Examining Merchants’ Refusal to Adopt Mobile Payment Systems in Spain

Over the past years, traditional company management has been undergoing major changes regarding the adoption, implementation, and development of new technologies. Even if Internet commerce has the potential to revolutionize consumer behavior and the way merchants communicate with their customers, it is true that several activities related to the new technologies are still in the early stages of development or implementation. The main purpose of this study is to assess the determinants of m-payments from the point of view of merchants through an exploratory and qualitative analysis (literature review, focus groups, and in-depth interviews) in order to find the drivers and deterrents influencing the use of mobile payment systems in retail business. In order to properly approach the proposed research, a theoretical review of the actual situation of the different mobile payment systems across the different markets was carried through several personal interviews with merchants in the first place and, secondly, surveying over 151 retail companies in Spain. Conclusions and implications are discussed from the data and results drawn from this research, suggesting strategies to overcome some of the identified barriers and deterrents while also proposing some suggestions for future research opportunities

Security Risk Tolerance in Mobile Payment: A Trade-off Framework

Security is identified as a major barrier for consumers in adopting mobile payment. Although existing literature has incorporated security into the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Unified Theory of Acceptance, and the Use of Technology (UTAUT) and it has investigated the way in which security affects consumers’ acceptance of mobile payment, security is a factor only in diverse research models. Studies of mobile payment that focus on security are not available. Additionally, previous studies of mobile payment are based on Direct Carrier Billing- (DCB)-based mobile payment or Near Field Communication- (NFC)-based mobile payment. The results regarding security might not be applicable to Quick Response (QR) code-based mobile payment, the format that has become prevalent in recent years. As such, this study focuses on security of using mobile payment and develops a benefit-cost appraisal and a trade-off framework by integrating the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT), and the Rational Choice Theory (RCT). Particularly, this study introduces security risk tolerance into mobile payment study and sets it as the dependent variable. This study proposes that consumers’ security risk tolerance is shaped by their benefit-cost appraisal and their tradeoff process, regarding the use of mobile payment. Based on an online survey that collected data from 324 respondents in China, this study empirically tests and validates the research model. The findings suggest that consumers’ perceived benefit in using mobile payment is positively related to their security risk tolerance, whereas their perceived cost of using mobile payment is negatively related to their security risk tolerance. Convenience, safety, and savings positively affect consumers’ perceived benefit. The security threat positively affects consumers’ perceived cost. Payment tradition moderates consumers’ benefit-cost appraisal and trade-off process, but normative beliefs do not have a significant moderating effect. Self-efficacy only moderates the relationship between consumers’ perceived cost and their security risk tolerance. This study finds that males and females complete their benefit-cost appraisal and their trade-off process regarding security of using mobile payment very similarly. Gender differences only exist in the relationship between savings and consumers’ perceived benefit of using mobile payment

Managing near field communication (NFC) payment applications through cloud computing

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.The Near Field Communication (NFC) technology is a short-range radio communication channel which enables users to exchange data between devices. NFC provides a contactless technology for data transmission between smart phones, Personal Computers (PCs), Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and such devices. It enables the mobile phone to act as identification and a credit card for customers. However, the NFC chip can act as a reader as well as a card, and also be used to design symmetric protocols. Having several parties involved in NFC ecosystem and not having a common standard affects the security of this technology where all the parties are claiming to have access to client’s information (e.g. bank account details). The dynamic relationships of the parties in an NFC transaction process make them partners in a way that sometimes they share their access permissions on the applications that are running in the service environment. These parties can only access their part of involvement as they are not fully aware of each other’s rights and access permissions. The lack of knowledge between involved parties makes the management and ownership of the NFC ecosystem very puzzling. To solve this issue, a security module that is called Secure Element (SE) is designed to be the base of the security for NFC. However, there are still some security issues with SE personalization, management, ownership and architecture that can be exploitable by attackers and delay the adaption of NFC payment technology. Reorganizing and describing what is required for the success of this technology have motivated us to extend the current NFC ecosystem models to accelerate the development of this business area. One of the technologies that can be used to ensure secure NFC transactions is cloud computing which offers wide range advantages compared to the use of SE as a single entity in an NFC enabled mobile phone. We believe cloud computing can solve many issues in regards to NFC application management. Therefore, in the first contribution of part of this thesis we propose a new payment model called “NFC Cloud Wallet". This model demonstrates a reliable structure of an NFC ecosystem which satisfies the requirements of an NFC payment during the development process in a systematic, manageable, and effective way

Near Field Communications (NFC) - Case Study: Mobile Banking in South Africa

Η κινητή τηλεφωνία έχει βαθιά επίδραση στην κοινωνία μας. Το τελευταίο διάστημα έχει κάνει την εμφάνισή της μια καινούρια τεχνολογία στο χώρο της κινητής τηλεφωνίας με την ονομασία επικοινωνία κοντινού πεδίου (ΕΚΠ -Near Field Communication - NFC). Ως τεχνολογία ασύρματης επικοινωνίας με μικρή εμβέλεια, η ΕΚΠ προσφέρει ασφαλή και απλή επικοινωνία μεταξύ ηλεκτρονικών συσκευών. Εν ολίγοις επιτρέπει τη χρήση του κινητού τηλεφώνου ως μέσου ασφαλών συναλλαγών και πληρωμής λογαριασμών μετατρέποντάς το κινητό τηλέφωνο ουσιαστικά σε ηλεκτρονικό πορτοφόλι. Στην εργασία αυτή θα εξετάσουμε το χώρο των πληρωμών μέσω κινητού τηλεφώνου. Θα δώσουμε μια γενική εικόνα, αναλύοντας την τεχνολογία, τους κρίσιμους παράγοντες για την επιτυχία της τεχνολογίας αυτής και το σχετικό νομοθετικό πλαίσιο. Θα εξετάσουμε διάφορες εφαρμογές των πληρωμών μέσω κινητού τηλεφώνου που χρησιμοποιούνται σήμερα και που βασίζονται σε τραπεζικούς λογαριασμούς, πιστωτικές κάρτες και συστήματα τιμολόγησης των τηλεπικοινωνιακών επιχειρήσεων. Θα αναλυθεί το τεχνολογικό υπόβαθρο που απαιτείται και περιλαμβάνει SMS, USSD, GRPS ή 3G, WAP,J2ME,LBS,NFC,IVR. Θα δώσουμε έμφαση στην μελέτη της Νότιας Αφρικής όπου υπάρχει πλήρης εφαρμογή τεχνολογιών κοντινού πεδίου. Θα εξετάσουμε τους εμπλεκόμενους φορείς και τους ενδιαφερόμενους από την πλευρά των τραπεζών (Wizzit mobile banking, ΜΤΝ Banking και FNB cellphone banking), από την πλευρά των φορέων εκμετάλλευσης κινητών δικτύων (Vodacom, MTN, Cell-C και του εικονικού φορέα κινητών δικτύων (VMNO) Virgin Mobile) καθώς και από την πλευρά των εμπόρων. Κατόπιν, θα δοθεί το βάρος στις διάφορες προκλήσεις που αντιμετωπίζουν οι ηλεκτρονικές πληρωμές μέσω κινητού τηλεφώνου. Θα εξεταστούν οι κρίσιμοι παράγοντες επιτυχίας, όπως η αντιμετώπιση συγκρουόμενων συμφερόντων, η συμπεριφορά των καταναλωτών, το κόστος, η εμπιστοσύνη, η ασφάλεια, η χρηστικότητα, και τέλος η νομοθεσία που διέπει τις πληρωμές μέσω κινητού τηλεφώνου. Επιπλέον, θα υποδειχθούν τρόποι για την ανάπτυξη των ηλεκτρονικών πληρωμών που μπορούν να μειώσουν σημαντικά το κοινωνικό κόστος του συστήματος πληρωμών της χώρας. Παρέχουμε μια εκτίμηση για τη μείωση του κοινωνικού κόστους και την ανταπόκριση των χρηστών, όταν οι σχετικές τιμές ορίζονται με στόχο την επιτάχυνση της αντικατάστασης των παραδοσιακών πληρωμών με ηλεκτρονικές και ιδίως πληρωμές μέσω κινητού τηλεφώνου. Θα εξετάσουμε τα διάφορα επιχειρηματικά μοντέλα που προτείνονται και εφαρμόζονται κατά τη διάρκεια υλοποίησης πληρωμών με χρήση κινητού τηλεφώνου. Θα δοθεί έμφαση στα οφέλη, στις προκλήσεις που συνδέονται με την τεχνολογία κοντινού πεδίου και τις πληρωμές μέσω αυτών. Θα αναφερθούμε στα δικαιώματα προαίρεσης κατά διαδικασία λήψης αποφάσεων. Τέλος, θα γίνει αναφορά στο μέλλον της συγκεκριμένης τεχνολογίας και στις πληρωμές μέσω αυτής.Mobile phone technology has had a profound effect on our society and Near Field Communication (NFC) has become one of the promising technological developments in IT industry. NFC is one of the latest wireless communication technologies. As a short-range wireless connectivity technology, NFC offers safe yet simple and intuitive communication between electronic devices. We will review the mobile payments space by giving an overview, examining mobile payments technology, assessing mobile payments in South Africa, analysing the various critical success factors, and examining the various governing legislation that exists. We will review various mobile payment solutions currently in use that are based on bank accounts, credit cards and mobile telecommunication company billing systems. These technological solutions include Short Message Service (SMS), Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), General Packet Radio Service (GRPS) or 3G (Third-generation), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), J2ME, Location-Based service (LBS), Near Field Communication (NFC), and Interactive Voice Response (IVR). We will then take a look at the mobile payments space in South Africa. This will involve reviewing some of the major stakeholders and players. Popular mobile payments solutions in South Africa include Wizzit mobile banking, MTN Banking, and FNB cellphone banking. The mobile network operators include Vodacom, MTN, Cell-C and the virtual mobile network operator (VMNO) Virgin Mobile. The other important stakeholders include the big four banks, electronic payment network operators Visa and MasterCard, and specific merchants. Reviewing the various challenges faced by mobile payment solutions will give this research weight. These challenges include critical success factors such as dealing with the dynamics of different stakeholders with conflicting interests, consumer behaviour, costs, trust and security, usability, and lastly legislation governing mobile payments. Moreover, we we will indicate ways the growth of electronic payments can substantially reduce the social cost of a country's payment system. We provide an estimate of the potential savings in social cost and determine the responsiveness of payment users when relative prices are used to speed up the substitution of electronic and especially mobile-based for paper-based payments. Then, we will explore the various business models being proposed and applied during the implementation of NFC mobile payments. The various stakeholders that are part of the NFC mobile payment ecosystem will then be studied and lastly the benefits and challenges associated with NFC mobile payments will be noted. Finally, we will review real options methodology to the investment-making process

Devolution and Fiscal Decentralisation

Fiscal decentralisation represents the transfer of resources from higher to lower levels of government usually accompanied by an enhancement in responsibilities and functions of sub- national governments and greater autonomy in their budget making and financial decisions. The rising demand generally for decentralisation in developing countries in recent years is a consequence of the broader processes of globalisation, liberalisation and deregulation. Political imperatives for decentralisation have been created by the urge for more effective democratisation and the need to bring governments closer to the people for greater accountability and better articulation of their needs and preferences. In a number of countries, including Pakistan, the failure of central or state/provincial governments to adequately capture local preferences and provide basic services have strengthened the case for use of local governments as delivery agents, such that the production and distribution of services is carried down to the lowest unit of government capable of capturing the associated costs and benefits.

A Preventive Medicine Framework for Wearable Abiotic Glucose Detection System

In this work, we present a novel abiotic glucose fuel cell with battery-less remote access. In the presence of a glucose analyte, we characterized the power generation and biosensing capabilities. This system is developed on a flexible substrate in bacterial nanocellulose with gold nanoparticles used as a conductive ink for piezoelectric deposition based printing. The abiotic glucose fuel cell is constructed using colloidal platinum on gold (Au-co-Pt) and a composite of silver oxide nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes as the anodic and cathodic materials. At a concentration of 20 mM glucose, the glucose fuel cell produced a maximum open circuit voltage of 0.57 V and supplied a maximum short circuit current density of 0.581 mA/cm2 with a peak power density of 0.087 mW/cm2 . The system was characterized by testing its performance using electrochemical techniques like linear sweep voltammetry, cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry in the presence of various glucose level at the physiological temperatures. An open circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.43 V, short circuit current density (Isc) of 0.405 mA/cm2 , and maximum power density (Pmax) of 0.055 mW/cm2 at 0.23 V were achieved in the presence of 5 mM physiologic glucose. The results indicate that glucose fuel cells can be employed for the development of a self-powered glucose sensor. The glucose monitoring device demonstrated sensitivity of 1.87 uA/mMcm2 and a linear dynamic range of 1 mM to 45 mM with a correlation coefficient of 0.989 when utilized as a self-powered glucose sensor. For wireless communication, the incoming voltage from the abiotic fuel cell was fed to a low power microcontroller that enables battery less communication using NFC technology. The voltage translates to the NFC module as the digital signals, which are displayed on a custom-built android application. The digital signals are converted to respective glucose concentration using a correlation algorithm that allows data to be processed and recorded for further analysis. The android application is designed to record the time, date stamp, and other independent features (e.g. age, height, weight) with the glucose measurement to allow the end-user to keep track of their glucose levels regularly. Analytics based on in-vitro testing were conducted to build a machine learning model that enables future glucose prediction for 15, 30 or 60 minutes

Has Mobile Payment Finally Live Up to Its Expectation in Replacing Cash and Credit?

The purpose of this paper is to study whether mobile payment is a better payment method compared to cash and credit. Mobile payment is an innovative way of paying our bill using our mobile devices. However, it has failed to live up to its expectation when it first introduced to the market decades ago with various of impeding factors like cost, complexity, lack of trust from the consumers as well as limited network externalities. Today, with the advance of technology, consumers’ demand for a faster and convenient payment method as well as the implementation of many merchants or companies, mobile payment is starting to replace conventional payment method. As a whole, this research paper concludes that mobile payment is going to replace cash and credit and to be successful globally in the near future