Mobile payment
Mobile payment, also referred to as mobile money, mobile money transfer and mobile wallet, is any of various payment processing services operated under financial regulations and performed from or via a mobile device. Instead of paying with cash, cheque, or credit card, a consumer can use a payment app on a mobile device to pay for a wide range of services and digital or hard goods. Although the concept of using non-coin-based currency systems has a long history,[1] it is only in the 21st century that the technology to support such systems has become widely available.
"Mobile money" redirects here. For the payment platform, see Mobile Money
Mobile payments began adoption in Japan in the 2000s and later all over the world in different ways.[2][3] The first patent exclusively defined "Mobile Payment System" was filed in 2000.[4]
In a developing country, mobile payment solutions can be deployed as a means of extending financial services to the community known as the "unbanked" or "underbanked", which is estimated to be as much as 50 percent of the world's adult population, according to the Financial Access 2009 Report "Half the World is Unbanked".[5] Such payment networks are often used for micropayments.[6] The use of mobile payments in developing countries has attracted public and private funding by organizations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the United States Agency for International Development, and Mercy Corps.
Mobile payments are becoming a key instrument for payment service providers (PSPs) and other market participants, in order to achieve new growth opportunities, according to the European Payments Council (EPC).[7] The EPC states that "new technology solutions provide a direct improvement to the operations efficiency, ultimately resulting in cost savings and in an increase in business volume".
There are four primary models for mobile payments:[8]
In models connected to a bank or operator, a bank/operator is the central node of the model, manages the transactions and distributes the property rights. In collaborative model, the financial intermediaries and telephonic operators collaborate in the managing tasks and share cooperatively the proprietary rights. In ISP model, a third party of confidence operates as an independent and “neutral” intermediary between financial
agents and operators. Apple Pay or PayPal are the providers the most frequently associated to this model.
There can also be combinations of two models.
Financial institutions and credit card companies[10] as well as Internet companies such as Google[11] and a number of mobile communication companies, such as mobile network operators and major telecommunications infrastructure such as w-HA from Orange and smartphone multinationals such as Ericsson[12][13] and BlackBerry have implemented mobile payment solutions.
Credit card[edit]
A simple mobile web payment system can also include a credit card payment flow allowing a consumer to enter their card details to make purchases. This process is familiar but any entry of details on a mobile phone is known to reduce the success rate (conversion) of payments.
In addition, if the payment vendor can automatically and securely identify customers then card details can be recalled for future purchases turning credit card payments into simple single click-to-buy giving higher conversion rates for additional purchases.
However, there are concerns regarding information and payment privacy when cards are used during online transactions. If a website is not secure, for example, then personal credit card info can leak online.
Contactless near-field communication[edit]
Near-field communication (NFC) is used mostly in paying for purchases made in physical stores or transportation services. A consumer using a special mobile phone equipped with a smartcard waves their phone near a reader module. Most transactions do not require authentication, but some require authentication using PIN, before transaction is completed. The payment could be deducted from a pre-paid account or charged to a mobile or bank account directly.
Mobile payment method via NFC faces significant challenges for wide and fast adoption, due to lack of supporting infrastructure, complex ecosystem of stakeholders, and standards.[25] Some phone manufacturers and banks, however, are enthusiastic. Ericsson and Aconite are examples of businesses that make it possible for banks to create consumer mobile payment applications that take advantage of NFC technology.[26]
NFC vendors in Japan are closely related to mass-transit networks, like the Mobile Suica used since 28 January 2006 on the JR East rail network. The mobile wallet Osaifu-Keitai system, used since 2004 for Mobile Suica and many others including Edy and nanaco, has become the de facto standard method for mobile payments in Japan. Its core technology, Mobile FeliCa IC, is partially owned by Sony, NTT DoCoMo and JR East. Mobile FeliCa utilize Sony's FeliCa technology, which itself is the de facto standard for contactless smart cards in the country. NFC was used in transports for the first time in the world by China Unicom and Yucheng Transportation Card in the tramways and bus of Chongqing on 19 January 2009,[27] in those of Nice on 21 May 2010,[28] then in Seoul[29] after its introduction in Korea by the discount retailer Homeplus in March 2010[30] and it was tested then adopted or added to the existing systems in Tokyo from May 2010 to end of 2012.[31][32] After an experimentation in the metro of Rennes in 2007, the NFC standard was implemented for the first time in a metro network, by China Unicom in Beijing on 31 December 2010.[33]
Other NFC vendors mostly in Europe use contactless payment over mobile phones to pay for on- and off-street parking in specially demarcated areas. Parking wardens may enforce the parking by license plate, transponder tags, or barcode stickers.
In Europe, the first experimentations of mobile payment took place in Germany during 6 months, from May 2005, with a deferred payment at the end of each month on the tramways and bus of Hanau with the Nokia 3220 using the NFC standard of Philips and Sony.[34]
In France the immediate contactless payment was experimented during 6 months, from October 2005, in some Cofinoga shops (Galeries Lafayette, Monoprix) and Vinci parkings of Caen with a Samsung NFC smartphone provided by Orange in collaboration with Philips Semiconductors (for the first time, thanks to "Fly Tag", the system allowed to receive as well audiovisual informations, like bus timetables or cinema trailers from the concerned services).[35][36] From 19 November 2007 to 2009, this experimentation was extended in Caen to more services and three additional mobile phone operators (Bouygues Telecom, SFR and NRJ Mobile) and in Strasbourg[36] and on 5 November 2007, Orange and the transport societies SNCF and Keolis associated themselves for a 2 months experimentation on smartphones in the metro, bus and TER trains in Rennes.[37][36] After a test conducted from October 2005 to November 2006 with 27 users,[38] on 21 May 2010, the transport authority of Nice Régie Lignes d'Azur was the first public transport provider in Europe to add definitely to its own offer a contactless payment on its tramways and bus network either with a NFC bank card or smartphone application notably on Samsung Player One (with the same mobile phone operators than in Caen and Strasbourg), as well as the validation aboard with them of the transport titles and the loading of these titles onto the smartphone, in addition to the season tickets contactless card.[39][28] This service was as well experimented then respectively implemented for NFC smartphones on 18 and 25 June 2013 in the tramways and bus of Caen[40][41] and Strasbourg.[42][43] In Paris transport network, after a 4 months testing from November 2006 with Bouygues Telecom and 43 persons[38] and finally with 8,000 users from July 2018, the contactless mobile payment and direct validation on the turnstile readers with a smartphone was adopted on 25 September 2019[44][45][46] in collaboration with the societies Orange, Samsung, Wizway Solutions, Worldline and Conduent.
Other vendors use a combination of both NFC and a barcode on the mobile device for mobile payment, because many mobile devices in the market do not yet support NFC.[47]