The Infocomm Development Authority is trying to encourage people to use their mobile phone for small payment. This is similar to the system used in Japan.
I wish to suggest an easier way.
Many people already carry an ez-Link card. It is better to use ez-Link to make small payments. There is no need to put a chip in the mobile phone, when the chip is already in ez-Link.
Topping up the ez-Link card is quite easy. Anyway, the user only tops up the card once or twice a month.
The challenge is to get many retail establishments to provide payment through ez-Link. MacDonalds have taken this step. We need to get 1,000 to 5,000 establishments to adopt this mode of payment.
At present, the cost to the retail establishment is an issue. If this form of payment can reduce their cost or increase their business, they will be keen to adopt it.
Let us focus on this challenge, instead of finding the chip to install in the mobile phone.
if i'm not wrong the mobile phone payments are meant to be interoperable with ez-link - at least, that's the way it happens in japan, contactless mobile phone payments serve the same function as the suica card. it's just a different form of carrying it.
ReplyDeleteas such i don't think there's any problem with developing the mobile phone payment technology, however you are right in saying more establishments will need to start accepting payment though.