Business | Technology
m-Commerce rings at Dubai doors
You probably have the credit card of the future in your pocket right now. If you don't recognise it, wait until it rings.
- By Scott Shuey, Chief Business Reporter
- Published: 00:39 April 12, 2008
- Image Credit:
Dubai: You probably have the credit card of the future in your pocket right now. If you don't recognise it, wait until it rings.
"Eventually, your mobile is going to be your credit card," says Jihad Al Eit, senior vice-president of marketing for i2, a company that sells mobile handsets often loaded with extra services. "Habits are changing. Everything is moving to mobile handsets."
In fact, "eventually" may be as soon as the third quarter of this year, according to Rashed Majid Al Abbar, a senior product marketing manager for etisalat's eBusiness services. Al Abbar says that a pilot programme that will allow users to purchase products directly with their mobile phones should be launched at that time.
Amol Natu, a product manager who works with Al Abbar, adds that a number of fast food delivery services, grocery stores and even retailers have been approached about participating in the programme. Natu would not release the names of the business since agreements have not been finalised.
Such services are a good way for telecoms to add to their bottomlines, according to Andrew Hicks, a senior analyst at IDC, a technology-focussed research company.
"Services and transactions are the next step," he says. "A mobile device can be a terminal for more than just broadcast information. Like banks or brokers, etisalat can charge a fee for any transaction it facilitates. They have been focusing on mobile payments for a while now, and thus can spread their infrastructure investment over multiple initiatives."
etisalat's transaction system revolves around an electronic mWallet, short for mobile wallet. Under the system, users would be able to move money from their bank accounts to the mWallet, and then use those funds to pay for products and services. Even though etisalat plans on rolling out this and other services, a number of industry insiders say that the telecoms are moving too slowly in introducing new products.
But Al Abbar responds that rushing out mobile services just because they can isn't in anyone's best interest. The rate at which etisalat rolls out services isn't based on how fast the technology can be implemented but on providing technology that works and maintains customer confidence.
"There is a lot of things that etisalat needs to do before jumping into certain new technologies," Al Abbar says. "etisalat usually does a lot of marketing research before we jump into that."
Confidence
Maintaining user confidence in the system is critical to having sustainable mobile services, says Al Eit of i2. "They [clients] need security when using money," he said. "Once they can prove they can do that, people will use it. It's a matter of trust."
Al Abbar agrees saying that is why security is a top priority, and etisalat has been researching ways to ensure than transactions are secure. One such technology is the Mobile OTP, or one time password, which will require users to enter a randomly-generated, single-use password when you log into a banking website. etisalat will launch a pilot program to test that software "very soon", Al Abbar says.
While Natu also stresses the need for customer confidence, he says concerns about using online payment will not necessarily cross over to mobile customers. The reason, he says, is that mobile phones will not require users to enter sensitive information, such as a credit card number.
Another reason for the long rollout timelines is the complexity of certain services, which often require the co-operation of merchants. Al Abbar points out that a number of high-end services, such as Singapore's 3-D bar codes system, would require co-operation from third parties as well as require a minimum level of technology in end-users' phones.
With the Singapore system, users can use their mobile's camera to take picture of complex images, dubbed 3-D bar codes, which appear in newspaper ads, on movie advertisements, and even on business cards. The phone than reads the image and directs the user to a web address that gives them additional information, such as a movie trailer.
"For us to roll it out in the UAE, it would take time," he says.
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