top of page
Writer's pictureDavid Montague

Mobile Wallet Providers, Carriers, Issuers and Card Associations Form Mobile Payments Committee

The four major wireless carriers in the U.S. along with financial institutions, card associations and mobile wallet providers have formed and joined the Mobile Payments Committee with the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA). The purpose of the committee is to define best practices for mobile payment solutions while educating legislators, merchants and consumers to foster and grow the mobile payment experience at the point-of-sale.


The new Mobile Payments Committee is a committee within the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) with the four major U.S. mobile carriers, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint, joining the ETA to participate in the committee. Other Mobile Payments Committee members include: mobile wallet and payment providers Google, Isis and PayPal; the four major card associations Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express; major financial institutions Wells Fargo and Capital One; as well as VeriFone, Intuit, Panasonic, Neustar and First Data.


There are a lot of players in the mobile payment space and different mobile payment schemes, but none have yet gained substantial adoption and there is a lot left to sort out. The Mobile Payments Committee hopes to foster and expedite the adoption of mobile payments in the U.S. by defining best practices and putting forth efforts to educate merchants and consumers on the benefits and potential of mobile payments. Specifically, the committee will address business relationships needed to foster innovation and interoperability among merchants, credit card associations, issuing banks, mobile carrier networks, and POS equipment manufacturers. The committee will work to educate merchants and consumers about mobile payments, but also educate regulators and legislators developing public policy around mobile payments, otherwise known as lobbying.


Mobile payments are a nascent industry and a lot of issues related to security, usability as well as consumer and merchant adoption persist. But by joining many of the parties involved, POS providers, issuers, card associations, mobile carriers, mobile wallets and payment providers, the Mobile Payments Committee hopes to ensure that consumers and merchants have access to an efficient and secure mobile payments system, and sooner than later. The Mobile Payments Committee will hold their first meeting in late August with regular monthly meetings to follow.


For more information:


Comentários


bottom of page