A study of mobile payments: policy issues

Abstract

Mobile payment is a new way of paying for any transaction. It is similar to paying by credit card / debit card or through internet banking, i.e. without using cash, except that payment is done through the mobile phone of a customer. It is an easier way of paying utility bills, regular purchases, ticket purchases etc. It offers the convenience of payment 24X7, anywhere, anytime, without carrying any cash or cards, and by using mobile phone. Presently there are two ways to pay using mobile phone; mobile banking and prepaid mobile payment instrument or more commonly called mobile wallet. This study treats mobile payment as an innovation, which is going to be adopted. It considers all the stakeholders in mobile payment services, classified in to supply side(banks, mobile service providers, and mobile payment providers), demand side(customers and merchants) and facilitation side (regulators, govt organizations, industry bodies).This study aims to find out various concerns of different stakeholders. Analysis is done through the theoretical framework, available in innovation theory and earlier studies in mobile banking and mobile payments. Various attributes of an adoption of innovation are examined, in light of the data collected from different stakeholders. After, analysing the responses, policy issues encompassing all the sectors are discussed.