Tags » Card Payments, Mobile Payments
Michael Copeland writes for Business 2.0 in its September issue about venture capitalists looking to fund new companies in particular market segments. At the top of the list is John Occhipinti of the Woodside Fund who says he wants to fund a company providing "fraudproof credit card authorization via cell phones and PDA's".
Another request comes from Ryan Floyd of Storm Ventures who's looking for "a clever resurrection of the smart-card concept: a software platform for cell phones that allows consumers to make purchases or open doors by waving their phones in front of tiny infrared or RFID readers."
If other VCs are looking for people to pursue specific opportunities in the payments arena, contact us at Glenbrook and we'll be happy to post an item here.
Tags » Card Technology, Micropayments, Prepaid Cards and Stored Value Cards
Accenture has published a study on the use of smart card technology in public transportation (PDF).
Smart cards are the ticket to the future for most of the world’s transit operators. According to Accenture’s global research, some implementations have been successful, and many have achieved their original objectives. But smart card implementation was viewed by many respondents as being more complicated than originally anticipated: many viewed e-ticketing solely as a means of systems imple- mentation. This limited view increases the risk of a difficult implementation and limits the ultimate benefit to passengers.
Although not specifically mentioned in the study, one of the things that's particularly interesting about the requirements for payments in the transit environment is the need for very fast (< 100 ms) response times between the turnstile and the card to ensure delays and queuing don't occur.
