Paythru Issues Mobile Payments Warning

The lack of clear industry standards around mobile payments could jeopardise takeup, according to research carried out by Paythru.
KPMG estimates that the market for mobile payments will be worth a sizeable £591bn by 2015, and Google Wallet, Barclays’ Pingit and PayPal’s InStore app are among the early players in the market, with new providers expected soon. Now, mobile payments provider Paythru is calling on these disparate groups to align their offerings and adopt common standards, such as Payment Cards Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards.
Keith Brown, managing director at Paythru, says: "As it stands, the mobile payments market is very fragmented: digital wallets, NFC and mobile apps are all designed to enable m-commerce. However, many of these have limitations. For example, NFC is only really intended for low-cost purchases, and requires the customer to be present within the store, which essentially means it isn’t mobile in its true sense.
"Industry standards like the Payments Services Directive already provide the blueprint for mobile payments; it’s up to businesses to make sure they agree on a clear and coherent offering to customers. To maximise on emerging mCommerce channels, we need to provide open technology platforms that do not change existing behaviour or the payment methods (credit cards, debit cards) for customers and merchants alike. Above all, solutions need to be universal: available from any location, on any device (not just iPhone or Android), with any bank and over any network.”