We are at the beginning of a new technology cycle as consumer adoption of mobile and social media extends the reach of the web and integrates those media into the physical world.

Facebook is only eight years old, and yet its planned $5 billion IPO is the largest Internet IPO ever. As in every new technology cycle, network effects make room for new players and the creation—and destruction—of vast amounts of wealth.

The Gang of Four—Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google—is a group of network players entering the banking and payments environment. How will the strengths and weaknesses of the Gang of Four play against those of major financial institutions, payment networks, and wireless carriers? Surprisingly, PayPal rates on equal footing with the Gang of Four when it comes to innovation and emerges as a possible leader in the next tech cycle.

Research & Markets recently released a report entitled Positioning for Payments in the New Mobile-Social Technology Erathat  focuses on the relationship of brands to consumer perceptions of trust, innovation, and privacy in order to identify opportunities and threats.

Primary Questions

• What is the newest technology cycle? Which brands are positioned to take advantage of the next cycle?
• What models are developing that will intersect with the financial services space?
• How will the strengths and weaknesses of the Gang of Four play against those of major financial institutions, payment networks, and wireless carriers?
• How well do consumers trust the Gang of Four compared with the major financial institution, payment network, and wireless carrier brands when it comes to their financial information?
• How do consumers rate the Gang of Four compared with the major financial institution, payment network and wireless carrier brands when it comes to protecting their private information?
• Which brands are viewed as most innovative?
• How do customers of the primary financial institutions rate their own institutions on the issues of trust, innovation, and privacy?
• How should brands position themselves to best compete in the new technology cycle?

Methodology
The report is based mainly on data collected online from a random-sample bank benchmark panel of 5,878 consumers in December 2011. The survey targeted respondents based on proportions of gender, ethnicity, age, and income representative of those of the overall U.S. online population. The margin of sampling error is ±1.28% at the 95% confidence level.

It is also based on a survey of 5,211 consumers conducted online in October 2011 on KnowledgePanel. This sample is representative of the U.S. census demographics distribution and is recruited from the Knowledge Networks panel. Data is weighted using 18+ U.S. Population Benchmarks for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, census region, and metropolitan status from the September 2011 Current Population Survey (CPS) and household Internet access from the October 2010 CPS Supplement. The margin of sampling error is ±1.73% at the 95% confidence level.

Table of Contents

• Overview
  
• Methodology
  
• Executive Summary
  
• Platforms That Are Able to Gather the Biggest User Base Usually Gain the Most Power and Wealth in Each
• Technology Cycle
  
• Mobile + Social Defines the Newest Technology Cycle
  
• Wealth Is Created—and Destroyed—During Each New Technology Cycle
• Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook
  
• Platforms That Gather the Biggest User Base Usually Gain the Most Power and Wealth in Each Technology Cycle
  
• Mobile Platform
  
• Two Diverging Views of Mobile Success—Open (Google) vs Protected (Apple)
  
• Social Media Platform
  
• Mobile-Social Integration Opens Opportunity for Competitor to Move on Facebook
  
• Game-Changing Business Models Rapidly Emerge During Times of Technological Upheaval
  
• Tablets
• Alliances Can Use Mutual Strengths and Weaknesses Can Fill Gaps to Respond Faster and with Better Products
  
• Javelin TIP Model for Mobile Wallets
  
• Trust
  
• Apple Leads in Innovation—at Least for Now
  
• Innovation
  
• Privacy
  
• Don’t Count out the Financial Institution’s Primary Relationship with the Consumer
  
• No Brand Reaches the Gold Zone—Without an Alliance
  
• Appendix
  
• Related Research
• Companies Mentioned

– Amazon, American Express, Apple, AT&T, Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, Discover, Facebook, Google, MasterCard, Microsoft, PayPal, Research In Motion, Sprint, Twitter, U.S. Bank, Verizon, Visa, Wells Fargo, zvelo

More information: Research and Markets