Creating the digital wallet, both on the mobile and web platforms, is no easy task. Visa has a name for itself in the credit card industry but the fact is that the brand still has to attach innovation to itself in order for people to take these products seriously. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why Google’s Mobile Wallet news created waves, even though NFC technology is in its early stages.
Visa competitor American Express is also working hard to innovate both at the large retailer level, as well as among smaller retailers, with GoSocial.
While Visa, American Express and others are looking to capitalize on the changes taking place in the payments industry, it is a challenging effort. Local commerce is a big part of this, and everyone is trying to find a way to close the redemption loop. But e-commerce, amongst larger retailers, is also a multi-billion dollar market that Visa hopes to continue to play in with products like a digital wallet. And in-store payments, whether that be through NFC, Square or others, represent another market.
I’ve been talking to a number of executives of payments companies and founders of innovative payments startups, and while their objectives are different, they all seem to agree on one thing. It’s early and there is still much more innovation were going to see in the next few years in the online and mobile payments space.
Monday, August 8, 2011
How #Visa Plans To Dominate #Mobile #Payments, Create The Digital Wallet And More | TechCrunch
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
American Express Invests in PayFone, Powers Mobile Payments Plan | Fast Company
Amex suggests that with Serve and Payfone you'd be able to link your cell number to a variety of credit and debit card accounts, and then pay swiftly and securely at the checkout in stores.
If that sounds familiar, then it should--it's almost the exact same process needed for wireless NFC credit card payments, a system we expect to see exploding over cell phones and smartphones from about now onwards. And that reveals Amex's plans for all to see: This investment is a precursor to enabling NFC payments from phones in stores.
And since location data is securely included in Payfone's protocol, it could also enable a secure way for NFC phone owners to transfer money between themselves merely by putting their phones together--Payfone would do all the fund verification, work out the phones are co-located, and Amex's Serve would handle the transaction. More than this, the investment in Payfone has a slightly tactical flavor because Amex could have invested instead in technology that didn't use cell phone network infrastructure...and hence it's a sign Amex knows it needs the networks on its side if it's to be a player in the upcoming market.