After years of hype and uncertainty, NFC is finally here. Countries in which plastic card use is the norm have witnessed a recent explosion in the mobile payments ecosystem. The emergence of Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and HCE all indicate that, this time, it’s here to stay.
The real credit for revolutionizing the mobile payments arena, would have to go to Google’s Host Card Emulation (HCE) support announcement at the end of 2013. This was when mobile payments really cut loose. The success of Apple Pay was backed by the payments industry to boost contactless technology and, as a result, Apple has successfully created a desire for mobile contactless payments amongst consumers.
Although the emergence of new mobile payments methods is good news for the industry and for end users, the explosion in available options can cause a serious headache for financial institutions when deciding which of these payment solution to implement.
In this paper, Mobey Forum has attempted to produce a one-stop-guide to assist our banking industry colleagues to better understand and compare the various payment options currently available. No solution has emerged from this analysis as a clear winner, indeed it may be that in some cases more than one payment option is a suitable ‘fit’.
This paper will assess and compare the impact of the Secure Element, the role of third parties, current acceptance status, the devices supported and the business models available for each of the options.
