When it comes to the revolution in mobile wallet technology, Isis Mobile Wallet is a collaboration between some super-heavyweights.
Its founders and main partners are AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile, Visa (NYSE: V), Discover (NYSE: DFS), American Express (NYSE: AXP) and Verizon Wireless.
This is a monster worth watching.
The idea behind Isis is to allow users to pay with "preferred" credit or debit resources available through their Isis-enabled phones by tapping or waving their devices at NFC (near field communications) terminals in participating merchant outlets.
Isis-enabled phones are being manufactured by additional partners Research in Motion, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.
Card.io is a mobile phone application (available at the Apple App Store and as a Google Android app) that allows users to receive and make payments by letting them (in the case of making a payment) enter an amount they want to charge on their app, for what they want to buy, and holding the card they want to use up to the phone's camera lens, which logs the card and processes the transaction.
Received payments can be channeled directly into the user's checking account, savings account, or PayPal account. Card.io charges a hefty 3.5% (of the transaction amount) fee and 15 cents per transaction.
Another mobile solution to not having a credit swiping machine in your pocket is offered by Square.
Square, named after the small square magnetic tape data reader that you plug into your phone's audio jack to convert encoded data from the tape on the back of cards to an electronic file, was started by Jack Dorsey, creator of Twitter.
Electronic data from the magnetic strips on the backs of cards is encrypted automatically, sent to Square's servers and rerouted through the Global Payments Network. You sign the electronic receipt with your finger, which is then sent to you via SMS or email. Now anyone can accept credit cards for anything.
There are lots of start-ups and up-and-comers wading aggressively into the exploding mobile wallet space. Some of these companies will become giants and some will go the way of the dodo.
But, one thing's for sure, the winners will be worth investing in.
isis mobile wallet
Article Index
Mobile Wallet Technology: The Giant Killers in the Weeds
To continue reading, please click here...
Mobile Wallet Technology: The New Barbarians are at the Gate
As I discussed in Part One, the sky is the limit when it comes to mobile wallet technology.
The big brand credit card issuers: American Express, MasterCard, Visa, and Discover Card, along with every other card issuer and wannabe credit extension intermediary are all already into the mobile wallet space.
Their offerings vary and competition between them will be as brutal as it always has been. And that's good for consumers.
Creating choices for consumers to drive business will lead to more innovation and more services offered at more competitive prices. At least, that's the way the free market is supposed to work.
But, traditional credit card issuers that are forcing banks to compete to offer credit to card borrowers, aren't the "disintermediators" I talked about in Part One.
They help spread banking relationships across the spectrum, they do not remove banks from the equation. And because banks are all in the present equation, pricing pressures aren't prevalent and fees and costs remain stubbornly high.
But as you'll see, that's about to change.
The biggest, baddest New Barbarians at the gate are some of the biggest names in the Internet world, the social media world, and the telecom world.
If you want to make a fortune on the mobile wallet future the giant players and Barbarian disintermediators to watch and invest in include: Google, Yahoo (yes, Yahoo), Microsoft (believe it or not), Facebook (when it goes public), Nokia, Research in Motion (yes, I am advocating buying Nokia and RIMM), Apple, Verizon, and Vodafone.
There will be other giants worth buying, but until the ground shakes from their emergence, these giants have a giant head start in the mobile wallet world of the future, starting now.
Of course, keep in mind that the scope of this series is intentionally broad.
So, it's not the place to give specific reasons to buy specific companies. My purpose is to explain to readers the extraordinary opportunities inherent in the mobile wallet future.
But, if you want to know why these specific companies will be huge winners in mobile transactions and what they are doing to warrant their own exceptional futures, as well as when you should buy them, take heart. Keep reading Money Morning.
As it takes shape I will follow this report with specific recommendations accompanied by all the reasons and metrics you'll need to make informed investment decisions.
In the meantime, here's why these businesses are primed to rake in profits on the digital wallet phenomenon.
The big brand credit card issuers: American Express, MasterCard, Visa, and Discover Card, along with every other card issuer and wannabe credit extension intermediary are all already into the mobile wallet space.
Their offerings vary and competition between them will be as brutal as it always has been. And that's good for consumers.
Creating choices for consumers to drive business will lead to more innovation and more services offered at more competitive prices. At least, that's the way the free market is supposed to work.
But, traditional credit card issuers that are forcing banks to compete to offer credit to card borrowers, aren't the "disintermediators" I talked about in Part One.
They help spread banking relationships across the spectrum, they do not remove banks from the equation. And because banks are all in the present equation, pricing pressures aren't prevalent and fees and costs remain stubbornly high.
But as you'll see, that's about to change.
The Greater Fear for the Banks
What banks fear most in the burgeoning mobile wallet world are New Barbarians breaking down the gates that traditionally walled off banks from meaningful interlopers.The biggest, baddest New Barbarians at the gate are some of the biggest names in the Internet world, the social media world, and the telecom world.
If you want to make a fortune on the mobile wallet future the giant players and Barbarian disintermediators to watch and invest in include: Google, Yahoo (yes, Yahoo), Microsoft (believe it or not), Facebook (when it goes public), Nokia, Research in Motion (yes, I am advocating buying Nokia and RIMM), Apple, Verizon, and Vodafone.
There will be other giants worth buying, but until the ground shakes from their emergence, these giants have a giant head start in the mobile wallet world of the future, starting now.
Of course, keep in mind that the scope of this series is intentionally broad.
So, it's not the place to give specific reasons to buy specific companies. My purpose is to explain to readers the extraordinary opportunities inherent in the mobile wallet future.
But, if you want to know why these specific companies will be huge winners in mobile transactions and what they are doing to warrant their own exceptional futures, as well as when you should buy them, take heart. Keep reading Money Morning.
As it takes shape I will follow this report with specific recommendations accompanied by all the reasons and metrics you'll need to make informed investment decisions.
In the meantime, here's why these businesses are primed to rake in profits on the digital wallet phenomenon.
To continue reading, please click here...