Mobile Banking Updates - Jan 10

Qualcomm shares its mobile-wallet vision
"Wireless-chip giant Qualcomm expects to launch a wireless-gift-card-and-transaction service late this year called Swagg, another step toward the San Diego company’s ultimate goal of having cell phones replace credit cards and become a mobile wallet for consumers.

Paul Jacobs, Qualcomm’s CEO, gave a sneak peek at the service during his keynote address yesterday at the annual Consumer Electronics Show. While he didn’t provide a lot of details, Jacobs said the mobile-gift-card portion of the Swagg platform should be available before the next holiday season."

Mobile Banking Faces Uphill Battle in Mature Markets
"The mobile phone is turning into the platform of choice for banking in emerging markets. In developed markets, however, the phone has struggled to compete with existing payment methods, and the challenges aren't going away in 2010.

Mobile banking services gained momentum in 2009 with roll-outs in dozens of countries in emerging markets, including Brazil, Cambodia and Malaysia, and the pace will continue this year, according to Sandy Shen, research director at Gartner's Mobile Devices and Consumer Services group."

Microsoft Monoculture Going Mobile?
"Mobile banking is growing fast in Korea, and the rising popularity of smartphones, which work more like handheld computers than conventional phones, was supposed to take the market even further.

However, critics say a letdown is due, with government authorities all but assuring that Microsoft will dictate the Internet banking experience on portable devices as it does on desktop computers here."

Bill Me Later hit with class-action lawsuit over interest rates
"Bill Me Later is facing a class-action lawsuit claiming the online sales processor skirts California consumer protection laws to hike its interest rates.

Kyle Sawyer, a Bill Me Later customer in Torrance, Calif., filed the lawsuit Jan. 6 in U.S. District Court for the northern district of California. The complaint accuses Timonium-based Bill Me Later, a subsidiary of online auctioneer eBay Inc., of using a middleman to avoid California law prohibiting exorbitant credit penalties and interest rates."