Will Mobile Wallets Replace Their Traditional Counterparts? 194
Cara_Latham writes "Mobile wallets are all the rage. But legitimate questions remain as to whether they will ever truly replace their leathery counterparts. Mobile wallets, which use NFC-based technology to allow customers to make contactless payments at the point of sale, already have begun to make their presence felt. Mountain View, Calif.-based Google launched a digital wallet this past fall. The search giant has agreements with Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover to make the Google Wallet available to the card companies' account holders, and there even are some NFC-enabled terminals in use across the U.S. that can accept it, including at many mass transit stations. And mobile wallet ventures are cropping up around the globe, as well. Telecom companies including Vodafone and Telefonica announced this year wallet initiatives in Africa and Latin America. But mobile wallets still face many hurdles before they can gain widespread adoption, experts say, including the rather difficult task of getting consumers to change long-held habits."
Wait, What? (Score:5, Informative)
I'm 47 and have never owned a non-mobile wallet. Not sure what the point would be.
Re:Sure, as soon as... (Score:5, Informative)
The problem is as soon as you (and those remaining) "give up cash altogether" to use your wonderful non-tracking plastic cards, the government WILL just drop cash.
And then how are you supposed to buy or recharge that "anonymous" plastic gift card? A personal check? A real credit card? An ATM transfer.
Make no mistake- time and time again, the governments have and will "change the terms" of things that were supposed to be limited and/or private. Social Security numbers are a perfect example. Red light cameras turning into speeding and other use cameras are another.
Re:I don't get it. (Score:5, Informative)
"change processing fee" is just fucked up shit. I have a shop here in Argentina and I don't get charged anything to deposit cash.
I work with cash only, because Momma Visa charges 3-6% for debit card and up to 15% for credit card. I sell comic books, these have a fixed 30% markup, so visa gets no money from me. I considered them, but i figured if i go that way it'll just mean that my current cash payers will turn to credit card, and in the end it will be a net loss.
a few months ago some woman walks with her kid and he picks up about $10 in comic books. so i tell her, sorry, we only accept cash. and she starts lecturing me "oh, in civilized countries EVERY business accepts credit cards". so i tell her "look, lady, in civilized countries, Visa doesn't charge you a 40% annual interest". she was too stupid to understand anyway.
Re:I don't get it. (Score:3, Informative)
Actually it does. Here's how:
- Conversion from cash to bank account balances often carries a small 'change processing fee' with commercial banks. It's not big; but if you are depositing lots of tiny small change, many banks will charge you for the service. (esp. the other way around - getting cash out as coins, for giving change, etc.)
My bank doesn't charge me deposit or withdrawal fees. If yours does, I suggest you change banks.
- Going to the bank and depositing it regularly is going to cost anyway (salary for time spent, fuel, etc.)
If you have one salaried staff person who works 40 hours a week, and even if they spend an hour going to the bank to make a deposit, then it will cost 2.5% of what you pay them. Since turnover has to be greater than the salary of one of your staff members, it costs far less than 2.5% of turnover to take your money to the bank.
- Loss/theft - it's a lot easier for cash to go missing than it is for electronic payments. (plus costs for security for cash stored on premises)
You really think that loss and theft of cash costs even 1% of everything a typical business makes?
I'd say the above equally match or exceed the 1-2.5% most merchant banks will charge for CC processing services. NFC pricing is generally the same amount. The fees charged by merchant banks for CC facilities are actually completely reasonable - there's some other aspects which hurt a bit more (90 clearance windows, chargebacks/fraud, etc); but the fees are perfectly fine.
I have to disagree. 1% of a business's turnover isn't the same thing as 1% of profit. It is a huge amount. There are several IT stores near my place which have done the numbers, and they all have the same policy - if you pay in cash, you get the listed price, if you pay by credit card, you get a credit surcharge equal to the 1-2.5% the bank charges them.
Even if you dismiss me as an armchair critic - you have to assume that actual retailers know what they are doing.
I hope *you* don't live in Louisiana (Score:4, Informative)
Law Bans Cash for Second Hand Transactions
Cold hard cash. It's good everywhere you go, right? You can use it to pay for anything. But that's not the case here in Louisiana now. It's a law that was passed during this year's busy legislative session. House bill 195 basically says those who buy and sell second hand goods cannot use cash to make those transactions.
http://www.klfy.com/story/15717759/second-hand-dealer-law