I want a mobile wallet. Badly.
I'm suffering from a bit of "Costanza wallet," wherein the amount of cards, photos, notes and other detritus combine to create a giant meatball. It barely closes, and if I forget to take it out of my pocket while sitting or driving it shoots pain through my sciatic nerves. It's literally a pain in the ass.
BUT then there's my phone. So slim and tidy, and so useful. It's replaced dozens of devices for me - my camera, car radio, calculator, flashlight, GPS navigation system, and so on. I love my phone and, like most other millenials, it's within arm's reach at ALL times.
Why can't I use it to pay for things? Or a better question may be: why don't I use it to pay for things? The technology exists, after all.
Over half of the country has smartphones now, yet only 15% of them have even tried a mobile payment. A large percentage haven't heard of a mobile wallet.
Here's the thing: my Costanza wallet has everything I need in it, including useful things beyond payment cards like IDs, library cards and loyalty memberships.
Best of all, I know that I can use it anywhere I shop. Through cash or any of the three credit cards I carry, I have everything in my wallet to complete a transaction.
In other words, the current system works just fine.
People are going to require some bribing to try a mobile wallet. We need a company to be a hero by helping us save money through coupons and exclusive offers.
25 million in the US are already using mobile coupon apps, according to NPD. That's a lot of people already pulling out their phones at the POS.
The market is ripe for someone to truly dive in and focus on integrating merchant content for their mobile payment system. The great secondary benefit of focusing on building out a mobile coupon network is the simultaneous relationship-building that will happen with merchants. In one fell swoop, developers can secure two of the three critical elements to building adoption: adding value to consumers and merchant acceptance.
Easier said than done, right? Maybe not, at least according to Access. This transition from mobile commerce to mobile payments is what Access will be discussing at the upcoming Money2020 conference in Las Vegas. Check out our official announcement here, and if you're in town for the show, stop by booth #638 for a free trial and a true "mobile wallet."