Middle East Mini Moni8 Sep 2013 16:28
Mobile Account
Management: The Mobile
Commerce Enabler
There is much talk about retail banking on mobile devices,
but mobile banking is just a first step toward the
full-fledged account management needed to support
mobile commerce. Today, financial institutions and service
providers are making choices that could dramatically
impact the growth and acceptance of mobile commerce.
By Barry McCarthy, President, Mobile Commerce Solutions, First Data
A First Data White Paper
Mobile Account Management: The Mobile Commerce Enabler A First Data White Paper
Author’s note:
Mobile technology is transforming how people monitor their financial resources, make
important purchasing decisions and pay for transactions. As the fourth installment in First Data’s series on the
ongoing development of mobile commerce solutions, this paper focuses on mobile account management,
which is really the key ingredient to a healthy mobile commerce economy. Understand, though, that mobile
commerce is in its infancy. It is unlikely that First Data’s viewpoint as a company, or my personal thoughts as
a commerce industry veteran, is completely accurate.
Let me know what you think. Call or send me an e-mail sharing your own expectations and anticipations.
Mobile Account Management: Beyond Mobile Banking
The cornerstone of mobile commerce is the ability for consumers to manage
money in their electronic wallets—bank accounts, yes, but so many other account
types, too.
In the same way people manage the cash and cards they carry in their physical
wallets today, consumers need to be able to manage the purchasing instruments
and rewards programs in their electronic wallets. This is called mobile account
management, but what does that really mean?
Today, people put cash into their wallets by going to an ATM and withdrawing
money from a bank account. They pay credit card bills with checks or electronic
funds transfers drawn from a bank account, and debit purchases are immediately
deducted from a bank account. People increasingly manage their bank and credit
accounts from a computer, transferring money from one account to another and
initiating electronic payments.
Clearly, the first step toward mobile commerce is enabling some, or all, of these
banking functions through the mobile phone, because this is how consumers
will ultimately manage the balances of any purchasing instrument built into
their mobile devices. And, while it’s not pervasive yet, mobile banking through
mobile phones is happening today. Companies like mFoundry, Firethorn, mBlox,
Blaze Mobile, Vipera and others offer mobile phone software through service
agreements with banks that enable consumers to manage their bank accounts
with their mobile devices.
© 2009 First Data Corporation. All rights reserved
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