Universal Approach to Mobile Payments

Abstract

An old saying coming from the telecom world states that nothing can be really considered as a service unless you are able to charge for it. The last several years have seen a boom in interest in mobile commerce, mainly due to the high penetration rates of mobile phones. Furthermore, there is evident the need for a real-time, open, and trusted payment service that can be used any time, anywhere, and that can handle any transaction in any currency. Such a service would promote not only content creating activities but would empower the electronic and mobile commerce area and kick-start new innovative services. The time is right for such a mobile payment service, because the infrastructure, the business models, and other conditions that favor its existence are realistic and in place (Vilmos & Karnouskos, 2004). Up to now, we have witnessed the rise and fall of several efforts in the area, ranging from realizing simple intangible good purchases, up to interaction with real points of sale (POS) and person-to-person (P2P) transactions. Day by day, new trials are initiated, targeting different sections in the MP area; however, there is still no solution that is open and widely accepted. In this article, we first introduce the reader to the mobile payment area, present the guiding forces behind it, and subsequently examine such an open, secure mobile payment approach that has been successfully designed, implemented, and tested. Furthermore we identify some midterm future trends that we consider will be of high importance to the further development of the area.