With the increasing usage of smartphones and thanks to their diverse functions, they are entering into previously unimaginable territories. For example, several retail outlets, especially fast food chains are experimenting with alternate ways to accept payments from customers with the help of smartphones and other devices. Instead of swiping a credit card in a reader that is linked to the bank, they can be swiped to an attachment on a popular tablet to process the payment and the receipt can then be delivered to the customer via text message or email.
This is commonly referred to as mobile payment and a lot of stores and restaurants are joining in and are trying to make use of the ubiquitous smartphones, tablets and wireless capable devices. A popular attachment for the iPad is manufactured by a company called Square Inc and this can process credit cards for payment. The same company is now partnering with Starbucks Coffee to use its registers at all the outlets for easier mobile payment. Moreover, giants like WalMart, Best Buy and Target are unifying to develop a service that will allow customers to make payments with their cell phones. The mobile payment space is quite competitive as every major company is trying to gain a foothold there with services like Google Wallet, Inuit and PayPal Here lining up to become the next big name. In addition to these, there is also LevelUp which uses a QR code scanner and a credit card scanner to make payments and is picking up steam.
The services are especially popular with small businesses and stores as they are user friendly and customers prefer them. Moreover, the fees structure is better than the conventional credit card payment systems and this makes it attractive even for the store owners. Right now mobile payment is more of an exception and is quite unconventional in a lot of cases. Some store owners who use exclusively these services and do not deal in cash have trouble when the system fails. However, with the increasing smartphone usage among customers and the need to have everything integrated and in one places becomes more important, mobile payment will surely become the norm. In fact, with advents in NFC technology in mobile phones, it is possible to deal with everything without having to ever apply for a credit card!
