More companies developing mobile payments ahead of mass adoption

Today, many companies are racing to be involved in the mobile payments industry, and as a result, many see the marketplace for these platforms as becoming somewhat crowded.

Experts in the field of mobile payments say that at least one new company is entering the market in one way or another per week, as many are hoping to cash in on what is expected to be an extremely lucrative industry in the next few years, according to a report from Tech Crunch. The reason for this is that it's believed many consumers will soon be looking for ways to increase the connections between their daily lives in the real and digital worlds.

Why it's becoming so popular
This shift toward focusing on mobile payments has become especially true as the use of smartphones has become more prevalent not only nationwide, but around the world as well, the report said. Significant jumps in technology have afforded consumers many options for handling their accounts via a portable device, and mobile wallets and other types of payments are essentially seen as the next logical step in the process.

Among the well-known companies that are now involved in the mobile payment industry or plan to do so in the near future are Google, AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon wireless, Visa, American Express, MasterCard, Starbucks, PayPal, Wal-Mart, Target, and more, the report said. On top of that, many startups are also getting involved, and it's believed that Apple's next iPhone, slated to be announced later this week, could allow for certain types of mobile transactions as well.

And because so many companies are getting involved, there are many different types of available platforms, some of which are being snatched up by other, larger competitors as a means of improving their own offerings, the report said. For instance, PayPal recently purchased the startup Card.io, which allowed businesses to accept a credit card purchase by taking a picture of the card being used to complete the transaction.

The problem with all this involvement
Experts say that though there are certainly benefits to having so many businesses involved in the development of mobile payment technology, there may also be drawbacks, the report said. The largest such issue is that with so many participants, it may take some time to become apparent which types of mobile payment technology consumers prefer.

In general, consumers tend to weed out the best technologies available to them by choosing those which are most specific to their needs, the report said. Therefore, having a large number of options may obfuscate which is best-suited to be used by smartphone owners as a means of making more convenient payments. Certainly, many of the features that make some options helpful will likely be incorporated into the larger and more popular participants' services down the road, but the eventual best possible offering could be further away as a result of adoption being slowed by so many choices.

Bridging the gap to adoption
Many experts recognize that consumer adoption is likely to be the driving force behind whatever type of mobile payment technology ends up being the most used, but some also say that it will likewise be important to get retailers involved, the report said. Many reports have highlighted the importance of businesses adopting these platforms to promoting use among consumers, as without a place to use them, consumers will likely get little mileage from the programs even if they choose to participate.

For this reason, it's important for developers to foster relationships with merchants of many sizes to give consumers added incentive to adopt, the report said. This could include the ability to link many different kinds of accounts, such as gift cards or store loyalty programs, to mobile payments to give consumers a chance to save more when using them. Further, those developers could also give businesses the incentive to participate by granting them access to customer data that would otherwise not be available to them.

In general, experts also believe that mobile wallet payments will be more secure for consumers than traditional credit card use, meaning their finances and account details will be better protected when making this type of purchase. However, shoppers shouldn't stop there when it comes to making sure everything related to their finances is as it should be.

One of the best ways for you to do this is by checking a copy of your credit report to make sure there are no unfair markings. These can take a toll on your credit score if they're not addressed, but working with a credit repair service can help you to clear up these entries and get your finances back on track.