NFC may not be the way ahead for mobile commerce
Square Inc., makers of the Square mobile payments application for smart phones, has been in the mobile commerce arena since 2010. Its time in the industry has awarded the company with insight on the various mobile commerce systems that are currently available to consumers. The company notes that NFC technology is currently the dominant force in mobile commerce, but may not deserve its place as such. Square’s chief technology officer Bob Lee spoke this week at the MobileBeat 2012 event in San Francisco, California, where he claimed that NFC technology was not the future of mobile commerce.
NFC technology is currently the backbone of mobile commerce
NFC technology has been the driving force behind the expansion of the mobile commerce industry. The technology is capable of turning a mobile device into a payment platform, allowing consumers to store their financial information on their smart phones. This information can then be used to make purchases of goods and services without the use of physical currency. The technology has proven itself to be somewhat dynamic, but Lee does not believe that it is capable of securing the future of mobile commerce amongst consumers and businesses.
Technology may create a disconnect with consumers
Lee notes that NFC-based payment systems are crippled by inherent technological requirements as well as a degree of human disconnection. Using an NFC-based payment system, a consumer must make their way through various security features, which are native to their mobile devices as well as the NFC application itself. Furthermore, these systems remove the social aspect of making transactions, creating a decidedly anti-social experience, according to Lee.
Square may be an example of mobile commerce future
Lee suggests that the Square application serves as an adequate example of what the mobile commerce industry could be. The application allows consumers to make purchases by simply saying their name, with their identities being identified by merchants through a computer system. Lee suggests that this creates a more social experience in the realm of mobile commerce and could be enough to make the industry more acceptable to consumers.
