After reading Anothony Miyazaki's blog about Starbucks' Card Mobile App that allows people to pay for their orders using their mobile phones I thought, "This is the future!". People with mobile devices never leave home without them, but there are times when people do forget their wallets or their money at home. This new technology has the potential of eliminating wallets all-together! The average American has 3 to 4 credit cards in their wallet which forces us to constantly must keep checking our accounts to see what the balances are on each card. I used to do that myself and it became time consuming and stressful. If all credit card companies would make mobile phone apps instead of a physical card then we can eliminate the need for credit cards and reduce identity theft as well. The apps can be similar to Starbucks' App. It can show what your available balance is, the total amount of purchases, and the information on your next monthly payment. People can pay their credit card balances right from the app and stop wondering how much money is left and when their next payment is due. Since there would be no more need for wallets then if a person's wallet is stolen, they would not need to go through the hassle of calling each company and canceling the card. Of course there is the fact that your smart-phone can be lost or stolen which would require more security to have access to those apps.
Another revolution this may cause is that there would eventually only be three smart phones available: the iPhone, Blackberry, and Android. These three companies have their own app stores which thousands of people use daily. If this new app credit card took over, most people would purchase these smart phones and turn in their old phones. Just like Windows and Mac who are the only two computer operating systems, there would only be three mobile phone operating systems.
This is the future...not just another Starbucks fad.
This is the future...not just another Starbucks fad.
http://e-marketingforsensiblefolk.blogspot.com
http://www.starbucks.com/coffeehouse/mobile-apps/starbucks-card-mobile
An interesting point you brought up was the revolution of the three smart phones that provide consumers with the opportunity to use this application. This can go one of two ways. These three phones may be the three phones that dominate this new mobile technology, or other phones will mimic these features. Also, like you I do believe that if credit card companies reproduce this unique way of making and controlling purchases it would be of great convenience. However I do believe like with most things you need option options options. Everything about this day and age is fast paced, therefore there needs to be more than one way to get things done otherwise companies would be at a disadvantage. Nevertheless, I do believe this is an interesting way of attracting new customers and retaining current customers.
ReplyDeleteYou both bring up some good points; however, you both didn't think about the fact that someone could steal your information off of you smart phones! If you think about it a smart phone is basically a small laptop, which is software based and there are many people that are constantly trying to hack the different types of software to steal people's information. I mean, this wouldn't stop me from using the app, but it would make me be more cautious! Also, if you don't pay attention to your phone and leave it on the table while you are looking in the other direction, someone could open your app and take a "screen grab" (basically a pic on the iPhone of the screen shown) of the pay now screen, email it to their smart phone and then they can use your card to pay for their Starbucks (according to walletpop.com)! This could also happen if you leave your phone out in front of people. I mean lets face it, there are always people trying to steal information from others, it just means that you have to be very careful with your things! In my opinion, I think it would be harder to get to that screen than to pick pocket someone! Overall, I'm in favor of this new trend to make it so that consumers can carry less things when they go out. Just different things to think about.
ReplyDeleteSource:
http://www.walletpop.com/2011/02/11/starbucks-iphone-app-could-have-glitch-or-benefit-depending/
I will be a happy camper the day I no longer need to carry a wallet. Also, if my smartphone were to ever get stolen and I had financial account information stored on it, I could simply erase the data remotely. Try doing that with a wallet.
ReplyDeleteI think mobile payment providers should position their product as "safer than a wallet" simply because of this feature. This would be a compelling value-add that I think the market would embrace.
Chris