Wireless Wave - Spring 2008 - (Page 19)

Sale with the Cell North American Consumer Interest in Using a Cell Phone for Mobile Transactions/Loyalty Card Extremely Interested Very Interested 13.3% Somewhat Interested Not Very Interested Not at all Interested Source: In-Stat, 12/07 (n: 1,056) Loyalty Card 14.6% 23.2% 20.3% Transaction Card 17.2% 32.0% 20.1% 13.4% 17.3% 28.7% Transaction Card: Using cell phone for contactless payments via credit card, debit card, stored value (prepaid) or direct debit from checking or savings account. Loyalty Card: Merchant membership program to earn points or discounts e.g., Safeway, CVS, Blockbuster. That’s the promise of mobile or m-commerce, a term that includes a variety of payment, purchasing and informational capabilities. Some forms of m-commerce are already widely used in Japan and Europe, but the technology and the systems are now more aggressively being incorporated in the U.S. market than in the past. The potential is huge. David Chamberlain, principal analyst with In-Stat and author of a just-released report on m-commerce, says that the number of wireless customers using their phones for mobile commerce transactions could reach 20 million by 2011. Defining m-commerce access through your cell phone to a way to make payments,” he continues. Currently most of these purchases involve ringtones or wallpaper or games for the wireless device itself. “But I think that’s going to expand out to include buying physical goods, either goods that are shipped to you from or something that you pick up in person at a store.” The final piece of m-commerce is what Chamberlain calls mobile transactions. “That’s when you’re actually waving your cell phone across a reader terminal to make payments at various merchants. That’s where we want to get,” he adds. Mobile banking is initial step “That’s [mobile transactions] when you’re actually waving your cell phone across a reader terminal to make payments at various merchants. That’s where we want to get.” David Chamberlain In-Stat The m-commerce umbrella covers a wide range of financial transactions. Chamberlain includes three components in his definition. The first one is online financial transactions, specifically mobile banking and peer-topeer payments. “I think that’s the first step into getting people into m-commerce,” Chamberlain says. “The second part of m-commerce are purchases and payments, where you might have U.S. wireless carriers will need to identify a variety of partners and technologies to make m-commerce a reality. (See technology sidebar.) Their first ventures in this arena have been in the area of mobile banking. Last year AT&T and Verizon Wireless both launched mobile banking services that enable customers to check account balances, transfer funds or pay bills. Many other carriers have launched or are testing similar services. 19 ▼ Spr i ng 20 0 8 ▼

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Wireless Wave - Spring 2008

Wireless Wave - Spring 2008 Contents A Letter from Our Chairman A Letter from Our President Pryor Approval The Promise of M-commerce Moving Targets Foreign Service Multiple Choice Legs, Regs, and Wireless Wireless News The Supplier’s Voice CTIA Welcomes New Members Index of Advertisers Roaming with….

Wireless Wave - Spring 2008

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