Paying Through Mobile Phones

m-Commercecan purchase online and make onlinebill and taxi fare payments from theirmobile phone.Mobipay is established on a singletechnology standard supplied by AtosOrigin, which is a renowned internationalinformation technology servicescompany that deals with consulting,system integration and managedoperations. Atos Origin performstelcofinance activities that involvebanks, payment processors, merchantsand mobile network operators. Thepayment system first validates thepayment request made from the user’smobile handset against credit/debitcards, virtual wallets, billing systems,etc and then routes authorisationrequests for transactions to respectiveparties. Apart from providingpayment services, Atos Origin alsoprovides managed services in businessprocess outsourcing and infrastructuresolutions.Mobipay systems are comparativelylow-cost and low-risk. The systemsare designed for end-to-end control bytrusted partners and USSD messagingsupports secure delivery of sensitiveinformation to authorised users.Reliance mPay. Reliance mPay isa virtual credit card, jointly launchedby HDFC bank and Reliance Communicationsin India, that allows users topay from their Reliance mobile phone.In order to avail this service, the usersmust have an HDFC bank credit cardand a Reliance mobile phone. Theydon’t have to carry the physical creditcard, as the mobile phone acts as thecredit card to make postpaid bill payment,book movie or travel tickets,pay electricity bills, make paymentsin shops and restaurants and shop onthe Internet.The customers are issued a PINfor using the virtual credit card. Tomake payments, they need to enterthe PIN and all the transactions mustbe initiated from the registered mobilenumber to which the mPay service PINhas been issued. The mPay credit cardcan be used with HDFC Bank and anymerchant establishment that acceptspayment via Relaince mPay. The paymentis automatically debited from theuser’s credit card account. Users don’tneed to enter a credit card number,card verification information or expirydate to use the mPay service. HDFCbank would authenticate all the informationand then initiate and authoriseall payments using the customer’smobile handset.With a virtual credit card, there isless chance of misuse, as at the time ofpayment, only the PIN is to be enteredand not the credit card number. So incase your mobile phone is stolen orlost, the credit card number cannot bemisused as the mobile phone does notcontain the credit card number. Owingto their convenience and safety, virtualcredit cards have become a preferredmedium of transaction.SEMOPS. Secure mobile paymentservice (SEMOPS) is a projectto develop a secure and universalmobile payment service that can beused uniformly in all kinds of mobilecommerce/electronic commerce transactions.SEMOPS technology allowsmultichannel access (including Web,GPRS, GSM and SMS) to bank accountsand also electronic/mobile paymenttransactions between customers andmerchants irrespective of whether theyare banking with the same organisationor not. Based on this concept, atruly global payment system can bedeveloped with addition of more andmore banks.With SEMOPS, consumers willbe able to perform different types oftransactions including point-of-salepurchases, person-to-person moneytransfer, bill payment, payment atvending machines, mobile phone billpayment, parking fee payment andonline purchase through the Internet.It provides a comprehensive mobilepayment solution that can be easilyadopted by different banks, merchants,mobile vendors and consumers. Userswill be able to pay for anything, anywhereand at any time.SEMPOS is designed to followstandard banking processes so thatfinancial institutions can easily integrateit into their existing infrastructure.It follows a multi-layer securityarchitecture where the consumer hasfull control of the payment processand approves each and every stageof the transaction with the help of theaccompanying PIN number. If themobile phone is lost, it cannot be usedfor making purchase without the appropriatePIN number.SEMOPS was first introduced inHungary and then spread over otherEuropean countries. It is open to banksor mobile operators who wish to joinand offer services to their existing clientbase in a universal manner.Future outlookWith the explosive growth in mobiletechnology and rapid penetrationof mobile phones in developingcountries, the future holds immensepossibilities for mobile payments.NFC-based contactless smart cardswill enable users to combine the functionalitiesof credit card, debit card,bank account card as well as personalidentification card in a single devicein the form of a mobile phone. Themobile phone will replace the pocketmoney and provide a low-cost, lowriskalternative to credit/debit cardsfor making payments anytime, anywhereand for anything.However, in order to make mobilepayment universal and acceptableto all merchants, banks and mobileoperators, proper standardisationis needed. Also, the success of anymobile payment system largely dependson consumer acceptance. Theconsumers will adopt any new mobilepayment system if they find it convenient,easy to use and secure. So futuredevelopments in mobile paymentsystem must give special emphasis onsecurity and cost factor. •The author is currently the chairperson, technologyand faculty, information systems, in InternationalSchool of Business & Media (ISB&M), Kolkata.She has over 20 years of industry experience andexpertise in embedded systems, wireless & digitalcommunication and office automation1 2 4 • June 2 0 1 0 • electronics for you w w w . e f y m a g . c o m