Why has NFC struggled to become a mainstream mobile payment technology?
Payments
Asked by Question Bot10/Feb/20121 answer
1 Answer
F
Faisal Khan
Answered 10/Feb/2012
We had (are still having) an extremely difficult time in adapting the simplest mobile payment system which was text based payments (via SMS), a phone functionality with which virtually very phone user is accustomed to. For those who will cry Security, please be aware, that is not an issue. Look at M-Pesa in Kenya, EasyPaisa in Pakistan, G-Cash in Philippines, etc.
There are plenty of innovative mobile payment solutions that still have not caught on with the masses or rather, leap out from the rest of the playing field and go viral. PayPal may do that with its offline model, etc. but then not every retailer has a PayPal account and not every payer has a PayPal on him/her.
NFC is a great feature for loyalty program, virtually signing-in at venues, etc. but still has a few years before the maturity cycle kicks in along with widespread usage and acceptance.
At the start of the millennium, there were promises and articles written by almost every technology and non-technology visionary (read: pundit) on how vending machines would drop soda cans via mobile payments, and how cab fares will be paid via mobile (this might be true in the Far East), but certainly not the main case in North America or even the rest of the world.
Remember the AT&T ads from the early 90s?
The market is rapidly evolving, that some form of a stagnation point is required by those responsible for rolling out a solution. No one wants to be the person who made the wrong bet, and it is just that very reason, why a lot of catalyst companies and players are hesitant to step forward.
NFC's advantages go beyond the payments side of things, but then again, its expensive, even if it is rolled out on a massive scale (which will probably never happen).
Each of the large players (Google/Android, Apple, RIM?, Others) have their own game-plan as to how and where NFC comes into play (if at all).
There are plenty of innovative mobile payment solutions that still have not caught on with the masses or rather, leap out from the rest of the playing field and go viral. PayPal may do that with its offline model, etc. but then not every retailer has a PayPal account and not every payer has a PayPal on him/her.
NFC is a great feature for loyalty program, virtually signing-in at venues, etc. but still has a few years before the maturity cycle kicks in along with widespread usage and acceptance.
At the start of the millennium, there were promises and articles written by almost every technology and non-technology visionary (read: pundit) on how vending machines would drop soda cans via mobile payments, and how cab fares will be paid via mobile (this might be true in the Far East), but certainly not the main case in North America or even the rest of the world.
Remember the AT&T ads from the early 90s?
The market is rapidly evolving, that some form of a stagnation point is required by those responsible for rolling out a solution. No one wants to be the person who made the wrong bet, and it is just that very reason, why a lot of catalyst companies and players are hesitant to step forward.
NFC's advantages go beyond the payments side of things, but then again, its expensive, even if it is rolled out on a massive scale (which will probably never happen).
Each of the large players (Google/Android, Apple, RIM?, Others) have their own game-plan as to how and where NFC comes into play (if at all).