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Mobile-banking installations grew by 44% last year, and should more than double in 2009 as the technology picks up even more momentum. But the vendors serving this market, often startups without other product lines, now face potent competition from processors that have entered the business only recently and are already …
Read More »MasterCard’s $100 Million Orbiscom Deal Points to New Markets
In a deal that could better position MasterCard Inc. as a provider of transaction services for mobile and online commerce, the Purchase, N.Y.-based card network announced on Monday it is buying Orbiscom Ltd., a Dublin-based software company, for $100 million. MasterCard, which has been working with Orbiscom for the past …
Read More »Though It Has a Small Share, the iPhone Rings Up Payments Innovation
Apple Inc.'s iPhone accounts for only a tiny fraction of the cell phones out there, but it's the undisputed headline grabber in the niche of mobile devices called smart phones that enable enhanced Web browsing, play music, and perform other gee-whiz functions. The iPhone also is the focus of intense …
Read More »Software And Smart Phones Will Drive Mobile Payments, Report Says
Not every cog is in place yet, but payments from remote devices, especially so-called smart phones, are poised to grow from an estimated $389 million next year to $8.6 billion in 2014, according to a new report from Mercator Advisory Group. The report reviews the payments implications of new mobile …
Read More »Boston Transit System Tests Mobile Payments for Commuter Parking
It started not even a week ago, but a pilot program in which Boston-area commuters can pay for parking by mobile phone appears to be a hit with riders, according to early anecdotal feedback. “The buzz has been huge with customers, we've only been deployed for four days,” Ian Larrabee, …
Read More »Mobile-Payments Startup Paymo Aims at Tough Micropayments Market
A mobile-payments startup called Paymo Inc., which launched this week with service in 39 countries, hopes to succeed in what has turned out to be a tough market: micropayments for digital content. The San Francisco-based company has more than 300 merchants approved to accept payments on its platform, says Terry …
Read More »With NFC Stalled, Mobile Payments Will Follow Other Paths, Report Says
While experts once thought contactless payments via a technology called near-field communication (NFC) would drive mobile payments, the sluggish development of NFC now means handset-based payments will grow without the technology, according to a research report released on Tuesday. Indeed, payments by text messages, through the mobile Web, and on …
Read More »Mobile Banking Appeals More to Small Businesses Than to Consumers
The torrent of press releases promoting this new mobile-banking technology or that new mobile-banking service usually references, either implicitly or explicitly, the consumer as the end user. But small businesses represent a far more receptive user group for mobile-banking services, including bill payments, according to a new report from Boston-based …
Read More »Banks Make Strides in Fighting ID Fraud, But Lag in Mobile Alerts
Financial institutions have made big strides in fighting identity fraud over the past year but still lag in preventing the crime by using such technologies as mobile alerts, according to a report released this week by Javelin Strategy & Research. “Despite so many consumers having mobile devices, banks are still …
Read More »Mobile Banking Moves to the Point of Sale with Consumer Incentives
As mobile banking spreads to more banks, the companies that enable the service are getting ready to bring it to the merchant point of sale, along with a bevy of incentives to induce consumers to buy. The move, say some, stems from the recognition that if banks simply enroll online-banking …
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