Four New Approaches to Mobile Payment

Written by Dana Oshiro / November 19, 2009 2:00 PM / 3 Comments

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It's official, money transfer and mobile payment are among the most popular and lucrative mobile applications. In a report released earlier this week, Gartner identified the top 10 consumer mobile applications based on revenue, loyalty, consumer value and market penetration. At today's Under The Radar Mobility Conference four mobile payment players battled for the title of best in show.

Bling Nation:This service allows users to pay using a chip affixed to the back of their iPhone. Users tap their phone against a point-of-sale code recognition system and receive an SMS confirmation for their purchase. From there you can approve or deny the purchase. The company is currently looking for partnerships with banks, merchants and device manufacturers.

m-Via: This service offers international users a chance to transfer money via SMS without owning a bank account. Users can transfer funds across borders and cash out their accounts via ATMs and debit machines. The company currently provides services in more than 25,000 villages in Latin America.

Boku: One of last year's presenters, Boku offers users a chance to buy online goods via SMS confirmation. Specializing in virtual goods, the company lets you buy gaming-related products and charge the purchases to your phone bill. The company has already reached more than 200 million new customers across 250 casual games. As of today, the company announces 12 new gaming partners including 6Waves, Snap Interactive and Zoosk via the Facebook platform.

Payfone: This service allows app stores and aggregators a chance to bill users through direct operators rather than through separate accounts. The company lets you add purchases to your phone bill with real-time balance query and transactions. Payfone takes a percentage of the purchase and also offers one-touch checkout.

Photo Credits: Milica Sekulic

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Comments

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The technology is really adapting to our ways. it help our lives easier just like the creation of mobile payment. By the way if you've ever needed fast cash due to a sudden expense, there are a few traditional options. You could try to borrow money from friends/relatives, you could rely on credit cards, you could pawn stuff for fast cash, or try a payday loans store. However, most of them take time, or have the unsavory interest rates and hidden fees. You could look into instant online loans instead – many payday lenders have gone online, and can take an application over the phone or internet, don't check credit, don't require any faxing, and can direct deposit the funds in a couple of hours, depending on circumstances. Instant online loans can get you fast cash, but it's a temporary fix for temporary problems.

Posted by: AydinX | November 19, 2009 10:01 PM

Are there any of these that work in China, SE asia, or Russia?

We have a need and so far can't find any company that does this service in China, or in Russia for that matter.

Most of these guys have a very small footprint. The first one to get a large footprint is going to win big in this space.

divShare
www.divShare.com

Posted by: divShare | November 20, 2009 8:05 AM