Network Services in particular are expected to increase in popularity over the next few years, thereby driving gains into the market.

The Asia-Pacific region is the most prominent regional market for mobile software. Growth in the Asia-Pacific mobile software market is particularly driven by growing craze for smartphones and other mobile devices in emerging markets such as China and India. Increased demand for mobile email and other Internet enabled services within the burgeoning corporate sector in these countries also augurs well for the market. User Interface (UI) and Applications represent the largest product segment, while Mobile Device Management (MDM) market represents the fastest growing product segment, waxing at a CAGR of more than 23% over the analysis period.

Major players in the marketplace include ACCESS Co. Ltd., Apple Inc., Electronic Arts Inc., Google Inc., InnoPath Software Inc., Microsoft Corporation, MFormation Technologies Inc., Nokia Corporation, Red Bend Software Inc., Research In Motion Limited, Smith Micro Software Inc., Sybase Inc., The Symbian Foundation, among others.

A new research report entitled “Mobile Software: A Global Strategic Business Report” has been released by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.,  The report provides a comprehensive review of market trends, issues, drivers, company profiles, and key strategic industry activities.

Market estimates and projections are presented for major geographic markets including North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of World. Product segments analyzed include – User Interface (UI) and Applications, Application Execution Environment (AEE) and Operating System (OS) Software.

More information: Mobile Software: A Global Strategic Business Report

Source: PR Web

Google to Test Mobile Payments in New York and San Francisco

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Google Inc. plans to start testing a mobile-payment service at stores in New York and San Francisco within four months, letting shoppers use their phones to ring up purchases, two people familiar with the project said.

The company will pay for installation of thousands of special cash-register systems from VeriFone Systems Inc. PAY at merchant locations, said one of the people, who requested anonymity because Google’s plans haven’t been made public. The registers would accept payments from mobile phones equipped with so-called near-field-communication technology.

via Bloomberg.

NFC Mobile Payments Will Be Big Business for Google, Says Schmidt

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Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, thinks wireless transactions, enabled by the coming wave of Android smartphones outfitted with near-field communication (NFC) technology, could turn into a serious business for the company.

Speaking to a small group of reporters late Tuesday after his keynote presentation at the Mobile World Congress here, Schmidt said Google could work with advertisers to “extend offers to phones with NFC chips.” Advertisers, he said, were interested in combining an ad and an offer, presumably at the point of sale.

via NY Times.

Google NFC Mobile Payment System Announcement May Come This Week, Says Analyst

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Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Marianne Wolk believes Google could unveil a mobile-payment system, based on near-field communication (NFC), at Mobile World Congress this week. The conference is being held in Barcelona, Spain from February 14-17, 2011.

“We see several challenges to Google as a mobile-payment platform. Merchant acceptance is critical, and even with a well-connected merchant acquirer such as First Data or GPN, merchants are reluctant to adopt an offering that is not an industrywide standard,” Wolk wrote in a research note Feb. 14, 2011. Google declined to comment.

via eWeek.com.

Google and Apple NFC Mobile Payments Battleground

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Recent reports have suggested that the Apple iPad and the iPhone 5 will have integrated Near Field Communication (NFC) capabilities that can be used for mobile payments, as well as other applications. NFC involves a chip that transmits a short range, high frequency signal in order to communicate with nearby devices or transfer payments.

Google also has grand plans in the mobile payment space through Android OS phones. Google’s Eric Schmidt talked about Google and mobile payments at the recent Web 2.0 Summit when he announced that the “Gingerbread” Android release will have integrated NFC.

More via Search Engine Watch.

Mobile Payments Research Report 2011: Battle in a Fragmented Market

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Research and Markets  has announced the addition of the “Mobile Payments – A Battle of Giants in a Fragmented Market” report to their offering.

This study spotlights the mobile payment market, provides details about the related services and their technological aspects, analyses the usages and the industrial structure with a drawn of the value chain. The report makes an in-depth look in examining several business models – for NFC, SMS, Fixed/mobile wallet & App Stores – their impacts and upcoming opportunities.

Key Questions

  • What are the different mobile payment services and which technologies are being used?
  • Who is using M-payment and how do they use it?
  • How are this emerging market and its value chain structured?
  • What are the existing business models and who is the furthest along with their deployments?
  • What are the market’s key figures and what are the main forces driving development?
  • What does the competition landscape look like?
  • What sustainable opportunities are available to the different kind of players?

Key Topics Covered:

  • 1. Executive Summary
  • 2. Introduction
  • 3. Market structure and key factors
  • 4. Organisation & Industrial Strategy
  • 5. Strategic analysis
  • Tables
  • Figures

Companies Mentioned:

  • Amazon Mobile Payments
  • American Express
  • Apple
  • BarclayCard
  • Billing revolution
  • Boku
  • Carrefour
  • Deutsche Telekom
  • Facebook
  • Gemalto
  • Google
  • McDonald
  • MoBeePay
  • NFC
  • Nokia
  • NTT docomo
  • Obopay
  • Orange
  • PayPal
  • PTC
  • Sprint
  • Starbucks
  • Subway
  • Telecom Italia
  • Telefonica
  • Venmo
  • Verifone
  • Visa
  • Zong

More information: Research and Markets

Google to Launch Mobile Payment Service

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There are a number of companies getting involved in getting mobile phones to be able to make purchases and charge either your mobile phone bill or directly to your bank account.

Google is now planning to launch a new mobile payment service that will be based on Near Field Communication or NFC. This new service would provide the ability for people to make purchases with their mobile phones at retailers. To make a payment for the items being purchased, all a customers would have to do is wave their mobile phone or tap their mobile phone on a device at the register. These in store devices would also have the ability to slide a credit or debit card through them to make the purchase if not making a purchase with your mobile wallet.

via TechInsider.

Mobile Payment Players to Watch in 2011

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As consumers increasingly adopt smartphone technology and all the new app’s that go with it, mobile payment is becoming much more used and accepted, and companies including Google, Apple, and other smartphone players are providing mobile-payment enabling technologies such as near-field communications (NFC) into their devices, while other service like Foursquare and ShopKick are engaging consumers at the point-of-purchase locations like never before.

Editors at Advertising Age have done a round-up of some potentially hot product and services offerings for 2011, covering PayPal, Rightcliq, Square, iConcessionStand,  and Zong.

“The rewards for savvy brands that build relationships with consumers on these new payment platforms go beyond just publicity and profit – it may just be a way to create meaningful relationships with consumers at the point of purchase and far beyond.”

More: Meet the Next-Generation Payments Systems Set to Drive Future Commerce.

2010 Mobile Banking Scorecard Research Report

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Javelin Strategy and Research has released its 2010 Mobile Banking Scorecard: How 19 Top Financial Institutions Compare on Mobile Channel Retail Delivery. The survey presents an overview of mobile banking services offered by 19 of the 30 largest U.S. financial institutions (FIs) based on deposits. The survey covers five key areas of mobile banking: marketing and security messaging, mobile access, general features, short message service SMS features and security.

As part of the data collection process, mystery shoppers also were employed. They searched each FI’s website and contacted each FI’s customer service representatives CSRs a minimum of four times. Of the 30 FIs researched and contacted in June and July 2010, 19 offer mobile banking services to their customers.

When scoring the FIs, Javelin reviewed a total of 47 criteria. Based on a quantitative analysis of the criteria, FIs were awarded either a gold, silver or bronze status. This report further includes a profile of Bank of America.

More information or to download a report summary: Javelin Strategy – 2010 Mobile Banking Scorecard.

Google Moves Even Stronger Into Mobile Marketing and Payments with Acquisition of Zetawire

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Back in November, Google’s Eric Schmidt teased the crowd at Web 2.0 about Google’s plans for NFC mobile payments using the Android OS, and introduced the Samsung Nexus S running Gingerbread and an NFC chip by NXP. It turns out that as early as August, according to the 451 Group, a technology industry Analyst company, Google  also had purchased Canadian stealth startup Zetawire, which likely has a product built around a payment, identity management and advertising system, based on Zetawire’s open patent application.

Google is moving quickly into the mobile payment arena, but with Google, it’s a lot more than just payments. The company has also been active around location-based and mobile marketing and advertising with the launch of the more robust Google Places and its new Hotspot service. Now, with Near Field Communication (NFC) coming closer to reality (led by Google’s Android OS Nexus S smartphone), the company is increasingly well-positioned to capitalize on the coming boom in mobile payments:

  • Android smartphones (Nexus S), with built-in Near Field Communication (NFC) capabilities
  • Google Places and Hotspot, a fast-growing directory of businesses, along with a Marketing/Advertising platform (remember, Google controls online search results also, which often display Google Places company listings)
  • Mobile marketing
  • Google Checkout

Now covering the spectrum of actions from the search, to the ad or merchant listing, to the click, to the promotion coupon to the payment, Google has a lot of touch-points to profit from, and to track ROI.

While some of Google’s previous efforts to branch out its offering of services have withered (Social Networking, for example), the company caught a huge break while Apple’s iPhone was stuck at ATT by launching the very successful Android OS for a generation of smartphones running on alternate networks such as Verizon’s.  By August of this year, Nielsen reported that new smartphone subscribers choosing Android phones were at 27 percent, surpassing Apple iPhone’s 23% share.

References: TechCrunch; Mashable