Smartphone technology has become a staple in the lifestyle of the UK’s busy workers, with employees using their iPhone, Samsung Galaxy or Nexus to do everything from checking emails to ordering in their lunch.
And yet there is one aspect of smartphone capability which has not quite caught on in the UK – using a mobile to pay for purchases in retail commercial properties. This means that this country has fallen behind the US, and even developing nations such as India and Tanzania, in terms of unleashing the full potential of the pocket size personal organisers.
However, chief executive of mobile network Vodafone, Vittorio Colao, believes that things will radically change this year. Thanks to a united venture known as Weve with its main competitors, o2 and EE, Vodafone hopes that retailers and consumers alike will be signing up for an app which will allow them to make and accept mobile transactions.
This app will contain a single set of technical standards which will allow it to be used on any handset and any network, thus making the transition to smartphone payments much quicker and easier.
This venture had first been announced last year, with the three networks hoping to have smartphone payments up and running in time for the London Olympic Games. Unfortunately, due to issues regarding competition concerns in the EU, it took until September to receive the official go-ahead.
Furthermore, while America gained approval for a mobile payment scheme at around the same time as this UK initiative, Mr Colao has blamed “European bureaucracy” for the hold ups in getting the UK online.
He says; “In Europe everything takes too long because we have organisations and bureaucratic controls that are excessive.
“Now that we have the authorisations we will do our best to launch mobile payments as soon as we can, but getting the permissions takes longer in Europe. Everything takes longer.
“It’s a general problem of Europe – even within each country, there is too much bureaucracy.”
Permissions issues aside, the technology should not take too long to introduce to the UK marketplace. A similar American venture, pioneered by AT&T, T Mobile and Verizon, was launched in October and is enjoying great success, with American consumers now able to pay for a multitude of items whilst leaving their wallets at home.
It is hoped that the UK will similarly embrace this initiative, allowing for smoother transactions in place of the current chip and pin system. Users would simply have to “scan” their smartphone using a device at the cash point, thus making a large part of the current payment system obsolete.
Smartphones have already proven their worth over the festive period, with more retailers than ever before choosing to release apps which allow their customers to order gifts via mobile technology.
Should mobile payments catch on, it could be good news not just for time-strapped consumers – but also for the high street, which desperately needs a route in to modern technology as a means of survival.
Do you think mobile payments will catch on in the UK, or are consumers here too concerned about security issues and leaked personal information to trust their network provider with access to their bank accounts?
Would mobile payments encourage shoppers to return to the high street or would the majority of users simply make payments at their local supermarkets while continuing to order clothing and electronic items online?
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