While 2011 wasn't the year that mobile payments hit mainstream, it did seem as if payment technology was heading that way – Google rolled out its mobile Wallet App, PayPal announced its intent to enter the arena and several credit card processors announced mobile payment plans.<\/p>\n
What's holding merchants from jumping at these services? According to VentureBeat, it may the cost of integration. While mobile payments may become the de facto point-of-sale solutions some day, the cost-to-benefit rate simply isn't worth it to retailers right now.<\/p>\n
"Today's retail systems are so inflexible, the integration of any third-party systems will result in a huge IT expense for implementation," the technology blog explains. "The customization required so that all components of the point-of-sale system … interact with a new mobile payment platform without disrupting the operation of the existing systems is cumbersome … due to complex software integration."<\/p>\n
Some retail brands are beginning to dabble in mobile payments. For example, Office Depot just teamed with PayPal to enable customers to pay using their phone numbers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
While 2011 wasn’t the year that mobile payments hit mainstream, it did seem as if payment technology was heading that way. Continue reading