Payforit - mobile billing system
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Thursday, July 31, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Location Based Services (LBS)
One of the great advantages of mobile phones is that not only do they move around, but in general it is possible to tell where they are. Thus if the mobile user needs to know the local transport information, the nearest cash point, or even the local weather, a service provider should be able to tell them quickly and easily.
Location based services have been available on mobile for some time. But why haven't they taken off?
The answer, as is often the case, is MONEY. In order to get a location 'hit' the service provider must directly or through an aggregator, get an agreement to collect the LBS information from them. Unfortunately all the mobile networks want to charge a monthly minimum for this plus a cost per location hit.
More often than not this is passed on to the user through Premium SMS. The problem is that the users clearly do not value this information enough to pay for it on any grand scale. Even the TfL cabwise service, which allows you to text to recieve information of your nearest licensed taxi, charges 35p to cover their costs.
You may think that by providing this information for free the networks will benefit - better customer relationships, more mobile web usage, higher grade handsets sold etc.
Will the networks ever get to the point where they realise it is better to give away this information than charge for it? I very much doubt it. They only see revenue as the way forward.
There are, however a few examples of LBS which as been funded by advertising. Travel FC is a new LBS giving travel information of all things to Manchester United supporters. And it is sponsored by Manchester United themselves.
The thing that may throw the cat amongst the pigeons is Google. They are currently collection data from users about the position of each mobile mast and reverse engineering their own LBS. Of course Google WILL give this away for free and probably make an API available for anyone to do it. Where that leaves the networks it remains to be seen, but once again a web company has shown the mobile world how things should be done.
Location based services have been available on mobile for some time. But why haven't they taken off?
The answer, as is often the case, is MONEY. In order to get a location 'hit' the service provider must directly or through an aggregator, get an agreement to collect the LBS information from them. Unfortunately all the mobile networks want to charge a monthly minimum for this plus a cost per location hit.
More often than not this is passed on to the user through Premium SMS. The problem is that the users clearly do not value this information enough to pay for it on any grand scale. Even the TfL cabwise service, which allows you to text to recieve information of your nearest licensed taxi, charges 35p to cover their costs.
You may think that by providing this information for free the networks will benefit - better customer relationships, more mobile web usage, higher grade handsets sold etc.
Will the networks ever get to the point where they realise it is better to give away this information than charge for it? I very much doubt it. They only see revenue as the way forward.
There are, however a few examples of LBS which as been funded by advertising. Travel FC is a new LBS giving travel information of all things to Manchester United supporters. And it is sponsored by Manchester United themselves.
The thing that may throw the cat amongst the pigeons is Google. They are currently collection data from users about the position of each mobile mast and reverse engineering their own LBS. Of course Google WILL give this away for free and probably make an API available for anyone to do it. Where that leaves the networks it remains to be seen, but once again a web company has shown the mobile world how things should be done.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Payforit
A great idea for mobile payments has been typically cocked up by the mobile networks money-grabbing approach.
What is Payforit
In short, it is a Wap-based mobile payment system. It works in a similar way to Premium SMS by deducting a payment off the user's phone bill, but is triggered via a wap site, rather than an SMS.
There are two key advantages of Payforit:
A simple click that can be built into a WAP browsing experience
Payments for up to £10 can be taken
This is exactly the kind of thing that I would love to include in our mobile content management platform, immedia24.com
However there are downsides:
The number of mobile users with WAP is small - the latest figures from text.it show WAP browsing levels at around 27% in the UK.
The cost to merchants of offering payforit and the amount that the networks take from each payment.
This last point is the one that will prevent Payforit from being truely ubiquitous. In terms of setting up as a merchant I have been quoted between £250 per month and £1500 per month depending on who you ask. For a new payment system in a relatively new market this is nothing short of outragous. Who would be in a position to risk this, apart from large brands with money to burn?
Similarly the networks are taking a similar chunk of money to Premium SMS - it varies according to the amount taken, but merchants will see little more than 50 or 60% of the payment value after VAT and Network charges.
Compare this to online payments systems such as Paypal or Google checkout, as you will see that they take a relatively small fee for transactions. Even online credit card processors such as Worldpay or Protx charge a small amount each month to their users.
Once again, the networks just don't get it. All they have to do is charge a small amount per transaction and the Payforit system will become a genuine mobile payment system for all.
What is Payforit
In short, it is a Wap-based mobile payment system. It works in a similar way to Premium SMS by deducting a payment off the user's phone bill, but is triggered via a wap site, rather than an SMS.
There are two key advantages of Payforit:
A simple click that can be built into a WAP browsing experience
Payments for up to £10 can be taken
This is exactly the kind of thing that I would love to include in our mobile content management platform, immedia24.com
However there are downsides:
The number of mobile users with WAP is small - the latest figures from text.it show WAP browsing levels at around 27% in the UK.
The cost to merchants of offering payforit and the amount that the networks take from each payment.
This last point is the one that will prevent Payforit from being truely ubiquitous. In terms of setting up as a merchant I have been quoted between £250 per month and £1500 per month depending on who you ask. For a new payment system in a relatively new market this is nothing short of outragous. Who would be in a position to risk this, apart from large brands with money to burn?
Similarly the networks are taking a similar chunk of money to Premium SMS - it varies according to the amount taken, but merchants will see little more than 50 or 60% of the payment value after VAT and Network charges.
Compare this to online payments systems such as Paypal or Google checkout, as you will see that they take a relatively small fee for transactions. Even online credit card processors such as Worldpay or Protx charge a small amount each month to their users.
Once again, the networks just don't get it. All they have to do is charge a small amount per transaction and the Payforit system will become a genuine mobile payment system for all.
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