Contactless and Mobile Payment Solutions Must End Market Stagnation

­Contactless payments ecosystem is presently a series of "islands" with little-to-no mutual realization of value among the various constituents, claims Javelin Strategy & Research. A report from the company indicates that the success of contactless solutions depends on some disruptive factor or wide-scale deployment that bridges the gaps and allows for value creation among all constituents that connects the islands.

"Efforts to deploy contactless and mobile payments solutions have suffered from conflicting value propositions among various constituents, specifically merchants, payment networks, card-issuing financial institutions, and wireless carriers," said James Van Dyke, President & Founder. "But companies such as Vivotech and newcomer Zenius are seeking to build solutions that bridge the gaps in value among the constituents. Consumer awareness and behavior changes are also necessary."

Key Findings of the Javelin Strategy & Research Report:

• Smartphone ownership will be a key driver in consumer adoption of more robust mobile activity, including mobile payments.
• Current smartphone owners show a much higher propensity to use contactless cards and are more likely to extend this into mobile payments usage.
• The tipping point for wide-scale mobile payment deployments will sync with the growth of selected smartphones and the congruence of value for each ecosystem player.
• As ecosystem players realize the value of NFC beyond the payments, the path to value from large-scale deployments of NFC solutions will become clearer.
• Wireless offers with higher uptakes will lead to a greater likelihood that customers will engage in mobile payment activities

"Finding the right base of consumers that will drive contactless usage and make the leap to early adoption of mobile payments is an integral part of widespread deployment," said Mary Monahan, Research Director & Managing Partner. "Several population segments show propensity to use contactless and mobile payments - including mobile bankers, smartphone owners and tech-savvy consumers. In-depth information on these segments will enable all industry players to better understand their individual value proposition and their position in the ecosystem."

Posted to the site on 18th September 2009