In response to my previous blog '5 Common Challenges in Testing a Mobile Money Transfer Solution', I received several emails about challenges and hurdles that others have encountered while performing testing of their mobile money transfer solutions. Thanks to all that took the time to share their experience! Below are 2 additional recurring themes that came out of the responses that I received. These may prove helpful to those of you who are in the heat of delivery.
Good day, I wanted to take a moment to say a BIG thank you to WorkLight for supporting Mobile-Finacial.com and joining our team as our Mobile Banking Sponsor for the coming month. WorkLight is a provider of online and mobile solutions to financial institutions and enterprises that need an integrated approach to interact with consumers and deliver services across multiple channels, including mobile, online, and the desktop.
Over the recent few weeks, I have been asked for my thoughts on some of the most common challenges or hurdles to overcome during the testing phase of a Mobile Money Transfer Solution deployment. As such, I thought that many of you would benefit from this list as well.As most of you know, a mobile money transfer solution is made up of several applications and back-office systems working together to deliver the service literally into the hands of the customer.
As more and more people become dependant on their mobile phones, mobile airtime is becoming more than a luxury item but rather a necessity of daily living. This is especially true the mobile penetration rate continues to climb in developing countries in Africa, China and India. This is phenomenon is opening up a niche market for airtime top up providers who can provide migrant workers the ability to top up airtime for their loved ones living cross borders.
A company named 'MyScreen' recently landed a deal with Latin America's largest mobile operator, America Movil to launch an advertising service with carriers in Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina. MyScreen provides a service that shows a full-screen mobile advertisement each time a subscriber completes a call. The user can click on the ad to learn more or press 'End' to exit the advertisement.
The annual CTIA convention in Las Vegas is underway and as always with the CTIA many new research reports have been released. One report from Informa has some positive data points for the future growth of mobile marketing.
It looks like everyone is talking about Verizon Wireless's partnership with Danal to offer BilltoMobile to it's subscribers. I think this is a great step forward and maybe in a year or so, we would have enough data to really understanding how the American market will adopt this alternative method of payment from Verizon. Based on the descriptions of the BilltoMobile service, here are some points that really jump out at me:
-Verizon's BilltoMobile can only be used to purchased digital content from participating e-tailers.
Verizon has just announced that it will enter the mobile payments space by offering its consumers the ability to pay for online goods and content by effectively 'billing' the items to their mobile phone account. All items purchased in this manner will appear on their post-paid phone bill, which they will pay as per current processes. Verizon is offering the service through Danal Inc's BilltoMobile payment service, providing Verizon's customers with immediate access to content and goods sold through Danal's network of eCommerce merchant partners.
Many of you have likely seen that Target recently announced the launch of their mobile coupon program, enabling consumers to view and redeem coupons using their mobile phone. While it will take some time to determine the relative success of this initiative, one thing is certain - the roll-out of mobile coupons by a large retailer such as Target will help to push Mobile Coupons into a mainstream adoption phase for consumers. Hopefully, the user experience is positive since it will no doubt influence consumer perceptions of mobile coupons in general.
Mobey Forum contacted me today to let me know that it has just released a whitepaper for banks interested in delivering secure mobile payments to mobile subscribers. Mobey Forum is a not-for-profit organization that brings together players in the mobile financial services ecosystem to establish and promote open and secure mobile financial technologystandards.The whitepaper, “Alternatives for Banks to offer Secure MobilePayments”, explores the role that Secure Elements (SE) within mobile devices can play to secure mobile payments for banks.
