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Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Mobile Payments May Ramp Up Sooner

Of all the new technologies that higher education administrators need to monitor, mobile payment is probably fairly far down the list. However, Business News Daily identified five trends indicating mobile-payment systems are heading into the mainstream.

Although some forms of mobile payment have been somewhat slower to take root—near field communication (NFC), for instance—there has been much more rampant growth in others, such as smartphones. Any organizations that must deal with consumer transactions, including colleges and universities, will have to keep an eye on how smartphone payments play out.

Even NFC is expected to become more common, once consumers get over their worries about privacy, because it is fundamentally easier to use. Payment apps will move to the cloud, allowing for greater customization of services, while stronger security and data protection will be put in place, an aspect of mobile payments of particular concern to campuses.

“As such, security will continue to improve and integrate both technology and personal validation measures,” the article says.

Although Amazon is rumored to be launching a mobile-payment reader soon, Business News Daily doesn’t think the retail behemoth will be able to gain a toehold in that space, given the more-established competitors and the mixed reaction to Amazon’s new phone.