BBC NEWS | Mobile Payments

BBC NEWS | Technology

Mobile phones could soon offer people another way to shop, without the need for cash or credit cards. Paypal, the internet payment scheme, is launching a new system to pay by texts. Hugh Pym reports.

Launch BBC News Video. Select Sci-Tech Link. Select PayPal Story.

One of the things we could be determined to get right

'Bullying' Paypal's heavy tactics | This is Money:

"PAYPAL stands accused of using bully-boy tactics to scare customers into paying back money before disputes have been settled.

Money Mail readers say that they are receiving letters from debt recovery companies demanding payment of disputed sums even though PayPal has been told the Financial Ombudsman Service is investigating complaints."

MyTango - Retail Pre-Pay service

MyTango:

"MyTango Services
Order and Pay in Advance at Participating Merchants

MyTango allows you to order and pay at participating merchants using your computer or cell phone. Just save your favorite orders on the MyTango web site with a unique name you define. Place your order directly from the MyTango web site or send your order code via a text message to MyTango. Your order and payment are instantly sent to your favorite merchant. No standing in line to order and pay - simply walk in and pick up your order! Click here to see a list of participating merchants."

Mobile Payments Survey Result

New media takes the next step with old media

Note to self, check out the BBC:

"BBC needs mobile to keep young viewers - Fierce MoCo

According to a recently disclosed year-long review of the BBC by the Royal Television Society (RTS), the company needs to develop better on-demand news with better search facilities and new service for mobile. RTS director general Mark Thompson said this pick-and-mix "Martini Media" will quickly sweep away traditional linear broadcasting. Thompson also warned that young viewers increasingly see the BBC as "irrelevant." However, the BBC is calling many of the new services, including one reported here recently that aims to rival MySpace, "brands," which is a loophole that allows the company to forego approval from its governing body. The oversight committee said, "We would expect... that any new BBC service, or any significant change to existing services, including online, mobile and broadband, will be subject to a full public value test, including a market impact assessment."

For more on the BBC's push to mobile:
- see this article from The Times
- and this article from The Press Gazette

PayPal claims to be first in the UK

PayPal to start mobile payment service - Money - Times Online:

"The company claimed it would be the first mass-market mobile-payments system in Britain. About 10 million people in the UK, and another 105 million worldwide, already use PayPal to make secure online payments when they buy and sell on Ebay."

New Upaid supported competitor

PayAllNow: "PayAllNow is a simple, safe and effective payment & registration brand that allows merchants to accept financial transactions across the three main channels - Web, WAP and SMS.

PayAllNow is the first company to offer a cross-platform, multi-channel solution for all ‘e’ and ‘m’ payment processing needs.

With our technology partners, Upaid Ltd, we have created a secure payment gateway that handles transactions from anywhere in the world using a PC, mobile phone or other wireless device."

The latest blog postings about LUUP

Free Money Resource - Online Payment Systems:

"The following payment options are commonly used by Free Money making programmes online. Each one is slightly different and they all have their advantages. It is probably worth joining all of them and then just unsubscribe from the ones you don't use."

Stake Ventures: $5m for Fraud Proof Mobile Credit Card Authorisation

"His ideas as he says is that the merchant sends a SMS with a payment request to your phone. You then perform some sort of digital signature to authorize it and the payment goes through.

This is already very doable and I have seen lots of similar applications from either smaller entrepreneurs (eg. Luup) in Europe or from various kinds of mobile operator funded initiatives (these always fail though for a variety of political reasons). For the full lowdown on all of these just take a stroll over to Scott’s Payments News Mobile Payment page."

Dave Hulbert's series of fortunate events: Get £2 for signing up to this...:

"It could be useful for when you owe mates a bit of cash. Instead of writing IOUs you can send 1 text message and they actually get the money! Some eBay members also take it. Hopefully it'll get really popular and everyone will use it. It'd be cool to go to 'spoons and pay for drinks without taking my wallet."

..two days later Dave updated this post to say that "it works!!".

Mobile pay. - The Red Ferret Journal

Mobile payment systems seem to be coming of age. Or maybe it’s just that when a market leader like Paypal launches something, the world takes notice? Whatever, there’s a few services around which look like they might be competing for space on your cell phone real soon now.

• Paypal Mobile – 600lb gorilla of online payment systems goes back to its roots and offers mobile phone access for pay and receive. Watch this space to judge how the market will develop.
• TextPayMe – Long standing mobile SMS payment system. US only, so a bit limited.
• MobileLime – Another US only service, offering only retail sale transactions, no person to person transfers which again is rather limiting.
• BillMyCell – kludgy and amateur looking service. Unsurprisingly low on the market radar.
• LUUP – Interesting name, European only at the moment (Germany, Norway and UK), retail payment and person to person. Norwegian company. One to watch?

[Update: not to mention Obopay, with its included credit card and Paybox.]

SMS Text News: LUUP - mobile text payments:

"March 23, 2006
LUUP - mobile text payments

Link: LUUP - About the company.

Our vision is to build LUUP into the number one payment alternative in Europe, providing new purchasing freedom for consumers - both online and via the mobile phone. We aim to provide our business partners with a great new financial service and payment option for their customers.

Ed pointed out LUUP to me the other day. They're another 'TextPayMe', although it seems they've been in operation for quite some time. They've been absolutely nowhere near my radar though -- not surprising, given the lack of news on their site. The last item is currently from November 2005.

I'd be interested to see how Luup react to what's going on in North America.

And I'd also be interested to know who's angling to provide mobile payments to China's 400 million cellular users too."

PayPal & Vending Machines

eSecure Peripherals Introduces PayPal(tm) Payment Module For Networked Cashless Payment Terminals @ Vending Market Watch News at AMonline.com:


"eSecure Peripherals Inc., a Montreal, Canada-based cashless payment provider, announced the development of the PayPal(tm) Payment Module (P3M) for networked cashless payment terminals. Vending patrons can reload their house account using either PayPal or PayPal mobile."

Yahoo P2P payments patent

United States Patent: 7031939:

"Systems and methods for implementing person-to-person money exchange

Abstract

Systems and methods for effecting online financial transactions between individuals or between individuals and entities such as banks, merchants and other companies. Each user accesses a fund exchange server to establish an online account, which is used to transfer funds to and from other entities' online accounts. To fund an online account, funds can be transferred to the online account from a credit card account or from another online account. To withdraw funds, money can be transferred to a credit card account or other bank account. Any user may initiate a send money transaction or a request payment transaction with any other entity provided that entity has an e-mail address.

For a send money transaction, the user sending money (payor) enters an amount of funds to be transferred and an e-mail address of the recipient of the funds (payee). The system sends an e-mail message to the payee at the address provided indicating that the amount of funds has been 'received' on the payee's behalf. The payee must then either open an online account or identify an existing online account to complete the transaction..."

more here

Infolust at Springwise

Another week, another line up of interesting new business ideas from around the world: pop-up groceries in the Philippines, reading glasses for aging boomers in Canada, a healthy fast food chain from South Africa, and so on. Our next edition is due on 25 April 2006. In the mean time, check out the daily postings on www.springwise.com, send us your tips, and please don't forget to tell your friends and colleagues about us. Much appreciated!

	April 14, 2006
	Deviating from our normal pattern of one idea per article, we thought we'd dive into trendwatching.com's trend of the month and offer you a selection of the new business opportunities that infolust is giving rise to. Brief background for those of you who missed the briefing: instant information gratification is upon us. Experienced consumers lust after detailed information on where to get the best of the best, the cheapest of the cheapest, the first of the first, or how to be the smartest of the smartest. So forget information overload: the desire for relevant information is insatiable, and is spreading from the online world to the 'real' world. Get ready for a click-and-know, point-and-know, text-and-know, hear-and-know, smell-and-know, touch-and-know and snap-and-know world. How to feed the info need? Get inspired by these examples of entrepreneurs using mobile technology to satisfy consumers' infolust. • AskMeNow | Cell phone users who can't get online, can have still their questions answered by leaving a voice message with AskMeNow. Questions like "Why is the sky blue?" or "What is Zork?" are answered by text message within minutes, for a fee of USD 0.49 per question. The long-distance info search is taken care of by English-speaking operators in the Philippines. • Shazam and Gracenote's MusicID | Consumers who hear a song they don't know the name of, call a number and hold their cell phone to the music. Moments later, they receive a message with the name of the song and artist, as well as the option of buying the song or ringtone. • WeatherBug Mobile Weather | Live streaming local weather data, severe weather alerts, detailed forecasts, local radar, live weather cameras, photos and more. • ScanZoom | Using ScanZoom software downloaded to their cameraphones, shoppers can snap a picture of a product's bar code and get direct access to PriceGrabber's or Amazon's information for that product, from product descriptions and customer ratings to e-tailer prices. If the e-tailer's price is right, the produt can immediately be bought online. Next could be a service that would tell users which other real-world stores within one or two miles offer the same product at a lower price. • PriceNoia Mobile | Using Pricenoia's downloadable price comparison tool for cell phones, a consumer can enter a book's ISBN and instantly view reviews and price comparison for international Amazon.com stores. • Mobile SeatGuru | Mobile version of SeatGuru popluar website, that gives users information on the best (and worst) seats on a plane. Which allows consumers to have all the info needed to ask for a better seat at check-in, or to know which in-flight services will be available on their flight while there's still time to stack up on mags and DVDs. • SMS Een Huis, Real Estate Depot, Text Wow | These services provide potential home buyers with instant text information on their cell phones, based on unique SMS codes displayed on physical 'for rent' and 'for sale' signs. Asking price, floor plan, square footage and more, all delivered to the cell phone of a prospective client then and there. Want more examples and insights? Check out the trend briefing. And then figure out how you can gratify other people's infolust. For free if you're in it for the love, or cash if you have your own deadly sin to feed. ;-) ...Continue reading »
	More Life Hacks ideas »

MobileLimet Receives Award for Innovation in Consumer Messaging

MobileLime's Mobile Wallet Receives CTIA Wireless 2006 E-Tech Award for Innovation in Consumer Messaging:

"CTIA Wireless 2006 BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 12, 2006--

MobileLime(R), the first U.S.-based company to turn the mobile phone into a marketing, loyalty and payment device, today announced that its Mobile Wallet was selected as the 1st place winner of the Wireless Emerging Technologies Award at CTIA WIRELESS 2006 for the Consumer Messaging Application (SMS/MMS) category. Award recipients were announced on April 6th in a ceremony at the Las Vegas Convention Center during the CTIA WIRELESS 2006 Convention.

The Wireless E-tech Awards program is designed to give industry recognition and exposure to the best wireless products and services in the areas of Consumer, Enterprise and Network technology. Nearly 200 applications were submitted and reviewed by a panel of recognized members of the media, industry analysts and executives, as well as select show attendees. Products were judged on innovation, functionality, technological importance, implementation and overall 'wow' factor."

Click & Buy goes Podcasting

Click & Buy Sponsors Podcast Marketing Expo Hall, and Becomes Official Payment Provider for International Podcasting Expo, April 21-23, 2006:

"(PRWEB) April 14, 2006 -- Twenty-five percent of all Internet users will download a podcast in the next 6 months, according to a recent British study. Many podcasters are trying to monetize their podcast. Click&Buy LLC believes they have the solution. As the Podcast Marketing Sponsor, they will be presenting their online seminar, 'Making Money from Your Podcasts' on Saturday, April 22 during the International Podcasting Expo."

MobileATM launches MoniLink

The MONILINK.co.uk webpage is starting to show some activity.

Read more here, and check out the Mobile ATM report here.

Beacon Journal | 04/17/2006 | Content creators bypass carriers

Beacon Journal | 04/17/2006 | Content creators bypass carriers:

"Companies go right to consumer to sell ring tones, games
By Ryan Nakashima
Associated Press

LAS VEGAS - As commerce quickly goes mobile, some companies are finding the best way to sell ring tones, games and other entertainment on the move is to market straight to consumers.

Smaller companies are doing an end-run around carriers like Verizon Wireless or Cingular Wireless LLC by turning to bricks-and-mortar stores or off-line promotions, thus avoiding the fees associated with placement on mainstream mobile portal sites.

For San Jose, Calif.-based PlayPhone Inc., that means selling $5-$20 prepaid cards for buying ring tones, games, wallpaper and music videos.

The cards are sold at stores like Sears Holdings Corp.'s Kmart, GameStop Corp.'s EB Games, Rite Aid Corp. drug stores and Musicland Holding Corp.'s Sam Goody.

``It's actually a convenient way, because if you walk out of the store and you bought one of the cards, you can walk right out, type `goplayp.com,' it'll connect to the browser,'' said Darryl Williams, PlayPhone's director of operations, explaining the company's display at the recent CTIA Wireless 2006 convention.

By logging on to a Web site from either a mobile phone or computer and entering the code number on the card, buyers can use credits to send content to their phones or a friend's."

read the rest of the article here

Emap developments in MocoNews

Empire Magazine in UK Launched Mobile Portal
[by rafat]

"And why is this important? From the description of it, this seems to be among the more ambitious attempts by magazines to extend into mobile: UK's film magazine Empire, owned by Emap, is launching new mobile portal called Empire Filmnight Club, allowing customers to download video clips, buy DVDs and post movie reviews.

Subscriptions cost £3 a month and include a free DVD rental every week, Empire reviews and interviews, videoclips and film trailers, MMS movie alerts, 25% off a one-year subscription to the magazine and 10% off DVD purchases.

The portal will be on Vodafone, O2's i-Mode and T-mobile."

Interesting comment on Obopay at SiliconBeat

SiliconBeat: Obopay: Will let you pay for almost anything with your cell phone. Really.:

"The thing I see giving Obopay's technology the edge in this is twofold; first it's a viral payment system meaning that anyone can recieve money to their phone through an SMS message, and then they can enable those funds by downloading a free app to their phone through the Obopay website. The app is free, the account is free and the debit card is free. Unlike Paypal, their model doesn't require a user to become a merchant to get access to a debit card (everyone has them under Obopay) which means that Obo users can all have access to their money immediately rather than having to wait for a bank transfer.

The second is that this isn't like Google Mobile in that it relies on using manually entered SMS messages; Obopay's application is a fully graphical Java app that gives the users access to all the commands of a service like Paypal, but in a mobile form factor.

Even with the hurdle of having to build brand recognition, I still think Obopay has a bright future in store for them. The mobile payment market is finally recieving some attention, and finally a company is coming along and doing it right rather than concentrating on silly features like Paypal's text messaging instant buy feature.
Garnesh Row on March 31, 2006 08:28 AM"

Guardian Unlimited Business | | PayPal to launch credit card

Guardian Unlimited Business | | PayPal to launch credit card:

Tuesday April 11, 2006

"PayPal, the money transfer arm of online auction site eBay, today announced it is to branch out into credit cards.

The business, which has more than 10m UK accounts, is linking up with GE Money to offer credit cards to people in the UK.

The card has an interest rate of 12.9%, with 0% interest on balance transfers for the first six months and no annual fee.

It will initially be available only to selected account holders, but from mid-May anyone will be able to apply."

more here

LINK & Morse launch mobile banking with HSBC

HSBC and First Direct sign for mobile banking - Mobile & Wireless - Breaking Business and Technology News at silicon.com:

"Like banking online but with a very, very small screen

By Jo Best

Published: Tuesday 11 April 2006

HSBC and First Direct are to roll out new mobile banking services to customers later this year.

The pair have signed up with MoniLink, a joint venture between cash machine network LINK and tech firm Morse, for the service which will see the banks' users able to view mini statements and balance enquiries.

Would-be mobile bankers will be able to access the service by downloading a Java application to their phone.

To use the phone banking application, customers will need to have registered and authenticated themselves and will have to enter their security details every time they wish to check their account, using a similar process to online banks' logon.

In the event a mobile is stolen, the application will be automatically locked and wiped, a MoniLink spokesman said."

HSBC to offer mobile banking services - vnunet.com

HSBC to offer mobile banking services - vnunet.com:

First UK bank to provide real time statements using a Java application

Daniel Thomas, Computing 10 Apr 2006


HSBC and First Direct are to launch a mobile banking service this summer to allow customers to access account details in real-time and top-up pre-pay phones.

Customers of the banks will be able to access account details via the MoniLink system run by UK cash machine network Link.

While other banks currently offer text messaging services that provide account balance updates sent out intermittently, this will be the first time a UK bank provides real-time access statements and balances via a Java application."

read more

Banks launch online bill payment service - vnunet.com

Banks launch online bill payment service - vnunet.com:

James Watson, Computing 02 Feb 2006
ADVERTISEMENT


High-street banks Lloyds TSB and HSBC will launch an electronic bill viewing and payment service for their internet banking customers in the second quarter of this year.

OneVu, a joint venture between payments company Voca and IT vendor CheckFree that provides banks with a consolidated bill viewing and payment system, was first announced in 2004, and has been in development ever since.

The system allows customers to use their usual online banking site to access account details from a variety of organisations, including utility companies and mobile phone providers, as well as making associated payments."

read more

The San Francisco Chronicle reports on mobile payments from CTIA convention

Short of Cash? Buy it with your cell phone.

Las Vegas -- The cell phone is quickly overtaking the functions of a number of everyday tools, including your landline phone, personal computer, MP3 player and television. Next up: your wallet.

Mobile phone makers, cellular operators, financial institutions and other players are working on ways to make your phone a nimble payment device.

The notion is that since the cell phone has evolved to become a device people can't leave home without, like a wallet or keys, why not put it to work as a "smart wallet" and take cash and credit cards to a new mobile realm.

The concept was an important theme at last week's CTIA Wireless 2006 convention in Las Vegas, highlighted by an announcement by PayPal that it was leaping into the space with its PayPal Mobile.

The PayPal announcement illustrates the diverse approaches in the nascent field of mobile payments. In some cases, credit card companies and banks are trying to embed a new form of radio frequency technology into cell phones that will allow customers to wave their cell phones at a point-of-sale reader, which will take the credit card or debit card information that has been electronically inserted into the phone to process the transaction.

Others like PayPal are allowing their subscribers to tap their current payment accounts through text messages with their cell phones.

Some like Palo Alto's Obopay are trying to get consumers to create new mobile-only accounts that will allow them to pay family members or friends. The service will eventually be broadened to cover commercial transactions.

While the approaches differ, the same philosophy applies: take advantage of the ubiquity of cell phones to make payments easier, more secure and, when coupled with electronic coupons or loyalty programs, potentially more rewarding for consumers.

"Mobile commerce is a very powerful idea," said PayPal's president, Jeff Jordan. "For consumers, it puts anytime purchasing at their fingertips."

In the PayPal model, the company's 100 million customers can link their PayPal accounts to their cell phone number. By sending a simple text message to PayPal, they can deliver cash to a friend or purchase a product from a merchant, who will then ship it as if it were a typical online PayPal transaction. The service, said PayPal executives, allows users to move cash around quickly or make impulse purchases. It can also be used to make electronic donations to charities.

While the PayPal initiative garnered attention last week, the most significant work in the field has been in the efforts to link credit and debit cards with cell phones. Though the practice has yet to become reality in the United States, a host of banking and financial institutions are testing the idea and hoping to roll out a product later this year or next year.

Companies like Nokia, Cingular, Chase and Santa Clara's ViVOtech have been working on a trial at Philips Arena in Atlanta in which they allow existing Chase customers to pay for food and other items using a cell phone embedded with a "near field communications" chip.

The NFC chip, embedded in the back cover of the cell phone, transmits a card owner's credit card information when it is placed within several inches of a reader. This sort of "contactless" payment allows people to pay without fishing out a credit card or cash from their wallet or purse.

Tom Zalewski, Nokia's head of payments and ticketing, said the early feedback from the trial, which ends at the conclusion of the current hockey season, has been positive. "People are very receptive to using their handset as a payment device," he said. "They prefer it because they have it with them all the time."

The plan to put credit card data into cell phones follows the path of new chip-embedded smart credit cards like Chase's Blink cards that allow users to pass it in front of a reader for a purchase. Chase has already distributed 7 million cards embedded with radio communications chips.

Thousands of retailers and restaurants like McDonald's, CVS and KFC have already begun installing electronic readers. Currently, however, there is only one phone, the Nokia 3220, that can support the new payment chip. Other companies like Samsung and Motorola are also working on phones with e-wallet capabilities.

Analysts said that by 2010, half of the phones sold will feature such chips. Many of them generally like the concept but maintain that security must meet or exceed what is currently available through traditional credit cards.

"It has potential. If you can tie a quick payment concept to the cell phone and know it's secure and protected, it absolutely becomes a viable platform for digital payments," said Tim Bajarin, an analyst at Creative Strategies. "But the most important thing is to build a secure system that is impenetrable."

Industry leaders said the cell-phone wallet will actually be safer than traditional credit cards because the data will be encrypted when it's transferred without anyone seeing the actual credit card number or holding your phone.

A lost cell phone is also easier to detect than a missing credit card, said advocates, and the devices also offers users the ability lock their phones with a pass code. And in the event of a stolen phone, the payment portion of the phone can be shut down through a call to your bank.

Security isn't the only issue for these new cell phone credit cards. The banks and phone carriers are also still working out how to split any revenue generated by the payment phones.

And for credit card companies used to owning the actual plastic that its customers use, it's a matter of finding a level of comfort in sharing their customers' information with other partners.

But Oliver Steeley, vice president with Mastercard International, recognized the day of mobile payments is fast approaching. He said last week that Mastercard is now allowing its member banks to offer mobile payments through the Nokia 3220 on a trial basis for the next 12 months.

He said offering mobile payments will soon become an important differentiator for banks. "This is about enabling banks to provide cell phone enablement in a cost-effective way," said Steeley. "If you can shave off two seconds from a transaction, that can be essential."

But the proposition of paying through your phone offers more than just speed. Some mobile companies like RocketBux and Mobile Lime are banking that consumers want not only time savings, but rewards as well.

By using the cell phone to deliver alerts about sales, in-store coupons or exclusive loyalty rewards, customers will see the value in using their devices for purchases, said Bob Wesley, CEO of Mobile Lime, a Massachusetts company offering mobile payments.

In one scenario, a customer might be able to wave their phone on an electronic tag at a store, which will send a text message to them about current sales items. Or after completing a transaction, a customer might receive a coupon to a nearby merchant paid for by that merchant.

"We're creating constant interaction so customers can have their payment, shopping and loyalty information at their fingertips," Wesley said. "About 75 percent of households are enrolled in loyalty programs and it's great to have this intersect with the cell phone."

Another benefit of using a cell phone over a credit card or a key chain trinket embedded with a chip is that will make it easier for users to manage their money. Many of the banks are working to allow their customers to check on their balances, transfer funds and pay off bills from their cell phone.

Not all companies are trying to link existing money accounts with your cell phone. Obopay, which launched last week, said it is encouraging customers to create special mobile accounts which would allow, for example, parents to send money to their child.

"It's the coolest way to get emergency cash to friends or your kids," said Carol Realini, CEO of Obopay. "Your daughter could be in line at a bookstore and sends you a request for $50 dollars to buy some books. In the time it takes to push some buttons I can send the money."

For now, if a Obopay customer wants to buy something or use their account money, they must use a companion debit card linked to their Obopay account. But Obopay's president said the company will explore embedding near communications chips in phones when it becomes available.

While it's still early in the game, many companies said there's no reason why the rapid evolution of the cell phone shouldn't include the replacement of cash and credit cards.

"It's really likely in the future customers will reach the same comfort with the cell phone as their credit card," said Tom O'Donnell, senior vice president Chase Card Services. "The cell phone is more than just call making device. It's a content device with music and video and the opportunity is it could it be the way to make payments."

---

Using your cell phone as a smart wallet

-- PayPal has a service that allows a user to pay for items out of a PayPal account through text messages. The service, currently operational, would enable one to pay friends or donate to charities while on the go.

-- Visa, MasterCard and American Express are working on ways to embed a credit cardholder's information electronically in a cell phone. A payment is processed when the data is placed in front of an electronic reader. The system is in the testing stage; most companies expect a rollout possibly later this year or next year.

-- Obopay's users can use their mobile accounts to transfer money back and forth with others on cell phones. The service went live last week.

Long live Authentic Media

Powazek: Just a Thought: Death to User-Generated Content: "Dear internet,

Can I make a suggestion? Let's all stop using the phrase 'user-generated content.' I'm serious. It's a despicable, terrible term. Let's deconstruct it.

User: One who uses. Like, you know, a junkie.

Generated: Like a generator, engine. Like, you know, a robot.

Content: Something that fills a box. Like, you know, packing peanuts.

So what's user-generated content? Junkies robotically filling boxes with packing peanuts. Lovely.

Calling the beautiful, amazing, brilliant things people create online 'user-generated content' is like sliding up to your lady, putting your arm around her and whispering, 'Hey baby, let's have intercourse.'

They're words that creepy marketeers use. They imply something to be commodified, harvested, taken advantage of. They're words I used to hear a lot while doing community consulting, and always by people who wanted to make, or save, a buck.

Think about the rest of the world. Writers produce stories or articles. Authors write fiction or memoir. These are words infused with meaning and romance. Can you imagine a writer saying 'I am a content provider' when asked what they do?

Lately the notion that the web is about 'user-generated content' has been getting more traction. With the success of MySpace and Flickr, pundits are looking for..."

read on

MoCoNews reports the PayPal CTIA keynote

» @ CTIA: Keynote: Jeff Jordan, President, PayPal; "It's That Easy"
[by staci d. kramer]

Finally, a keynote demo that works ... We've already mentioned PayPal Mobile's launch and its deals with mobile content partners. Jeff Jordan, president of PayPal, showed off the process starting with a magazine ad featuring the text code for the "Walk The Line" DVD. He sent the code and within seconds received a callback from PayPal Mobile to confirm the purchase as we listened in by speakerphone. In less than a minute, he'd spent nearly $20. No searching. Jordan said he was putting to rest the saying "that mobile commerce is always two years away." Not so sure about that but pulling this off without a glitch should increase the confidence level.
Jordan followed that by invoking Magic Johnson as he talked about how to raise money for charity with PayPal Mobile - and then bringing Johnson out. The basketball icon talked about his business ventures and the vital role of mobile in the African-Amercian community.

Edgar, Dunn & Company survey on Mobile Payments

summary of the report can be found here.

PayPal Mobile's official launch - from Fierce MoCo

"A month after its beta release, PayPal Mobile officially launched yesterday looking to leverage PayPal's 100 million online accounts as a way to evangelize m-commerce. PayPal Mobile enables users to text "PayPal" (729725) and enter the dollar amount they want to send to a particular vendor, charity or user ID number. The ramifications for personal banking are particularly interesting, especially since the service is free. Analysts and insiders seem to have few qualms with the service, and its advent is likely to spur a good amount of growth in the sector. "

For more on PayPal Mobile:
- see the application's Web site

Wired on US phone survey

Wired News: We Want More From Our Phones:

"Wired News Report 09:15 AM Apr, 07, 2006

Not many people use their cell phone to buy movie tickets, watch videos or play games, but a significant number of Americans are interested in doing just that.

A national study by the Pew Research Center's Pew Internet & American Life Project, the Associated Press and AOL supplied statistics to support these beliefs as it examined how people use their phones.

The survey conducted last month found that 6 percent of cell phone users play music on their device, for example, while 19 percent wish their phone had that feature. A mere 2 percent watch mobile video or TV, but 14 percent said they would like to.

The study also found unsurprising differences between the generations, with younger adults more likely to use their phones for entertainment. For instance, nearly a quarter (23 percent) of those ages 18-29 wanted to watch TV on their cell but only 15 percent of the 30-49 age bracket, 4 percent of users between 50-64, and 6 percent of those 65 and over were interested in that capability."

Indications of GBuy fees

Gbuy may steal ebay's show- The Economic Times:

"Analysts in the US predict that the commission structure for Google Payments indicate that Google may charge 25 cents per transaction plus 2.5% of the sale price, undercutting eBay unit PayPal’s standard rate of 30 cents and 2.9%. "

MTV, NBA store in new PayPal mobile text deal - Reuters

By Eric Auchard 1 hour, 18 minutes ago

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Online payment company PayPal on Thursday said MTV and the National Basketball Association (NBA) and others will accept payments from a new service allowing purchases by mobile phone text message.

The move by PayPal, a unit of online auctioneer eBay Inc. (Nasdaq:EBAY - news), marks a big step in bridging the worlds of electronic commerce and brick-and-mortar stores, by giving consumers a pay option via telephone.

PayPal Mobile lets consumers instantly buy goods and services, such as compact discs, DVDs and apparel, by sending product codes via text message.

PayPal signed up News Corp.'s (NYSE:NWS - news) 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, NBC Universal's (NYSE:GE - news) Bravo, Viacom Inc.'s (NYSE:VIA - news) MTV, and the NBA Store for its Text to Buy service.

PayPal President Jeff Jordan is set to introduce PayPal Mobile, a service that allows consumers in the United States and Canada to send money anytime via mobile phone, at a keynote speech at a mobile industry conference in Las Vegas.

Gartner Inc. analyst Avivah Litan said PayPal has taken years to deliver a mobile version of its online payment service, fearing that without specific uses the format would fail.

"It was never a question of PayPal not having the technology to do this," Litan said. "It was always an issue of having the right applications," she said.

Litan, the mother of two teenagers, said mobile text message payments have a natural U.S. audience among 18- 30-year-olds, who spend their days texting one another and often use PayPal because they don't qualify for credit cards and eBay because they can't afford to pay retail prices.

PayPal has more than 100 million customers worldwide. To use PayPal Mobile, customers must activate their mobile phones by signing on to their PayPal accounts at https://www.paypal.com/mobile.

New ways of exporting money - US to Mexico

New ways of exporting money:

Yvette Armendariz
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 5, 2006 12:00 AM

Every three months, Gabriela Escalante makes a trip to her neighborhood carneceria to wire $200 to $300 to her grandmother in Puebla, Mexico.

The cash is a commitment that her family, who immigrated to Arizona when she was 10, makes to ensure abuelita has enough money to pay for utilities, food and clothes. Escalante's grandmother, in her late 60s, doesn't earn an income of her own.

Escalante, a bookkeeper for a Phoenix accounting firm, is also aware and pleased that more choices are popping up for sending money back to Mexico.
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The latest, introduced Tuesday, is a debit card tied to MasterCard that family members can load with a maximum $2,500 a week or $9,999 a month. Relatives abroad then can use the card at retailers that accept MasterCard.

The options are popping up because of the growth of the remittance market, which has expanded from $8.9 billion in 2001 to $20 billion last year. Mexican financial companies are estimating as much as $22 billion in remittances from expatriates this year.

The added choices have pushed down costs for users to less than $10 per transaction. In some cases, sending money abroad"

Read full article here

US Mobile Payments - Comparisons - PRELIMINARY - April 5, 2006

US Mobile Payments - Comparisons - PRELIMINARY - April 5, 2006

W2F - reason to believe TTB will be slow

PayPal Switches On Mobile Payments:

"(comment by William Volk Fri 24th Mar 06)
We asked the following question to our Message Aggregator in the USA, one of the largest:

Please find out if we can use paypal on our site (for Mobile Content) without the carriers shutting us down.

They responded:

Not a good idea, sense the Carrier's will see this as 'lost' revenue for them and reject it (SMS campaign, wap-push delivery of content).

So the PayPal initative in the USA is about real goods and services, not mobile content."

MocoNews reports Netsize expectations for WAP payments increase

@ MES: The European Mobile Entertainment Market

Related Topics: Europe, CTIA, Payments — Permalink - Comments (0) [by james]

Stanislas Chesnais, CEO of Netsize, gave a talk on the European mobile content market, with some pretty interesting figures. Mobile data accounts for about 20% of operator revenues, on an ARPU of $42-60. More than 70% of mobile content is sold off the carriers' portals, and Chesnais expected this figure to increase to around 90% in two years...what does this say about the walled garden?

As per usual it is the 16-26 year old age bracket which is the highest user group...these people and those following have grown up with mobile and know they're going to pay for content (in the words of Chesnais, they've "been trained on how to buy things with mobile").

There's some interesting stuff going on with mobile payments, with Chesnais saying that it wouldn't be a single dominant system but a number of different channels based on what is most appropriate. He said SMS payments will fade and be replaced with WAP billing (where people will be informed they'll be charged for a page and then click, or not) and interactive video dialling and streaming. This is where you dial a number and the content is streamed to your phone, and you'll be charged on a per-minute basis.

Of course, there have been several billing scandals which have damaged the mobile content industry in Europe, particularly the subscription model, so the industry is desperately scrambling to clean up its act. As a result, "acquisition costs will be higher," said Chesnais. "If you cannot cheat the user your return will be lower than before, but in the long run it will be better."

Other predicted growth areas are pretty much the same as everywhere: mobile tv, full track music downloads, music/video content downloads which will have payment bundled with data traffic charging, community management and multiplayer gaming, and gambling...this last relies on the efforts of several European countries (led by the UK) to encourage the EU to pass a directive allowing this...

Our CTIA coverage is sponsored by mBlox, Bango and Motricity

Great article on Payments innovations

Payments News: EPW: Technology Transforming Banking, and Payments - April 04, 2006:

"Andrew Reinbach, editor of Electronic Payments Week, has recently written about the impact of new technologies on banking and, in particular, mobile payments. Here's Andy's analysis - posted with permission.

Technology is Transforming Banking, and Payments

With the recent Motorola/C-Sam mobile payments announcement followed by similar payments platform launches from PayPal, Black Lab Mobile Inc., Commerciant LP, Sify Ltd. in India, Q-Pass, and SVC Financial Services Inc., it's obvious that mobile payments aren't the mere pipedream they seemed to be last year.

What's less obvious is the change about to befall the payments industry and, especially, banks, that mobile payments embodies. To hear Ray Kurzweil tell it in his newest book, The Singularity is Near (Viking, 2005), the rate of such change in the next ten years will be exponential, and a line graph of it will be vertical. The change grows slowly and imperceptibly at first, he says, but when the pieces are all in place, its acceleration explodes.

This is important not just because the world we've lived in is about to more or less end, but because of the backdrop against which innovations like mobile payments will take place. ...."

Follow the link for the whole article.

Mobile Payments Report

First Global Survey Assesses Mobile Payments Adoption Curve; Study's Findings Presented at CTIA's Wireless 2006 Industry Summit:

"'Our study reveals a collective vision on how and when mobile payments will achieve critical mass, with data illuminating the key market challenges and opportunities,' said Thad Peterson, director at Edgar, Dunn & Company, a global independent payments consultancy and presenter at the NFC Technology Summit.

The survey showed that payments professionals are optimistic about the future for mobile payments, but expect it will take time for the industry to mature and develop. Significantly, more than eight out of 10 survey respondents believe that mobile payments will reach a critical mass of consumers and become as important as other types of payments, such as credit and debit cards.

Most respondents view the achievement of critical mass as a long-term proposition, at least five and perhaps more than 10 years. Only a handful of optimists thought it could be achieved within the next two years.

Key findings from the survey include anticipated adoption curves for both online and physical world mobile payments. The report provides a detailed analysis of the perceived barriers and challenges between traditional payment providers such as financial institutions and credit card schemes and newcomers into the payments value chain such "

paybox Goes Live With the 3rd Generation of Its Proven and Patented Mobile Payment Solutions

paybox Goes Live With the 3rd Generation of Its Proven and Patented Mobile Payment Solutions:

RAUNHEIM, Germany and FRANKFURT, Germany, April 3 /PRNewswire/

-- paybox, the trendsetting company for mobile payment enterprise solutions, announced today its 3rd generation of mobile payment solutions. The paybox Mobiliser products allow mobile operators and financial service providers worldwide successful market entry into mobile payment and mobile commerce. In developed markets, paybox -- beyond mobile person-to-person payments -- enables the creation of open, national standards for any kind of mobile payment.

With paybox Mobiliser products, banks and operators in emerging markets can create low cost, financial services for the unbanked. Eckhard Ortwein, co-founder and CEO states: 'The paybox Mobiliser products coupled with our expertise enable customers to rapidly deploy, easily launch, successfully market and efficiently operate m-payment and m-commerce solutions'.

The Austrian operators A1 Vodafone and One have become worldwide leaders in m-commerce by creating a national standard based on paybox. paybox offers its customers following solutions: -- paybox TopUp Mobiliser -- topping up airtime or other credit accounts via handset, paying electronically or cash-b"

Obopay Working on Complete Mobile Payment Service for QUALCOMM's BREW(R) Solution

Obopay Working on Complete Mobile Payment Service for QUALCOMM's BREW(R) Solution

    PALO ALTO, Calif., April 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Obopay, which has introduced a
complete mobile payment service that will transform consumer commerce, today
announced the Company is working to develop Obopay's mobile payment solution
for QUALCOMM's BREW solution.
   Obopay's innovative service created for BREW will be available across a
wide variety of advanced handsets.  With the Obopay mobile payment service,
consumers can immediately and instantly get, send and spend money using their
mobile handset.  The account can be managed completely from the mobile handset
so users can check their balances, request payments from other handset users
and view their transaction history.
   Obopay has also joined the BREW Developer Alliance Program at the Elite
BREW Developer level.  QUALCOMM's multi-tiered membership program is designed
to support developers large and small throughout the entire process of
creating and marketing wireless applications.
   "Our relationship with QUALCOMM is a critical step in our efforts to
transform consumer commerce from an idea into reality -- making the mobile
handset the central instrument to get, send and spend money," said Carol
Realini, CEO of Obopay.  "Joining the BREW Developer Alliance Program at the
prestigious 'Elite' level will give us extensive resources and critical
insights into the distribution and enhancement of our services for operators
and their subscribers around the world."
   "Obopay's idea of a peer-to-peer mobile payment service that can be
managed completely on the phone along with instant, up-to-date account
information demonstrates great vision," said Tom Grieco, senior director of
developer relations for QUALCOMM Internet Services.  "We look forward to
working with Obopay to drive usage and innovation in the realm of mobile
payment services."

Obopay - RCR Wireless

Obopay launches mobile payment service to compete with PayPal Mobile

By Colin Gibbs

Mar 30, 2006

PALO ALTO, Calif.—Obopay officially came out of stealth mode, unveiling a mobile payment service that will allow users to make purchases and send and receive funds on their handsets.

The startup outlined a downloadable application that offers real-time purchases and transfers and can be used on any Web-enabled phone. Users can send money to or request payments from others nearly instantly, and Obopay offers a debit card that can be used in retail outlets or at ATMs.

The company charges 10 cents per transaction, paid by the sender. While the system integrates with banking systems, users are required to set up a separate Obopay account.

Obopay Chief Executive Officer Carol Realini said the company is in talks with “every carrier” in the United States about deploying the service. The company initially is targeting teens and young adults, hoping to entice them to send money to each other—at a restaurant, for instance, or a movie theater—instead of handing each other cash.

“The cell phone will do for money what the iPod did for music,” Realini said. “Instead of having cash in my wallet, I’m going to have money on my phone.”

The company is backed with $10 million in Series A financing from Redpoint Ventures, Onset Ventures and Richmond Management. Obopay’s service is set to launch in the second quarter—the company’s Web site is still password-protected—and will compete directly against PayPal’s mobile payment offering, which was announced last week.