Web Commerce Security Design and Development

Mobile Phone and M-Commerce

Mobile phones are connected devices that are arguably the hottest and the most important member of CED because of their prevalence, the extent with which users interact with them, and finally the way in which they facilitate our usage of the Internet and its powerful capabilities such as electronic commerce. These high-end mobile devices with such rich application and connection capabilities are also called smartphones. There are many reasons to take mobile devices and m-commerce very seriously.

Landscape

A 2009 research study performed by the U.S. FCC (United States Federal Communications Commission) illustrated in Figure 2-1 shows that the main method of communications for the consumers in the United States is through mobile phones, and that the usage of landlines is dropping.⁴

Research also shows that as mobile phone usage increases among its users, so does their use of the mobile device to perform electronic transactions. In fact, a 2009 research study⁵ illustrated that mobile banking is increasing its penetration in the mobile subscriber base at a faster rate than the subscriber base is growing. The same research study found that payment activities from smartphones will reach about $9 billion by 2014. These findings are shown in Figures 2-2 and 2-3.

Figure 2-1: U.S. consumer communication becoming mobile: From 2009 Mobile-Banking and Smartphone Forecast: Essential Strategies for a Fast-Growing, Evolving Market ©Copyright 2010 Javelin Strategy & ...