Mobile Payment Chaos

There is now a confusing proliferation of mobile payment methods.

PingIt; Zinc; Droplet; Zapp; etc, etc are all names to conjure with - but what exactly do they do, and how is one different from the other?

The answer to both the above questions is "I don't know" - and neither do you!

Of course, it should have been a much simpler situation.

The UK Payments Council, bless them, announced a few years ago that mobile payments were going to be their next "big thing" ( although no one knows what their previous "big thing" was).

Barclays rushed to pre-empt the Payments Council with their own mobile payment wheeze: PingIt. Visa did the same...leaving the PC looking highly uninnovative.

Now Vocalink have announced the launch of "Zapp", their mobile payment method.

Odd, because Vocalink were previously involved in setting up the Payment Council's mobile "scheme".

Confused? You should be.

There is no method in this madness, no plan, no rhyme or reason. Most of all, there is no leadership.

Time for a new UK Payments Authority, to provide leadership, clarity of thinking and a plan for future progress in the interests of the Public and the UK economy.

Tuesday, 2nd July 2013

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