Mobile Payment Adoption in the US: A Cross-industry, Crossplatform Solution

Enabled by a wide array of wireless and mobile technologies, a new form of electronic commerce, “mMobile eCommerce “, is gaining growing attention from both business and academic communities. Proliferation of mobile commerce, especially in the business-to-consumer sectors, require ubiquitously available, globally accepted, easy-to-use, and secure methods of payment. Mobile payment (mPayment) entails making payments using mobile devices including wireless handsets, personal digital assistants, and other radio frequency (RF) and near field communication (NFC) based devices. While mPayment is still in its infancy, its acceptance is expected to increase exponentially in the coming years. Today, increasing acceptance of mPayment methods is witnessed in Europe and Asia, but in the US, the potential of mPayment is still largely unexplored. Many attribute the slow adoption of mPayment methods in the US to lack of unified standards, security and privacy concerns, and slow mCommerce diffusion. This article aims to offer readers a clear understanding of the state of mPayment and explore the factors that will determine the adoption of mPayment by US consumers. It also provides readers with the blueprint of a cross-industry and cross-platform mPayment solution that offers consumers speedy and convenient payment processes for both online and point-of-sale transactions.