It was recently articulated by VRL Financial News that mobile phones are ready to replace credit and debit cards as a means of transaction. This was the overall view expressed at the round table meeting hosted by Cards International.
It was said that although mobile phones are capable of this, the transition may not occur very soon, as the benefits in it are not publicized clearly as yet. According to certain industry figures, mobile payments may take off in the ongoing year. However, various professional at the meeting pointed out that it may take at least a couple of years or even more before the market for this conversion could really shape up.
James Ratcliff, Editor of Cards International comments, “According to Eurosmart, telecoms smart device issuance is forecast to grow at a rate of 12.5 percent by the end of 2011, whereas cards will grow at more than double that rate 28.6 percent. However, the volume of smart devices issued is still far greater, Android phones in particular have seen an 886 percent rise in sales in 2010. Showing that the technology is there but widespread adoption is still some way off.”
The meeting was held in central London. Participants involved delegates from mobile phone operator Three, credit card issuer Barclaycard, card network MasterCard, accounting firm KPMG, payments solutions companies Ingenico, eWise, and SIX Card Solutions. Some other names included mobile ecommerce business Optima Europe, fashion retailer John Goodwin Ltd, payment giants UK Payments and Worldpay, and representatives from consulting companies Bluerock, Kilrush and Value Partners.
A comprehensive write-up about the topic would be published in this month’s issue of Cards International magazine.