TRP: I'm glad you brought up security. The recent Target breach, during which 40 million credit and debit cards numbers were accessed, occurred because point-of-sale terminals were infected by Malware.
I would assume that most retailers and consumers are concerned about securing their data on mobile devices, but based on what you're telling me, mobility done correctly might actually solve a lot of the security worries we currently have. Is that correct? How so?
Haro: Yes, that is correct. A credit card can be stolen (physically or digitally as with Target), copied a hundred times and sent all over the world. Alternatively my phone can connect a person with their bank or a retailer or another person in a direct and far more secure way. We carry no physical piece of material or device more personally tied to our identity than our phones.
TRP: So what other cool kinds of things should we be looking out for when it comes to mobile payments? For example: What should my enterprise readers be looking forward to in terms of innovation? What's possible for them today? What will be possible for them in the near future?
Haro: While the mobile payment wars rage on, the non-payment side of wallet is here now and rapidly gaining popularity. While effectively replacing a plastic credit card is complicated, replacing things like store loyalty cards is easy and consumers love the experience. We have innovated a lot on this front, and innovation from players like Apple and Google keeps moving forward...
...Two big events (Apple's WWDC and Google's I/O) are around the corner and there should be some interesting announcements in this area from both camps.
TRP: Tell us a little bit about mobile loyalty. What can brands do on the mobile loyalty front, aside from ditching the loyalty card?
I used to cover the CRM industry back when smartphones were first gaining popularity, and the messaging at that time was: "Right message, right person, right time." But that's got to be played out by this point. What's the next level of mobile service and mobile marketing and how can organizations capitalize on it?
Haro: There is more to mobile wallet loyalty than simply replacing a plastic card. On the phone, your mobile loyalty card is a living "object" connecting consumers to a brand they care about. This technology lets any retailer have an App-like loyalty experience that goes beyond the right message at the right time and adds in the dimension of location and micro-location (with things like iBeacon).
This "app-like experience" can be deployed at a small fraction of the cost of building a native mobile app, and can be distributed through text, email, or directly from your website. It is a great experience for consumers and a cost-effective technology with a fast time-to-market for brands and retailers.
