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Shop @ just the wave of mobile phone
By siliconindia
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Wednesday, 12 November 2008, 23:26 IST
Tokyo: Now people in Japan are transforming their business model that will pave the way for wallet phones to become a standard payment method in the future.
The world's top firms such as Visa and Nokia are still mostly testing phone use for payments, but in Japan, more than 50 million, or about half of all cellphone users, already carry phones capable of serving as wallets. Some 700 million people worldwide are expected to own such phones by 2013.
"I use it pretty much every day," the 25-year-old said. "You can charge money on it right there if needed, and you don't have to run around trying to find an ATM. You can even get points because it's linked to credit cards."
"You can't deny that having such applications on a phone is convenient, and that will likely be the way that mobile phones are going worldwide," said JPMorgan Securities analyst Hironobu Sawake in Tokyo. "People always carry cellphones on them, and they would find it useful to have a financial function there."
Success in Japan and in trials abroad have shown that the technology is ready for cell phones to replace credit cards, cash as well as serve as transportation and movie tickets and electronic keys for homes and offices.
But there are other hurdles; from breaking the psychological barrier for consumers skeptical about using phones as credit cards, to working out new business models as the lines blur between banks, financial institutions and cell phone companies.
With over 250 Million mobile phone subscribers in India, mChek is all set to transform the way people live including in the bottom of the pyramid by democratizing the electronic money.
But, commenting on with the current Indian psyche, 'can the mobile really be your wallet?' The reason is obvious. "Telecom and banking systems are amazingly similar and that is why mobile for banking and payments makes logical sense", says mChek CEO Sanjay Swamy. In both segments, a user uses their 'balance' (prepaid) or a 'line of credit' (postpaid) to transact. In the case of the telcos, the products purchased are limited to whatever one may consume on the phone - talk time, ringtones, and wallpapers. One may check their balance or bill and get an itemized call statement. For most users, banking constitutes making a deposit, making payments and informational services such as balance inquiry and mini-statements.
