I seem unable to switch on the TV at the moment without seeing the latest ad for Barclaycard OneTouch™ and it never fails to draw me in, for a number of reasons:
1) The idea of travelling home from work in a gigantic waterslide, picking up a few bits of shopping on the way is incredibly appealing, especially at the end of a long week
2) At the risk of showing my age I remember when the soundtrack was initially released, way back in the 70s, and find myself humming ‘Let your love flow’ for the rest of the day
3) The ad is promoting contactless payments through a credit card but in the not too distant future it could just as easily be your mobile phone that provides one of the main mechanisms for contact-free technology
In the field of contactless payments, security of course is a critical issue; how do you track the authorisation of a payment if you do not have to sign your name or enter a pin number? Well, a transaction with OneTouch™ utilises the same secure network as a chip and pin payment and can only be used for payments of £10 or less. With an estimated 5 million contactless cards circulating by the end of this year, the uptake is growing dramatically.
Transfer this payment mechanism to the mobile phone and although security continues to be a vital issue there are other factors which are predominantly more pertinent, especially for the business user.
Juniper Research estimates that by 2011, 52 million users will adopt mobile payment technologies to pay for everyday goods and services. Charges will then be added to the user’s mobile phone bill but what if the mobile in question is a company one?
As I have discussed on this blog before, mobile phone payments need to be monitored for both appropriateness (are they actually a business cost) and for the annual tax bill. Add in the speed and ease of a contactless payment and the average user is likely to increase the use of their mobile phone for small purchases. In the business environment, this will necessitate further analysis of mobile phone bills; a costly and time consuming activity regardless of the company size.
With the current trend of declining profits and reduced liquidity, many companies will continue to drive cost reduction plans across their business. As telecoms spend is a top 3 expense for most businesses, developments such as contactless payments will necessitate an even closer watch on the monthly telecoms bill.
At the end of the Barclaycard ad, the chap arrives home and can be heard asking someone for a towel; in the real world we’re more likely to be asking if someone remembers using the mobile to buy a fizzy drink at Oxford Street tube station.
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