23Jul / 2010

Mobile Payment

: [1] MacDonald’s cashier with electronic payment option

: [2] Electronic payment sensor

: [3] My idea of electronic payment using mobile phone

It is obvious that the mobile payment system will be big and ubiquitous in the future. However, the current trend of convenient electronic payment is still focusing on proprietary RFID/near-field chips, so it is really difficult to truly get 100% penetration unless one giant company rules them all, makes hugh investment and implements such system in national/international basis. Example of such payment system includes OCTOPUS, SUICA, WAON [1][2], VISA chip card technology, just to name a few.

However, my vision of true mobile payment system is based on mobile phone. Here is one example in picture [3]:

You order a drink at cashier
The staff will enter your order
An order identifier (in form of QR Code) will show on the screen. You use your mobile phone to scan the code
Confirm the payment
Transaction complete. You can now take your drink and enjoy!

Of course I made a lot of assumptions here.

For instance, I assume that mobile Internet will be extremely reliable and always available.
Also, the phone must have such payment system built-in or be able to run an App to do so.
Internet security must be good so financial institute would trust such system to work, and honor the money transaction.

However, these assumptions are not too far fetch. Technology grows exponentially. Just imagine 5 years ago what our mobile phone could do, and what it can do right now. I feel comfortable to bet that mobile internet in the (near) future will become much faster, cheaper and reliable, thus such mobile payment system will be doable.

This mobile payment idea was originally inspired by Mobio, and here is the post about it earlier this year. I will continue to refine my idea and post updates on my blog.

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23Mar / 2010

Mobile Payment Update

Some follow-up with the mobile payment post:

PayPal on iPhone

This iPhone app allows you to make payments with the solid PayPal payment system. Latest version uses the gimmicky “bumping” gesture from BUMP app to send money from one iPhone user to another iPhone buddy. Have much potential in entering the physical retail space. Read on at TechCrunch: http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/15/paypal-iphone-app-bump/

Meanwhile, something not quite mobile but very interesting nonetheless.

RightCliq by Visa

Visa is going to roll out it’s own online payment system named RightCliq. The service requires user to install a browser plugin in order to function. Not to mention it’s complicated registration process. As a bonus feature, you can ask your friends on your social network for purchase advice, collect virtual deals and coupons, and hey, it’s by Visa.

Rightcliq: hah, not so fast! We want to hear from you first!

By the way, you think the URL of RightCliq is http://rightcliq.com right? Wrong. Unfortunately Visa marketing people must have spent all the time brainstorming the clever name (RIGHTCL”IQ“) and creating the artworks, and forgot about acquiring the actual domain before any public announcement.

This is the current http://rightcliq.com:

RIGHTCLIQ not by Visa

The real Rightcliq URL: http://usa.visa.com/personal/using_visa/rightcliq_by_visa.html (arrr…I think even http://tr.im/rightcliq is better than this) Read on: Visa preps online shopping plug-in to take on Web giants (12 March, 2010)

MoBeePay

MoBeePay is another mobile payment provider that seems to have come up with some nice solutions on solving barcode camera and transaction issues. Though their iPhone app is not quite ready yet? Read on: http://www.intomobile.com/2010/03/22/mobeepay-joins-the-mobile-payment-race.html

I think the ultimate goal of mobile payment is to exploit impulsive buying. At the end of the day, if the service is easy to set up, fast to seal a transaction, and with reliable payment handling, it’s going to win the game. See the stuff you like, pull your mobile device out, snap, done. Simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication. Let’s keep an eye in this area. You know, people also talked about that in SXSW.

Also, the Twitter user @denisvacher maintains a stream of news related to mobile payment development. Good source to follow.

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20Mar / 2010

Mobile payment with Mobio

Last week my friend and I went to downtown Vancouver to watch the Paralympics opening ceremony. After the event we decided to go to Amarcord Italian restaurant (http://www.amarcord.ca) in Yaletown to have some pasta. When we get the bill, I notice something interesting on the bill jacket – a big QR barcode and a name “Mobio”:

Amarcord bill with Mobio payment barcode

After going home, I did some research on Mobio (http://mobioidentity.com) and figured out that it is a mobile payment service. According to the demo video, a user needs to download an iPhone app (Blackberry and Android app coming soon), register an account, and point your phone camera to the barcode to initiate a transaction.

Mobio demo video

Watch video here: https://mobioidentity.com/about/company

I am advocating the mobile payment idea (Wiki entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_payment), and glad to see another attempt that leverages the popular iPhone platform. My thoughts:

Need stronger branding and marketing campaign. I really haven’t heard of it at all
More appealing website with video and simple comics/illustrations to show customers how easy it is to join and start using it.
Must also make it SUPER easy for merchant/everybody to create an account and start using it. In the website it doesn’t make it very clear how the merchant side operates. Do you admin using web interface? Desktop app? Another mobile app for the merchant account? Does the transaction happen in realtime? How can a merchant confirm right away that the money is securely deposited? And again, don’t make me read too much. I prefer pictures and video tutorials.
In terms of UX, need to make it less than 1 minute from seeing the Mobio URL on the bill to finishing the payment.

My thought on the workflow:

Open the Mobio app
Enter a passcode
Camera pops up and ready to snap the QR code
Choice to enter card number manually or snap a picture of your credit card. If snapping a picture, the app does OCR immediately to get the credit card number.
QR code should also embed the transaction amount and description, so it saves customers’ time and effort to punch in the numbers.
Optional tips by amount or percentage
Enter Expiry and CVN printed on the back of the card
Verify the payment. Slide to pay (to avoid accidental click)
Done! Receipt appears on the screen as well as sending an email to you if email address is provided. Option to save the receipt as an image into the camera roll

Important notes:

No registration necessary. I don’t want to remember yet another set of username/password in order to just pay for a lunch. User can optionally choose to remember credit card number (but always forget CVN) and email address. However if user choose to create a Mobio account, then it’s possible to check payment history, remotely block credit card charge, and set up daily/monthly credit limit (to prevent over puchasing)…etc
Ensure that the transaction process is ATOMIC and REVERTIBLE, meaning if a call comes in and interrupted the transaction process, no charge will be made to the credit card, or at least restore the screen to the proper state before the call kicks in.
(Updated Mar 22) When the customer’s transaction is completed (in his/her own headset), the merchant can IMMEDIATELY see the completed transaction in their own handset IN REAL TIME as well. It’s crucial for the store owner to trust the system and be sure that money will come into their bank account. SMS/Push notification are good alternatives for the alert. Even more fun to have a “KA-CHING” sound effect, or Fred Flintstone saying “Yabba dabba do.”

Aug 2010 Update:

For more blog posts about Mobile Payment please go to this tag page.

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