Mobile Money Network, the one click mobile payment service launched earlier this summer by Carphone Warehouse owner Best Buy Europe and mobile money company Monitise is poised to go live with Carphone Warehouse any day now and is offering consumers a really easy, single click way to buy things.
Using the Simply Tap branding, users fire up the app – which they pre-register for online to link their card/bank details securely to their address and phone number – enter the simply tap code and the goods they have seen in store, online or in a catalogue are purchased and dispatched.
The company – which has ex-M&S head Sir Stuart Rose on its board – is also planning to launch barcode scanning and image recognition versions of the app later this year to make the process of off page and off screen purchasing even easier.
The service will make mobile payments a mainstream activity, the company hopes, as it has made mobile payments for anything – well from retailers and merchants signed up to the service – a simple, painless, secure, one-click process. The service is a major step forward in getting retailers and consumers using mobile as a direct payment channel and makes mobile payments a simple reality without having to rely on NFC or operator billing.
NFC is touted as the best way to make mobile payments works, but it is some years off and requires the buy in of operators, banks, PoS equipment makers, retailers and consumers. It also requires consumers to change or modify they handsets.
Mobile operators are meanwhile keen to get consumers using their payment tools to pay – as they see retail as a hugely lucrative opportunity. However, where operator-based billing tools using premium rate SMS and even the Payforit WAP billing tool are mobile based they do not offer the ease of use, nor the payment transparency of m-payment services such as Simply Tap. They also see as much as 10% of the ticket price going to the operator.
Instead tools such as SimplyTap will obviate all of this, offer a much easier customer experience and cost merchants a lot less than mobile billing. The only thing now is for retailers to see it in action and sign up. Expect news of many mainstream retailers joining in over the Summer and early Autumn.
“The number of mobile subscribers across the globe has reached almost 5.5 billion with 750 million in Europe. This represents a massive commercial opportunity for retailers if they can take advantage of it,” says Sir Stuart Rose. “I am incredibly excited to be involved in the Mobile Money Network. It is a fresh concept set to act as a catalyst for three major industries – retail, banking and marketing. With Simply Tap, MMN is making the mobile a relevant, useful and fun part of an existing shopping experience. At a time when consumers are short of time but demanding instant gratification, this proposition delivers. The potential is huge and I look forward to the journey.”
“Mobile Money Network is different as, from day one, we are bringing together businesses to collaborate and deliver a simple, unified and mass market proposition for consumers. We have the technology to enable more retailers to take advantage of the opportunity and provide consumers with a service they’re calling out for,” commented John Milliken, MD of Mobile Money Network.
