In Search of A Mobile Payments Business Case

Despite not having researched the mobile banking & payments in quite some time, I've recently been in closer contact with this space, including Celent's I&I Day (see Jacob's post below) and conversations with a number of industry players. Through this renewed contact with mobile, I've been reminded of the addage, "the more things change, the more they stay the same"; specifically, the lack of clarity around a business case for NFC/proximity/contactless mobile payments. Back in February 2008, I presented at a NACHA conference focusing on mobile banking/payments. At that conference, I raised a number of questions for the industry to answer, including the following: " In clear, concise and material terms, what are mobile NFC payments’ value propositions?" My latest interactions with the mobile industry have shown that this question is still valid, but nonetheless mobile NFC payments are still considered to be the holy grail. Maybe I've been out of the loop too long and am missing something. Next week, I will listen in on a presentation that promises to explain the NFC business case. If any of this blog's readers would like to reach out to me with their answers to the question above, by all means do so!