The hype surrounding NFC technology and mobile payments may be little more than over-exaggerations coming from the companies backing the emergence of mobile commerce. According to a new report from Consumer Reports, a product review and ratings firm, electronic payment methods still have a long way to go before mobile commerce can win the hearts of consumers. This may be bad news for several big-name tech companies that have been pouring resources into the development of mobile payments platforms.
Companies and banks are currently vying for a share of the $50 billion mobile commerce industry. Much of this money is generated through fees on electronic transactions, which are generally so small they go without notice from the consumer. Consumer Reports found that these fees add up quickly, and mobile payments could end up costing consumers much more than they realize.
As with all new payment methods, mobile commerce is wrought with pitfalls. Given that the entire industry of mobile commerce is electronic, there is always the risk of glitches in the system. Consumer Reports found that these bugs could wipe out a person’s mobile wallet – an application that stores financial data. In many cases, attempting to recover this money can be a long, drawn out process as the companies facilitating electronic transactions have yet to form sufficient protections against such occurrences.But many argue that payments online, when e-commerce was in it’s infancy, had the same controversy with its emergence as well.
The Consumer Reports study can be found via the firm’s website.
