Would you like it if one day, you forget to bring your wallet, yet you can still pay for your bus ride or buy a drink from a vending machine? Or you forgot to bring your staff pass, yet you can still enter your office building. When you finally got home, you can open your house doors despite having left the keys home too.
All these and more are enabled by a new technology called mobile wallet. Mobile wallet is mobile phone that has functionality to supplant a conventional wallet and more. Unlike mobile commerce, mobile wallet is a much more versatile application that includes elements of mobile transactions, as well as other items one may find in a wallet, such as membership cards, loyalty cards and travel cards. It also stores personal and sensitive information like passport, credit card information, PIN codes, online shopping accounts, booking details and insurance policies that can be encrypted or password-protected. The technology aims to reduce the number items people will need to carry around.
With mobile wallet, the user can use their mobile phone to pay transactions at merchants that accept mobile payments. To do this, the user just needs to upload digital cash from a credit card to their mobile phone and swipe their mobile phone at payment counters. They can also swipe their mobile phone at ticketing machines. Mobile wallet can be used as a virtual train ticket where customers just wave their mobile phone across the checkout stations instead of using separate swipe cards. Another use is as an identifier to log on to a computer at Internet kiosks. The data is exchanged by mere proximity, without the need for physical contact. Users who use the same mobile wallet applications can also exchange data with one another, example bank account numbers when they need to perform bank transfers among one another. There are several technologies that could enable mobile wallet operations of handsets, including Near Field Communications (NFC), Radio Frequency (RFID), bar codes, and visual recognition.
According to InStat, a high-tech market research firm, as many as 25 million wireless phone subscribers in North America could be using their mobile phones as mobile wallets by 2011. One of the first carriers to launch mobile wallet is NTT Docomo that uses its Felica system to allow those who carry compatible 3G handsets like Fujitsu’s F900iC and other models by NEC, Panasonic, Sharp, Mitsubishi and Sony Ericsson to make payments using their handsets. A credit card-sized Sony smart card powers the system. It holds a chip which can be loaded with personal data.
With a subscription, the wallet phones work by sending data at high speeds and securely over the DoCoMo network. Special readers can also be built into cash machines and cash registers to recognise the transactions. The handsets have built-in security to stop others using the service by using password protection or fingerprint scanning.
In South Korea, SK Telecom has started a mobile wallet service called Moneta. Even in the Philipines, a service known as G-Cash allows the transfer of money via text messages (SMS). This service enables users to send money from mobile to mobile, buy goods and services and pay for business permits and micro loans and won an award at the GSM Association Awards 2005 in Cannes.
Innovations in mobile payment could also benefit people developing content for internet websites. It would be possible to charge small payments on the website using your mobile phone. Even PayPal has joined in the foray by introducing the ability to make payments or to send money to others by sending SMS. All you need is to activate your account using your phone number and you can text a message when you see something you are interested in. Every order will be followed by a Mobile PIN as an added layer of security. Hey, you can even donate money using PayPal’s mobile wallet.
While there is widespread enthusiasm about mobile wallet technology, there are fears of security breaches and identity theft. Having all your personal and sensitive information stored on a phone poses a big risk. Incidents of people having their mobile phone stolen will lead to more loss in personal information like bank accounts and passport numbers. However, it would be great if the day will come when we can leave home without our wallet, credit card, passport, membership cards and keys. There would be a lot of empty space in wallets and handbags.
Source: http://www.mobileworld.com.my
No comments:
Post a Comment