Post contributed by Lauren Loy -
When credit cards were introduced to the global economy, people everywhere were enthralled. How could small pieces of plastic operate on such a scale that one could pay for goods with them? Well, it seems a new payment method is in the works that may be much easier than even credit cards.
Mobile wallets are new payment systems that consumers can use to pay for goods with their smartphones. These systems are still in their early stages, but Apple has announced that it will be a player in this monetary evolution, most probably claiming market shares from other carriers like Verizon Wireless who offer similar services. These mobile payment programs will not launch until 2012, but ABI says that users will grow to 594 million by 2016. Not only will carriers like Google, Apple, and Microsoft overwhelm the market with mobile wallet-capable smartphones, but merchants will offer deals that will cater to consumers with this mobile wallet service. Google and Apple will cause a drop in carriers' market shares from 75 percent to 63 percent by 2016, due to the strong branding both Google and Apple have created with their customers.
Google Wallet lets consumers in San Francisco and New York City buy goods from places like Macy's and Toys R Us by tapping the phones against check-out terminals. Google is also offering its Google Offers daily deals service, which provides more incentive for carriers who do not want to contribute money to develop mobile wallet infrastructure. Apple has not launched a mobile wallet system yet, but rumors in the industry say that they will add this feature to their smartphones in 2012.
Source - Google, Apple to Challenge Carriers With Mobile Wallets: ABI, eWeek.com
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