In search of a mobile payments standard

Starbucks thinks credit card companies, banks, telcos and handset makers are moving too slowly toward one unified standard for mobile payments via near field communications (NFC)--also known as contactless payments--where you simply wave your phone near the till or pay point and the transaction is completed.

Mobile payments are the new new thing. According to forecasts, NFC payments will be commonplace across the UK retail and restaurant marketplace by 2016. Given the huge number of smart phone mobiles in use, this is a possibility. However, consumers don't want to have to juggle multiple payment systems, nor do merchants. And so far, there's no agreement on one standard technology or processing programme. Security is another concern.

During the past year, a number of arrangements have been announced. Orange and Barclaycard, for example, have launched Quick Tap, making NFC payments possible at Subway, Pret a Manger and other retail establishments. Samsung and Visa are readying a deal in advance of the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Starbucks isn't waiting for one standard to be adopted by all parties. In the interim, it's launched its own mobile payment app for the iPhone. Although not NFC-based, the system has proven itself in the United States and will likely be enjoyed by Starbucks lovers around the UK because it speeds up transactions.

Will mobile payments follow the NFC standard? Or will another technology win out, the way VHS beat Betamax in the videocassette standards battle of the 1980s?