Three things make mobile payment processing possible: a mobile payment method, such as an e-wallet or a credit card, a mobile payment gateway (for processing the payment, and hardware that connects the payment method with the gateway, such as a smartphone or a point-of-sale (POS) scanner.
Mobile payment processing operates on five basic models: mobile wallets, card-based payments, carrier billing, POS contactless payments that use Near Field Communication (NFC), and payer/payee direct account transfers. Add them together, and you have a form of payment processing that is evolving, but has already made a significant impact on the world.
We often examine the impact microcosmically, such as studying how mobile payment affects a particular industry or by spotlighting a facet of mobile commerce that concerns consumers. To appreciate its true importance, it’s also essential to look at mobile payment from a macro perspective. When we do, we see it has three sweeping effects that make it important to life as we know it. (more…)
