Representatives from key banks are calling Mobile Financial Services the “Next Gold Rush”, that’s according to the report ‘Mobile – The ATM in your pocket’ published by Juniper Research.
Another great quote is that we already know the mobile as the Fourth Screen but the report is billing mobile as the “Fifth Channel” in reference to bank’s access to their customers. I wonder if in time the mobile can become our Sixth Sense. More interestingly Juniper predicts that the global market for mobile payments will reach a staggering $587 billion by 2011, this might seem some way off but if the trends in East Asia are anything to go by then it may well unfold. Apparently, in the Philippines the main mobile operator Globe Telecom transacts over $100 million per day ($77 for each of its 1.3m subscribers) through its mobile payment and remittance service. There are a number of mobile payment systems around ranging from Premium SMS to WAP billing, and there are considerable regulatory issues that will no doubt raise their head with such increases in volume, but sure as the internet revolution, once end users become comfortable with a piece of technology then the Gold Rush Will happen, I’m off to Paint My Wagon!
