Mobile Payments - A Global Perspective
Mobile Payments in Asia
So we have recently covered mobile payments service providers mainly in the US and Western Europe. However, where mobile payments, mbanking and low-cost payment models in general really can make an impact and generate a difference in the daily lives of millions of people, is in rural areas in the vast unpopulated regions of the world - africa, certain places in Asia as well.
In India, mChek as well as Oxigen have both launched viable business models and services for payments and billings based on mobile devices. Both hugely successful, they have managed to grasp a bit of the market that the companies in the west (I am talking the Boku’s, Zonk’s, oneTXT’s etc.) have not pondered about at all.
Personally, I think that what it all comes down to is value. In Asia for example, we have a situation where millions of people who just 10-20 years ago was not connected to any modern banking or communication infrastructure such as credit/debit cards, telephones etc., now all possess a mobile phone. That enables them to perform communicate, interact and not least perform financial transactions across distances that were not previously possible. That equals power.
The company that manages to enable those transactions, and unleash that power, will most likely win a great deal of that market.
Read the rest of the story...