Home topics news News Tech News The coming age of mobile payments: introducing the players David Boyd March 2, 2011 Mobile technology continues to revolutionise how we interact socially and how we do business in ever-more astonishing and ingenious ways. This post explores the development of mobile payments, and details the services offered by the major players in the market. These methods of payment are rapidly becoming an adopted method for making and receiving payments, and it will be fascinating to see to what degree this technology eclipses traditional methods of financial interaction in the coming years. Types of mobile payments There are several principal types of mobile payment including SMS-based transactions; direct mobile billing; mobile web payments (WAP); contact-less near field communication (NFC); and credit card reader and processing apps. The majority of the players listed below are involved with the latter model of mobile payments, providers of apps and devices that convert mobile phones into credit card terminals. Essentially this type of payment is facilitated by a physical piece of kit that is attached to a mobile device, enabling credit cards to be swiped, or chip and PIN cards read, and a related app which powers the payment process. Some of these systems are designed specifically for the iPhone, but with an increasing number of Android phones appearing on the market, multi-device compatible systems are providing a better business model. As customer demand picks up, many merchants are starting to see the benefits of offering a mobile payment