Visa Now Processing €1 in Every €7 Spent in Europe
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This growth now means that €1 in every €7 of consumer spending in Europe is on a Visa card, up from €1 in €8 in 2010 and €1 in €18 in 2000. The company also reported that the fraud losses on Visa cards in Europe reached an all-time low. In 2011, fraud was accounting for less than four cents in every €100 spent.
The credit card giant has issued of 30 million contactless cards and launched its first mobile payment services in 2011. ”We expect this growth in electronic payments to continue during 2012 when we will be launching mobile payments and our digital wallet services. These new services, that are a key part of our future of payments strategy, will revolutionise consumers’ everyday shopping experience to the extent that by 2020 we predict that over half of all Visa transactions in Europe will be on a mobile device,’ commented Peter Ayliffe, Chief Executive of Visa Europe.
Mobile Payment: The Big Picture
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- The official NFC-Logo
Although they idea to pay with a mobile phone has been hyped since the late 1990s, only a few countries have successfully implemented such services. Over the last few years, some major players have entered the mobile payment space. Currently the focus of the buzz is on Near Field Communication (NFC)-based services that support close proximity mobile payment.
Mobile payment is being adopted all over the world in different ways. In this article we provide a brief overview on the mobile payments.
Broadly speaking, mobile payment refers to all kinds of financial transactions performed from or via a mobile device. There are four main types of mobile payment: carrier billing, mobile wallets, mobile point of sale and mobile banking. In addition, there are a couple of other mobile payment solutions such as the SMS-based p2p money transfer service M-Pesa in Africa and Starbuck’s proprietary mobile loyalty and payment app. Also there is a lot of talking these days how mobile wallets will replace physical wallets and mobile banking is going to change the way we bank.
Carrier billing

Carrier Billing Paymet Flow using the example of Cashlog
One of the easiest methods of paying using a mobile phone is payment via a mobile phone bill. It is a very competitive market and many companies such as Boku, Zong and Atlas offer worldwide mobile carrier billing services. In detail, carrier billing can be realized via different schemes: premium SMS text, premium rate numbers, mobile web (WAP) billing and direct carrier billing. Today, carrier billing is mostly used for micropayments and purchasing digital goods such as ringtones, wallpapers or virtual items in online games.
Mobile digital wallets
A digital wallet works much like a physical wallet. It is a service that allows the user to store and use electronic money or shopping information. Recently there has been a big hype about implementing digital wallets on smartphones and tablets. Mobile wallets, such as Google Wallet or the mobile PayPal app usually feature contactless technologies such as NFC, QR-codes or location based services. Using those mobile digital wallets, the user can use his smartphone to pay both online and at retail stores.
Mobile point of sale

Mobile Card Reader and App using the example of Intuit GoPayment
Mobile POS solutions such as Square in the US and iZettle in Sweden allow retail merchants to process card payments via their smartphone or tablet. Usually the combination of a small card reader that connects to the mobile device and an installed application enable the merchant to receive payments without the need to buy an additional device.
Mobile banking
Mobile banking provides banking and financial services including the initiation of transactions or balance checking just like online banking services. This includes the use of mobile web pages as well as dedicated smartphone applications. In addition, some mobile banking solutions can also be used to make micro-transactions or contactless payments directly via the mobile phone.
Infographic: Mobile Payments to Become a $670B Business by 2015
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Digital marketing company Acquity Group has released an infographic illustrating the different forms of mobile payments such as smartphone card readers, NFC-based or SMS-based solutions.
According to Acquity, mobile payments are about to rise from $240 billion in 2012 to $670 billion in 2015.
2012 Set to be the Tipping Point for Contactless Payment Says Visa Study
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Contactless Barometer report, a benchmark study looking at consumer attitudes to new payment methods. The study shows that consumers value the convenience and ease of contactless payments but also points out that the current relatively low acceptance levels in some markets is still preventing usage from becoming mainstream.
According to the study, 77% of contactless users agreed or strongly agreed that contactless technology would ultimately become more commonplace than cash as a payment method. 78% also agreed that contactless will be instrumental in bringing mobile contactless payments to market in the near future. Mark Austin, Head of Contactless for Visa Europe commented: “People with experience of contactless cards are starting to see it as the first step to the arrival of mobile payments. The tipping point to more mainstream acceptance will be availability: the more chance consumers have to use their contactless cards, the more enthusiastic their response becomes. For us, London 2012 will be a major tipping point in the UK, with thousands of new contactless terminals installed across the Olympic venues to make payments as easy and convenient as they can possibly be.”
Mopay Introduces Broadband Billing
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Earlier today, mobile payment service provider mopay announced to extent its product range into broadband billing. The new billing method enables online merchants to charge purchases directly to consumers’ Internet service provider (ISP) accounts. The French cable companies Orange and SFR were among the first to offer mopay to their customers.
Mopay, part of the MindMatics group, provides mobile payment solutions for online merchants in more than 80 countries across the globe. Integrating a broadband billing service, the company now enables consumers to charge purchases through almost any communications account. To pay via the new billing method, consumers have to select their ISP and log into their existing account. The amount of the transaction will then be billed directly to the consumer’s ISP account.
Ingo Lippert, CEO of MindMatics AG, commented: “With the prevalence and surging growth of online purchases, merchants are looking for ways to offer to consumers the easiest possible check-out. At the same time, consumers are demanding purchasing options other than credit cards and standard wallets. At mopay, we are constantly looking for new payment methods that help meet the needs of both merchants and consumers. The very positive effect of adding mopay’s broadband billing solution to an existing mobile payments offer is just the latest example of our commitment to providing world-class service and products.”