In 2010 a lot startups entered the mobile payment industry with new technologies targeted for mobile transactions. Others made headlines in the same year with the introduction of new features and services. A major threat to watch out for is Google’s Acquisition of Zetwire payment platform in the last quarter of the year. The acquisition strengthens Google’s position in the coming wave of near field communications (NFC) and the phone as a device for payments, tracking and identification. Large companies are developing smartphone apps that allow customers to pay for goods or services via their mobile phones.
Square, the mobile payments service led by Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey, is raising a new funding round that values the company at an impressive $200 million, according to a report in TechCrunch. Square makes a credit card reading device that can be attached to your Android phone, iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. The company said it was processing millions of dollars in transactions every week.
Dwolla is a New Credit Card Alternative for Online Purchases. A new start-up company, Dwolla launched a low-cost payment processing service, which offers both mobile phone payments and online payments for consumers. Dwolla is hoping to capture a lot of the market to use its service, especially its mobile payment processing service in the coming months.
Dwolla allows consumers to send and receive money from twitter & facebook friends. But other parties are working on the social money-sending problem, including Buxter (a Facebook app from online payment system ClickandBuy.
Chicago-based startup mPayy hopes to become an alternative to PayPal and credit and debit cards by focusing on the mobile space and charging merchants lower transaction fees. “mPayy emerged from the need to provide a more secure and lower-cost alternative to credit and debit cards,” says Conrad Sheehan, founder of mPayy.
Another competitor is facecash. FaceCash is a way for you to pay for your items with your face. The service is a mobile payment application for the iPhone and other mobile devices. You use your smartphone to pay for groceries, pizza etc. Payments are verified with your facial identity.
The competition will increase this year. It’s going to be hard to stand out in the increasingly crowded field of mobile payments with paypal’s huge dorminance, but how long can paypal dominate this market without a disruption. There’s Paypal, Obopay, Zong, Boku, Intuit, Bling Nation, square, facecash dwolla and google’s Zetwire. These are just a few of the payment services to llok out for in 2011.
