Can we use mobile phone to pay?

A year ago, I watched some videos which show in South Korea, people use mobile phone to pay in shopping malls. Mobile phone works as an ATM card. This case shows that mobile payment is possible in rich countries. On September 24, 2009, the cover story of magazine Economist is the Power of Mobile Money, which reports the extensive usage of mobile phone in the poor world. Mobile minutes work as currency in some area. But in USA, people have not use mobile phone to pay yet. I expect that it will change soon.

With popularity of smart phones like iphone and Android-based phones, more and more transactions are made through the mobile phone. So mobile payments is needed. Paypal has an app on Android market. It has a simple interface. Some reviewers complain that users need to log in every time they use it. I think it is for security reason. I do not mind this small inconvenience. Think about the consequence if the cell phone is lost and some one somehow passed the security pattern.

There are some mobile payment startups which make mobile payment without banking account or credit card. Instead, they make mobile payment show up on the monthly cell phone bill directly. Boku and Zong are two rivalry in this mobile payment arena. I expect that mobile payment will become more popular in USA this year. But it depends on how people accept the mobile payment and how smart phones and mobile apps usage grows quickly.