Visa and Nokia have taken the wraps off their handset-based payment system. Details of workings are unclear:
The wireless standard that will link mobile phones with payment systems in stores and elsewhere will be the near field communication (NFC) chip, which will be hidden under the phone cover and makes contact when swiped over a reader.
Visa being involved means it is likely to be tied to a classical Visa card, with billing backed into the existing system.
The initial version of the mobile payment platform, which launched on Monday, offers contactless mobile payment, personalization over mobile telephony networks, coupons and direct marketing. Subsequent versions of the platform, to be made available later in the year, will include remote payment--also using mobile telephony networks--and person-to-person payment.
What is perhaps more interesting is that Visa are floating themselves as a public company. This cuts the direct tie with the banks, which in the past owned Visa (and Mastercard). So now, we can expect Visa to be (a) not a bank, and (b) not regulated by the ownership method.
Which will leave Nokia in a more confident position, as it will be Nokia that has the final say on what goes on its phones.
It's yet more evidence that the payment function is gradually moving out of the banks' sphere of influence, alongside the exploding retail gift card issuance and the slow recovery of interest in net-based payment systems.
Posted by iang at January 18, 2007 10:28 AM | TrackBackm banking been around for a while ... June 14, 2006 ... http://psdblog.worldbank.org/psdblog/2006/06/mobile_banking_.html#comments ... more recently ... How banking on a mobile phone can help the poor ...http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/3131 ............ theory is m-banking is a large part of the "new economy" ... the deal is that developing countries can "leap frog" with technology ... no need to do landlines/old AT&t when satellites and/or fiber optics can do the work for you ... ... thus national telecos are dead & doomed ... ... then it is not a far leap to do away with the national central banks ... ... only need one clearing house
say hi to cbi {central bank of iraq}
oneness
dh
ps got any dinars yet ?