What is Mobile Payment

Have you ever been frustrated in a restaurant waiting to get your check, while it seems takes forever for the waitress to come to your desk? And when you finally get the check, divide up the payment with your friends, the waitress come and take the credit cards, and there is another endless waiting for getting the bill back. Sometimes this doesn't bother much since you can enjoy sitting and chatting for longer, but for those who has schedules after the dinner, the long waiting time is definitely unpleasant. So is there any way to make the payment easier?

With a dramatic increase in cell phone usage, large companies are looking for ways to utilize the mobile space to replace the traditional manual process in order to save time and money. For consumers, making payments on a mobile device can help them get rid of the burden of carrying credit/debit cards. Just by simply holding the phone to the payment terminal, or sending a text message, you payment is done. The cell phone works the same as the credit card, but the mobile platform just gives them a more convenient way of doing it.

This is a ad by AirPlus (NFC payment)

M-payment is a point-of-sale payment made through a mobile device, such as a cellular telephone, a smart phone, or a personal digital assistant (PDA). There are 3 major types of M-payment method today, which are SMS, WAP and NFC payment.

SMS Payment
SMS payment means paying for goods, services or products via a text message sent from a mobile phone. This is the most popular payment method worldwide. The customer simply sending a text message to a mobile payment provider, and the provider will clear the transaction between customer and the vendor. The cost will add to the customer’s phone bill, which will be paid monthly to the phone operator. This method is very quick and easy, with no need of memorizing the password or entering bank account information. Many business people choose SMS payment provider when they travel abroad, such as Zaypay and Boku, which are 2 large international SMS providers. And interestingly, this method is widely used in charities to get donations.

This is the SMS payment screen on the smartphone:

WAP Payment
WAP Payments simply means using the phone to connect to the internet and then make a online payment via PayPal, Google Wallet, credit card or other online payment method. In order to make a WAP payment, the vendor has to have a website or a smart phone app that allow customer to make a payment online. Different from directly paying through credit card or cash, WAP payment can made without interacting with any staff member. So, for example, if a person wants to pay quickly and the restaurant, instead of waiting for a server to bring the check, he can paid directly from the table by simply connect to the cash register with a wireless device. This method allows payment to be made more flexible and efficient.  

NFC payment

Near Field Communication (NFC) payment is a growth area in the field of m-payments. It is a contactless communication which means the user can conncet their smart phones to the devices without touching it. For example, people can make a payment by waving the phone over a display at a concert entrance, swiping the phone at the checkout in lane in a grocery store, or making two phone close to each other to make a money transaction. Currently, NFC is widely used in Asia: in China NFC is used on all public transport, and in Japan it is used in most of the convenience store such a 7-11. And in the U.S, Google has launched a Google Wallet app in android phones to offer money transfers between smart phones this year.

This is a video about how NFC works