MasterCard today announced the introduction of the MasterCard Mobile Payments Gateway, a mobile payments processing platform that enables financial institutions and mobile network operators to deliver end-to-end mobile payments solutions through the MasterCard Worldwide Network.

Itau Unibanco and Redecard, along with mobile network operator Vivo, will be the first to use the MasterCard Mobile Payments Gateway to deliver mobile payment solutions to the banks’ customers in Brazil. The service will give consumers the ability to use their phone as a mobile wallet and link their existing credit, debit or prepaid MasterCard or Maestro card accounts to their mobile phone to fund mobile-initiated payments.

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Nokia Money – Nokia’s mobile banking and payment service is expected to be commercially available in its first market in Q1 2010, although the Finnish handset manufacturer is unable to divulge any details about the location as yet.

Nokia Money is one of the services that the Finnish group hopes will help extend its remit beyond mere devices. Indeed, the company said its target is to have 300 million active users of its services by the end of 2011; the number is expected to be 80 million by the end of 2009.

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Mobile payments 2010: Market analysis and overview – ‘Mobile payments 2010’ is written and published by Innopay in cooperation with Telecompaper, elaborates on the trends, developments and issues, and provides an overview of more than 150 mobile payment initiatives from around the world.

The report consists of two parts:
Part 1: on the trends, developments and issues in the field of mobile payments
Part 2: overview of more than 150 mobile payment initiatives from around the world

Download free copy of The Mobile Payments Report 2010 here

Amazon Payments launched a new service – Mobile Payment Service that brings the company’s payment processing tools to mobile devices. Amazon Mobile Payments Service (MPS) includes a set of APIs (application programming interfaces) that allow mobile developers a new way to sell their wares. Their new mobile payment service means anyone with an Amazon account can make over-the-air purchases.

There are already a number of mobile payment providers, but Amazon is the big player of the e-commerce world with an enormous amount of customer accounts already in use. This could be an excellent option for companies that offer mass-market mobile applications and are looking for ways to easily accept payments.

Netherlands company Margento maintains a mobile transaction service based on what it call “Data-over-Voice”, which essentially works the same as the French solution above – your phone transmits data via sound, which is read and decoded by a scanner at the point of sale. It has announced it is entering into a 50-50 joint venture with the services branch of multinational company Bertelsmann, Arvato Services. Margento and Arvato will be using the Data-over-Voice system for loyalty/coupon redemption, payments for products and services, balance top-up, mobile tickets, and electronic gift vouchers.

Via GoMo News

Starbucks is testing a mobile payment system in Seattle and Silicon Valley.
Starbucks Card Mobile app allows users to add money to their card account from the app using a credit card, and then use it to pay for Starbucks products by swiping a 2-D barcode on the screen.

Just enter your Starbucks Card number and your iPhone ‘becomes’ your Starbucks Card.
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Making mobile payments has been touted as the easiest, most convenient way to make payments. Using a mobile phone, money can be sent to pay a variety of bills with just the click of a few buttons. It’s supposed to be much like sending payments from your home PC, but it can be done from anywhere you happen to be. Making mobile payments is easy and it is convenient, but it’s certainly not a safe way to send money.

Most cell phone transactions are simply not being sent with the kind of encryption that will keep their users’ data safe. Many of the access points being used to send wireless payments are completely unencrypted. About a quarter of them use no encryption while many of the remaining access points are using poor encryption methods that leave customers’ data vulnerable. Vulnerable data means a loss of crucial financial information that can then be used by anyone who has it.

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Gartner predicts the number of mobile payment users worldwide will hit 73.4 million by 2009 and 190 million by 2012. This represents a tremendous percentage of total cell phone users (Gartner estimates upwards of 3% of the total user base) and companies must consider this technology as a potential payment channel comparable with checks, cash and electronic funds transfers.

Retailers First Adopters of Mobile Payments

The benefits of mobile payment solutions for retailers are obvious. The ability to accept credit card payments or mobile payments on a wireless device such as a smartphone enables retailers to create a host of new, innovative and engaging retail platforms. “Pop-Up Retail,” a term coined by Trendwatching.com, is a temporary retail space designed to quickly draw in crowds in high traffic areas then disappear once buzz wanes. Think fairs, concerts and other outdoor venues with massive crowd attendance. Because these events have limited time durations the expense of creating a permanent retail space (and the infrastructure to support it like phone and internet lines) is prohibitive.

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