"Paying with your cell phone" trend

The study "M-Payments Making Inroads" on the global market for mobile payments shows that in 2005, more people worldwide used cell phones to make small payments (micro payments). However, cell phone payments have not yet been able to establish themselves as a general means of payment in any market. An international standard has not yet been defined, which is why the rapid pace of development of new solutions has slowed somewhat. The most developed markets worldwide are in Korea, Singapore and Japan, but the Austrians are also at the forefront. Norway, Croatia and Spain follow at a considerable distance. The forecast of the international consulting firm and publisher of the study, Arthur D. Little, is nevertheless extremely optimistic when it comes to predictions.individual solutions are already being used in Switzerland in the areas of parking and ticketing. Mobile payment services for vending machines and parking garages have been available for some time. On December 1, SBB introduced the option of ordering train tickets on a cell phone, but had only sold just over 300 by mid-January. A negligible number in view of the 8.4 million tickets sold in the same period. As reported by Netzwoche, SBB sees these investments as preparation for a sales channel of the future. However, the NZZ am Sonntag criticizes the ordering process as being too cumbersome. Simple, suitable for the masses and secure are the criteria that make an offer a top or flop for the end user. The largest mobile payment project was launched last year by Postfinance with Unisys. The data from the six-month pilot test at seven retailers (Migros, Coop, Interdiscount, SBB, McDonalds, Postshop, Mobile Zone) and 1000 pilot participants are now available. "The PostFinance/Unisys pilot project for payment by cell phone in retail, which ended in mid-January 2006, showed a high level of acceptance among the 1000 pilot users. Two thirds would use the new payment method", says Thomas Kolly from Unisys to Werbewoche. A decision on whether a market launch is imminent will be made in February. The fact that there are still no widespread services in Switzerland is not due to the technology, which is already available, but to the lack of networking between mobile services. Kolly continues: "Services such as mobile payment need to be combined with other mobile services so that they offer real added value for the end user. Additional marketing services such as vouchers would also be attractive for the end user."