Smart Phone Payments - Ready?

Remember when credit cards first came out, boy everyone was excited and some even went crazy with them.  Now, are we on the edge of another significant change in how we make purchases?  Moving even farther away from good old cash, the mobile payment era is here and picking up speed. 

Are we ready for this though?  Consumers ready?  Companies ready?  How about security around this?  Online security, transaction security - how about if I leave my smartphone on the table at Starbucks?  Many good questions, but are we ignoring the risks?  This mobile payment process is moving forward....

The biggest move ahead could occur in September, when Apple is widely expected to embrace a mobile payment scheme with its next-generation iPhone.

Google Wallet, meanwhile, is nearly a year old. And the Isis consortium of three U.S. carriers could officially launch its first mobile payment network in Austin and Salt Lake City any day now. So with all this effort, where are the details around the security of these services?

 

Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts and others are taking image shots of your smartphone screen - much like a debit card transaction.  Is that better? 

 

Various other mobile payment approaches have recently emerged, including the Merchant Customer Exchange, a mobile payments network announced Aug. 15 that will rely on smartphones and some unnamed technology. The founders include retail heavyweights Best Buy, Walmart, Target and 7-Eleven.

With so many new mobile payment systems surfacing, analysts say they could pose too many choices and will only confuse the buying public. Since the U.S. already has a number of credit card options, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover, some users won't be motivated to try another payment option linked to a smartphone.

I go back to how secure is this service.  You have a physical device prone to being lost, forgotten or stolen.  You have transactions taken place on an unsecure device to an unknow service provider?  I think we need more information around the security of this payment option.  I would like to see some standards established, some vulnerability assessments, and safeguards put in place.  I know I won't be signing up anytime soon. 

To answer the first question - are we ready?  Consumers in certain age groups and demographics are perhaps, but I don't think the sevice providers are ready, nor the security posture of such a service.

Keep it positive!

Scott Arnett
scott.arnett@charter.net