MobileMonday Austria

2.1 % purchase & pay mobile

It is almost natural for any smartphone user to download and pay for apps via the mobile channel. But still: Would they order a book on the mobile phone as well if there was no credit card handy? Gartner says that mobile payment is going to be reality in 2010 for 108.6 million people or 2.1 percent of all cellphone users worldwide. We asked Austria’s mobile payment experts yesterday: Is this topic really hot or not?

IN-APP PURCHASE, PREMIUM SMS OR NFC?

There are several ways how a mobile purchase can be completed, a very well known one is the good old Premium SMS when buying a ringtone. “But mobile payment holds so much more potential”, says Martin Kastner (DIMOCO) and gives an example: "94 Percent of all social gamers are willing to complete purchases up to 25 Euros." For instance this might happen directly while using a mobile application, a so called "in app purchase". In Germany this is already being used for selling public transportation tickets, reports Alexander Birnkammerer (The Agent Factory). Another way of completing a purchase is NFC technology (Near Field Communication) which allows contactless exchange between two devices, a technology Kurt Schmid (Nexperts) has gained major expertise in. Bela Virag (T-Mobile Austria) has doubts, in his opinion there are still a bunch of unanswered questions, especially when it comes to the business case: "It is still not clear to me who is going to earn money with NFC payment."

OVI: OPERATOR BILLING ROCKS!

Martin-Hannes Giesswein (Nokia) knows about the crucial importance of a good relationship with the mobile network operator such as T-Mobile, simply because this is the user’s preferred payment choice: "Two out of three cellphone users prefer to pay via their regular network operator's bill. That’s why operator billing is so important in Ovi Store. Nokia enables this for more than 90 mobile network operators worldwide." Martin Herdina (fatfoogoo) goes along with this because he believes that microtransactions and pay-per-use will be the business models of the future: "Billing via the operators invoice is one of the few appropriate payment channels, just because the mobile network operator already has a trusted relationship with the consumer."

HOT: IN-APP PURCHASE!

Finally Alexander Birnkammerer (The Agent Factory) points out that this is not so much about the technology but rather about the value and ease of use for the consumer. “In-App purchase” wins clearly - at least within the MobileMonday community when Alexis Johann (Wirtschaftsblatt Digital) asked the audience to raise hands for their preferred payment method when purchasing a public transport ticket on the mobile phone.

Gartner: 54,5 percent growth and 108,6 million users

Mobile payment will grow more than 50 percent compared to the year before, predicts Gartner in a recent study. But mPayment is not just a phenomenon known from developing countries, it's common practice here as well: Think of smartphone users who download and pay for apps via the mobile channel already. But still: Would they order a book on the mobile phone as well? Or would they want to use their phones to pay on the web if there is no credit card handy? Is he app user also willing to complete a purchase while he is using a mobile application?
According to Gartner this is going to be reality for 108.6 Million people or 2.1 percent of all cellphone users worldwide.

On September 20th at 7pm MobileMonday Austria will showcase in the Museum of Natural History in Vienna how mPayment is already being used and where the gold might be burried for (online) merchants in the very near future. After exciting show cases and a great discussion we will enjoy networking with drinks and snacks.

The evening will be hosted by Alexis Johann, Managing Director Wirtschaftsblatt Digital.