Report: Mobile Payments Owe Credit to Apple's iPhone

[Michael Essany]

According to the latest industry estimates, mobile payment transactions are projected to reach $1.3 trillion by 2017. Playing a huge role in this development will be mobile POS systems that involve today's top tablets and smartphones.

As of early 2013, smartphones have reached fifty percent market penetration with eighty percent expected well before the close of this decade. As a result of rapid smartphone adoption, consumers are getting comfortable with mobile payments and so are business owners and entrepreneurs.

"In 2007, the debut of iPhone moved a lot of consumers into the emerging smartphone space," says IGC Co. analyst Brian Aliese. "Even the consumers who stayed away from the early iPhones were at least aware of what smartphones were and how popular they were becoming."

Although Android has since made a huge splash in mobile payments, Aliese says the iPhone primarily made it possible for today's leading mobile payments providers to create their successful mobile credit card readers and platforms.

Artist Nathan Kent of Branson, Missouri said the iPhone made it possible for him to quit his job and sell paintings full time two years ago. Using PayAnywhere - a leading mobile payments platform for iOS and most Android devices - Kent started selling a boatload of his work at arts and crafts shows, county fairs, and conventions all over the country.

"iOS and Android-based POS terminals are the future of retail," Aliese says. "The smartphone boom was the catalyst for the mobile payments boom. And businesses, entrepreneurs, and artists like Nathan stand to benefit today in ways never before possible."

Sources: Forrester, BI

[Roadw3]

And only 3 percent of every transaction goes to fees.

[jOnGarrett]

So mobile payments have been around since the 90's but we're now supposed to believe that apple is responsible? people in the US are so backwards.

[iLoveWindows&iPhone]

So mobile payments have been around since the 90's but we're now supposed to believe that apple is responsible? people in the US are so backwards.

So since mobile payments have "been around since the 90s" in some fashion or capacity....The iPhone did not help usher in the masses to this platform. It did not create a device and feature set that was then mimicked by companies like Samsung which provided a very similar device and nearly identical feature set, further increasing the number of people using mobile devices to make payments...

Ughh so ignorant. Your fanboyism blinds you to simple truths and robs you of any possible intelligence you might have. How can you not see that??? Well...considering you can't see the absolute truth that Apple played a role in the increased popularity of mobile payments (maybe not realizing that every time someone buys a app from the App Store, they are.....wait for it....making a mobile payment!)... then I guess it's not that shocking you wouldn't be able to see one of your equally obvious, glaring deficiencies.

Wake up. I'm not a fan of Samsung, but at the same time I wouldn't deny their most obvious achievements.