Card-based Macropayment for Mobile Phones

Most new entrants into the mobile commerce marketplace are faced with a paradox; how can we attract users without merchants, and how can we attract merchants without customers? Without a huge investment in marketing to build consumer recognition, starting a new m-commerce service is risky. In this paper we analyse how successful companies on the Web have managed to create successful payment services by utilising the brand recognition and ubiquity of the popular card networks. Attempts to marry credit cards and mobile phones are not new - encrypted phone wallet systems have been bundled with devices for a number of years. However, use of these wallet systems remains limited as the public failed to embrace shopping via WAP, frustrated by slow speeds and poor user interfaces. With mobile terminals more suited for browsing, and higher speeds from mobile data becoming the norm, we present a system to enable remote macropurchases using existing credit card technology.