The mobile will he become an electronic wallet? Using your mobile phone as payment or to manage his bank accounts remotely, that is what the solutions or so-called "m-payment." This market, still young, is thriving. In 2010, the number of users of mobile payment solutions in the world is expected to exceed 108.6 million, against $ 70.2 million in 2009, according to Gartner. A jump of 54.5%. Purchases made via this system should, in turn, reach $ 200 billion (152.3 billion) by 2012 and 630 billion (479.8 billion euros) in 2014, says firm Juniper Research Study.
It must be said that the mobile phone has become an indispensable accessory of everyday life.In July 2010, the mobile has crossed the symbolic threshold of $ 5 billion customers worldwide, according to the Swedish group Ericsson, the world's mobile networks. Every day, the planet has 2 million subscribers added. France has, for its 62 million mobile subscribers, representing 94% of its population, according to consulting firm TnP Consultants. A context that should allow the mobile payments to take off. Yet, the use of mobile as purse is still not widely in France.
Market conditions exist
"The actors are present and technologies exist in France, as elsewhere in the European market," said Michael Emmanuel Brasier de Thuy, TnP Associate Consultants.Today, three solutions can make payments with a mobile phone: SMS premium, particularly used to purchase ringtones of mobile smart card NFC (Near Field Communication) technology which enables the exchange Remote data between a mobile phone and a terminal adapted and finally mobile applications, which are boosted by sales of smartphones, like Apple's iPhone. Dozens of pilot m-payment have been established in Europe, including 17 initiatives in France.
Mobile operators Bouygues Telecom, SFR, NRJ Mobile and Orange have particular experience gathered in Nice for the use of contactless payment using NFC technology. A technology that had already been tested for several years in urban transport or in some shops in Paris, Bordeaux, Marseille, Strasbourg, Caen, Rennes and Grenoble."These various tests were all satisfactory, from a technological perspective, but also the consumers, who have welcomed the use of the card and NFC wanted these projects continue," says Michael Emmanuel Brasier de Thuy.
Many players are positioning themselves
Mobile operators are not the only players to benefit from the emergence of m-payment market. Some are already positioned in this niche, such as handset manufacturers Nokia, Samsung, RIM, Apple or Google, or manufacturers such as Gemalto smart cards. Financial institutions are also present, particularly banks (BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and Barclays), providers of payment cards (Visa and MasterCard) and solution providers of payment (PayPal, Amazon, etc cash advance now.)..Finally, many retailers, including Starbucks, Carrefour, Franprix or SNCF, tested and deployed their own mobile payment solutions. "Every player wants to impose its model, which hinders the expansion of m-payment in Europe and the United States, however, regrets the TnP Associate Consultants.
In those countries where a large majority of the population holds a bank account, credit card remains a formidable competitor to the new payment solutions. "The mobile payment questions the balance in relations between the merchant, the customer and the bank. However, banks have already lost significant ground in front of the customer relationship since the arrival of the blue card. "For Ernst & Young, the m-payment market will take off if it is built on the basis of a partnership between stakeholders."Banks and telcos can each use their strengths and create better services for their clients," say analysts in a recent study.
The consumer appetite for Success
Such a collaborative approach was not enough in Japan, where banks and telecom operators had yet quickly embraced the concept of m-payment. Japanese traders have been heavily subsidized to equip themselves with terminals, but consumers were not at the rendezvous. Today, 420,000 outlets allow their customers to make purchases with their mobile phones in Japan. Gartner estimates that 1.8 only the number of transactions per customer and monthly payment terminal in 2010."Despite the large number of subscribers, with 80 million electronic portfolios in circulation, m-payment has complemented the existing means of payment, and failed to impose on users," said Michael Emmanuel Brasier de Thuy. The appetite of users for these new payment solutions still stumbles on security issues and fears of fraud, says Ernst & Young.
Concerns not shared by consumers in countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, where banking services are inaccessible. In Africa, where 90% of the population still rule their purchases in cash (or through barter), SMS payments are growing at high speed for three years. This is particularly true in Kenya.While the banking rate reached just over 10% in this country, 9 million of 14 million subscribers Safaricom operator using the services of m-payment (either an adoption rate of 64%), according TnP consultants. Other countries are very promising for the development of this market, like Mexico (with an adoption rate of 26%), Vietnam (22%), Brazil (15%) and Romania (28%). China is no exception. In 2013, it will be the world's largest market for mobile transaction services, "said BNP Paribas, citing predictions from Celent. According to the firm, 410 million Chinese use the m-payment on that date.
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