Retail Payment Systems
In the OIC Member Countries
94
5.2 General Outlook and Emerging Issues
Most of the countries being studied are suffering from huge disparity in terms of
telecommunication infrastructures. Major urban cities are quickly catching up with those in
highly developed countries such as New York and London. They can enjoy various banking and
financial services as well as technological options. However, remote and rural areas are often
beyond reach.
Lack of infrastructures prompts people to become more connected via their mobile phones
and tablet PCs, thanks to the increasing availability of cellular data networks. Often the cost of
having these mobile internet connection are cheaper than traditional phone lines along with
ADSL services. MNOs are quickly realised that voice and text services no longer generate
enough margin, inducing them to focus on improved data connections instead. This also
induces them to become directly involved in retail payment systems that utilize their mobile
telecommunications infrastructures.
Mobile commerce is still in its infancy stage, however some major banks and retailers are
already setting up their own internet shopping platforms. Some mobile-based applications
available for Android, BlackBerry, and iOS operating systems have been launched as well. Even
though the transactions are currently limited to merchants that collaborate with the payment
gateway and many customers are still using this method to pay for low value, high volume
transactions rather than tangible products and high-priced items, m-commerce shows high
potential and perhaps will continue to exceed the value of internet retailing. However, several
limitations are also expected to hinder its growth such as security and trust, because many
people perceive mobile money issued by MNOs not to have sufficient security and robustness
compared with banks.
Table 9, below, summarises the qualitative differences for the key features taken from the case
studies. Here we can see the different banking authorities, the character and extent of banking
services, and the type of large value payment systems. These form the background to retail
payment practices. Those are described in the fourth row, followed by a comment on the
general outlook.