Smartphone to Become Wallet — Are Customers, Businesses Ready?
(NewsUSA) – Much is being made of Apple’s announcement of the iPhone 6 and the Apple Watch. Overshadowed by this, however, was the introduction of Apple Pay — a technology touting an easier way to pay for goods and services using mobile devices. But is this too much too soon — even for Apple?
Coming on the heels of this month’s massive credit card breach at Home Depot, it is clear that credit card companies need to rethink how consumers’ personal information is handled.
Relying on near field communication (NFC), Apple Pay will link a consumer’s mobile phone with retail stores that are NFC-enabled. NFC technology has been praised for its security and convenience, but analysts argue that mobile payments will suffer because consumers are not yet comfortable paying with their phone, and merchants are finding that using NFC technology is more expensive than the traditional debit and credit card system.
For concerned individuals, they need only look to the horizon. Launching on Nov. 15, a company called MovoCash will address the gaps left by NFC technology.
“MovoCash is a transformative way to think about payments,” says Eric Solis, CEO and founder of the company. “What we’re doing is serving as a convergence technology designed to help consumers bridge the gap between old-world payment systems and new technological advances.”
MovoCash, according to Solis, is a bank-agnostic payments platform that allows consumers to link their bank accounts to their MovoCash account for mobile payments with no limitation on the number of supported banks. Any bank account or credit or debit card in your wallet can be used to load a MovoCash account, eliminating the direct link required by conventional NFC technology.
What this means is that there is no direct link between the merchant and consumers’ personal credit or banking information. Should the MovoPlastic card get hacked, the dummy number on the card will not reveal any personal information. It can be loaded with as much (or as little) money as desired. Additionally, the company’s redemption technology differentiates it from Venmo and PayPal by unlocking P2P (peer to peer) payments for immediate merchant purchases.
“We believe MovoCash addresses consumers’ desire for a more integrated payment experience using a mobile device without changing their comfort level of using a mag stripe on the back of a plastic card,” says Solis.
For more information on this innovative technology, visit www.movocash.com.
Source: News USA
