Near Field Communication: The future of mobile payment solutions!

With so many advances being made today concerning the nature of commerce and how it has been conducted electronically over the past decade, one cannot ignore, but be aware of the ground being covered by smartphones and their capability to facilitate mobile payments. The technology that has enabled the likes of Starbucks and MasterCard to familiarize customers with this convenient form of payment is known as NFC (Near Field Communication). It is a form of “contactless” exchange of information via radio frequency identification transponder (RFID). Although some businesses have used forms of mobile payments in the past, the setback is that they have been unique to their establishment as for instance the Starbucks mobile payment application.  NFC however, strives to create an industry-wide standard that can be used at any type of store. In order for NFC to be mainstream, devices (with smartphones being the preferred choice according to MasterCard) will be equipped with an NFC chip and also POS (Point-of-Sale) equipments/readers. With your bank account details synchronized to your smartphone, you can easily make a transaction. So a typical transaction can be placed simply by holding up your smartphone to the reader and immediately, funds will be transferred from your account to that of the merchant’s. For security purposes, a pin will have to be keyed in to curb unauthorized transactions. 

It costs $2 to manufacture an NFC chip and can be practically attached to almost anything (MasterCard experimented with bags, watches, and even keys!) Google in conjunction with Samsung recently launched an NFC capable phone in the US last December 2010 known as the Samsung Google Nexus S. Amongst being a convenient and fast form of mobile payment, NFC capable phones can also aid businesses in promoting their services or products. For instance, a small restaurant business can transfer discount vouchers to customers so as to command greater patronage. You do not have to walk in with a coupon next time, it’s already stored securely on your phone. An application is out now called Enable Table that only run on NFC capable phones that will allow businesses to enjoy this benefit. Imagine the dollar savings from having not to print coupons and distribute flyers. In today’s digital world, I see a lot of prospects for even big businesses.

Even still with Google, Samsung, MasterCard, Apple and major giant corporations spearheading NFC campaigns, people still doubt, questioning the security of this technology. Experiments are underway in Japan to begin testing the NFC technology. I bet the same people had reservations when the idea of carrying money on a plastic card got introduced. Today, debit/credit cards are accepted almost everywhere and around the world. If you still think this is rocket science, trust me you will be left out. The Starbucks’ mobile payment application is going to be viral and other businesses will be inclined to follow suit, paving the way for an industry standard NFC mobile payment solution. If you are very concerned about using forms of mobile payments, the Better Business Bureau has put together tips that can help in adopting this type of technology advancement. Time’s changing and so is technology and e-commerce!

Videos showing capabilities of NFC

NFC transaction

A video of Enable Table 

A video of Taglet

Music piracy: The Internet's curse and gift!

Music piracy has been an alarming topic of discussion within the music industry in the last decade. With the Internet being more readily available all over the world, the majority of the music distribution online has been conducted illegally. In the US alone, $12.5 billion is lost annually to music piracy as reported by the RIAA. Today, mega star recording artistes and giant labels oppose music piracy because of the losses they stand to bear. Prior to the existence of the popular mp3 music format, these record labels and artistes enjoyed longevity and outstanding record sales at the cost of the consumer. I remember Eminem, as early as 2001, selling as much as 9 million records for his album “The Marshall Mathers LP”. Back then, digital music had not gained popularity so I was obliged like everyone else to go purchase the entire album even though I only liked about a handful of tracks from it. Fast forward today, consumers have reacted differently to the way music is commercialized. The same Eminem, over the course of the years of the notoriety of the mp3 format and its distribution over the internet, has struggled with mediocre sales with “Recovery” being his most successful album since 2002’s “The Eminem Show”. In my own honest opinion, if I am not able to listen to the entire track of the album, I am not buying it. In today’s world, people who purchase music are the same people who were able to download it for free. Before the release of an anticipated album, what do most people do? They google the title to see if there are any leaked tracks floating the Internet. Once they find the entire album, they listen and rate. If they are hardcore loyal fans, on the release day, they go out and purchase the album. If the album was worth the download, the same individuals, through appreciation for the contents of the album will purchase a legal version once it has been officially released. On the other hand, recording music artistes like Sean Kingston and DubFX have used the Internet and its distribution channels as a means to gain popularity and attain record deals. 

I am not condoning illegal distribution of music, but it is what the highly lucrative music industry decades ago did not anticipate. Now, there are means initiated by agencies protecting music and business partners to control the online distribution of music content as mentioned here. Effective models have been categorized under download/subscription and streaming. Examples of the download/subscription services are Nokia's Come With Music, Google's Music Link Service, an TDC's PLAY service. Streaming services such as Myspace Music, Spotify, Lala have helped in promoting artistes and identifying music tastes and generating additional revenue like concert ticket sales.

Even with legislation and policies set in place, I still believe that consumers and even emerging artistes will rely on the internet as sources of retrieving and distributing music; legally or illegally.