Mobile Payment Magazine

Mobile Payments Report: Opportunities and Strategies for Credit Issuers

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Mobil - Credit IssuersA new research report from Research & Markets entitled Opportunities and Strategies for Credit Issuers, examines mobile payment opportunities For US credit issuers.

The major card networks began supporting contactless payments nearly a decade ago, but consumer and merchant adoption has lagged considerably. Several startups, as well as established firms outside of the financial services industry, are marketing enhanced mobile payment services capable of causing significant disruption to the consumer payments value chain. [Read more…]

Mobile Payment Strategies Report: Opportunities & Markets 2011-2015

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Mobile Payment ReportA new study from Juniper Research has determined that the total value of mobile payments for digital and physical goods, money transfers and NFC (Near Field Communications) transactions will reach $670bn by 2015, up from $240bn this year. These forecasts represent the gross merchandise value of all purchases or the value of money being transferred.

The new Mobile Payment Strategies report revealed that all segments will exhibit 2x to 3x growth over the next five years. This growth will be driven by the rapid adoption of mobile ticketing, NFC contactless payments, physical goods purchases and money transfers as people in both developed and developing countries use their devices for everyday transactions. [Read more…]

Visa Certifies Samsung, LG and Blackberry Smartphones as Visa payWave Mobile Payment Devices

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Visa payWave

Visa Inc. and Visa Europe today announced that NFC-enabled smartphones from Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Research In Motion (RIM) have been certified for use with Visa’s mobile application for payments at the point-of-sale, Visa payWave.

The Samsung Galaxy SII, LG Optimus NET NFC, BlackBerry  Bold  9900, BlackBerry Bold 9790, BlackBerry  Curve 9360 and BlackBerry Curve 9380 have been added to the list of Visa compliant payment products available for commercial deployment by financial institutions.

All the new devices certified by Visa host the Visa payWave application on a secure SIM card and feature NFC (Near Field Communication) technology, the short range communications standard that enables mobile phones to securely transmit payment information to a contactless payment terminal.

“This is an important step for Visa, its financial institution partners and the mobile industry,” said Bill Gajda, Global Head of Mobile Product, Visa Inc. “In addition to issuing plastic magnetic stripe or chip-enabled payment cards, financial institutions can now consider offering their account-holders a way to transform their smartphones into fully functional mobile payment devices.”

Visa’s certification of these smartphones paves the way for mobile device manufacturers, mobile operators and retailers to partner with financial institutions to offer Visa mobile payment functionality to consumers globally.

Visa’s Certification Process

Visa has played a leadership role in establishing global standards for mobile payments, making sure that they are aligned with existing technology and security standards for chip payment cards and can easily be integrated into the existing payments ecosystem. For example: Visa payWave on mobile devices is compatible with existing contactless (NFC) payment terminals already installed at retail outlets worldwide, enabling Visa accountholders to simply wave their enabled phone in front of a payment terminal in order to pay.

Visa has a compliance testing process for both mobile devices and the secure elements that host the Visa payWave mobile application. The process includes extensive technical and usability testing with respect to the Visa mobile payment functionality. This helps to ensure reliable and secure Visa transactions which are compatible with the global standard for chip-enabled payments, and establishes a required signal range for all mobile (NFC-enabled) Visa payment devices. Visa’s compliance testing process helps to ensure the combination of the phone; secure chip and Visa’s mobile payment application will provide the level of security and user experience Visa accountholders have come to expect from Visa.

“Today’s announcement is another example of the momentum we are seeing behind NFC as an industry standard for mobile payments,” said Nick Holland, senior analyst Yankee Group. “Yankee Group predicts that the value of NFC-based transactions will grow significantly, from $27 million in 2010 to $40 billion in 2014.”

Source: Business Wire

comScore Reports U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share for July, 2011

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comScore, Inc. has released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending July 2011. The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 25.5 percent market share. Google Android continued to gain ground in the smartphone market reaching 41.8 percent market share.

OEM Market Share

For the three month average period ending in July, 234 million Americans ages 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 25.5 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers (up 1.0 percentage points), followed by LG with 20.9 percent share and Motorola with 14.1 percent share. Apple strengthened its position at #4 with 9.5 percent share of mobile subscribers (up 1.2 percentage points), while RIM rounded out the top five with 7.6 percent share.

Top Mobile OEMs
3 Month Avg. Ending Jul. 2011 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Apr. 2011
Total U.S. Mobile Subscribers (Smartphone & Non-Smartphone) Ages 13+
Source: comScore MobiLens
Share (%) of Mobile Subscribers
Apr-11 Jul-11 Point Change
Total Mobile Subscribers 100.0% 100.0% N/A
Samsung 24.5% 25.5% 1.0
LG 20.9% 20.9% 0.0
Motorola 15.6% 14.1% -1.5
Apple 8.3% 9.5% 1.2
RIM 8.2% 7.6% -0.6

Smartphone Platform Market Share

82.2 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in July 2011, up 10 percent from the preceding three month period. Google Android ranked as the top smartphone platform with 41.8 percent market share, up 5.4 percentage points. Apple strengthened its #2 position with 27.0 percent of the smartphone market, up 1.0 percentage points from the prior reporting period. RIM ranked third with 21.7 percent share, followed by Microsoft (5.7 percent) and Symbian (1.9 percent).

Top Smartphone Platforms
3 Month Avg. Ending Jul. 2011 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Apr. 2011
Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Ages 13+
Source: comScore MobiLens
Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers
Apr-11 Jul-11 Point Change
Total Smartphone Subscribers 100.0% 100.0% N/A
Google 36.4% 41.8% 5.4
Apple 26.0% 27.0% 1.0
RIM 25.7% 21.7% -4.0
Microsoft 6.7% 5.7% -1.0
Symbian 2.3% 1.9% -0.4

Mobile Content Usage

In July, 70 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, up 1.2 percentage points. Browsers were used by 41.1 percent of subscribers (up 2.0 percentage points), while downloaded applications were used by 40.6 percent (up 2.8 percentage points). Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 2.1 percentage points to 30.1 percent of mobile subscribers. Game-playing was done by 27.8 percent of the mobile audience (up 1.6 percentage points), while 20.3 percent listened to music on their phones (up 2.3 percentage points).

Mobile Content Usage
3 Month Avg. Ending Jul. 2011 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Apr. 2011
Total U.S. Mobile Subscribers (Smartphone & Non-Smartphone) Ages 13+
Source: comScore MobiLens
Share (%) of Mobile Subscribers
Apr-11 Jul-11 Point Change
Total Mobile Subscribers 100.0% 100.0% N/A
Sent text message to another phone 68.8% 70.0% 1.2
Used browser 39.1% 41.1% 2.0
Used downloaded apps 37.8% 40.6% 2.8
Accessed social networking site or blog 28.0% 30.1% 2.1
Played Games 26.2% 27.8% 1.6
Listened to music on mobile phone 18.0% 20.3% 2.3

 

Source: comScore

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

LG Star 4-inch Smartphone Details Leaked (Photos)

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LG Star 4-Inch Smartphone

Leaked "LG Star" smartphone. Image from: AndroidForums.com

Rumors and some leaked photos of the new LG “Star” 4-inch smartphone reveal that the phone has a screen resolution of 800×480, an 8 mp front-facing camera, the Tegra 2 processor, 1080p video,  and a 15000mAh battery, and will run stock gingerbread.

This is not necessarily the official name of the phone or official spec’s.

Source: Android Forum.