Posts tagged credit
S&P Lowers Nokia’s Credit Rating For First Time
Mar 30th
Nokia Corp, the largest mobile phone maker in the world, has had its credit rating downgraded for the first time.
Standard & Poor’s, the division of McGraw-Hill that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks and bonds, has lowered Nokia’s credit rating. The financial analysis firm also warned of further market share losses by the company in the days to come.
In its report published on 30th March, S&P stated, “The downgrade reflects the revision of our business risk profile assessment on Nokia to ‘satisfactory’ from ‘strong,’ primarily because we expect that Nokia’s smartphone portfolio will make further significant market share losses during 2011 and 2012,”
The researcher further said that there is a pretty high chance of Symbian’s shares falling from 15% to 0.2% in the next four years. Recently, CEO Stephen Elop confirmed Nokia’s decision to go for Microsoft’s Windows phone 7 as the main operating software for its smartphones, though it will be maintaining support for symbian based phones, for the time being.
In the last quarter Google’s Android has overtaken the long dominating Symbian OS in terms of market share, and Nokia’s stake in the smartphone market has lowered by some 20% since Apple introduced its iPhone in 2007.
From www.itproportal.com
Do You Want Your Cell Phone to Act as a Credit Card?
Mar 29th
Imagine your cell phone acting as a credit card. What races through your mind: fantastic or scary? According to the Wall Street Journal, the technology is being developed in the apps.
Google Inc. is teaming up with MasterCard Inc. and Citigroup Inc. to embed technology in Android mobile devices that would allow consumers to make purchases by waving their smartphones in front of a small reader at the checkout counter.
The idea, instigated by VeriFone Systems Inc., is to turn your cell phone into an electronic credit card wallet.
“A phone is a lot smarter than a card,” said Doug Bergeron, VeriFone’s chief executive, in an interview. “It opens the door to a rich experience at the point of sale that retailers really covet.”
I’m not paranoid, but isn’t this Google-backed system a little Big-Brother-creepy? (I refer to the George Orwell book and not the reality TV show.)
Here some app for for thought:
1) The VeriFone device will turn you into a walking litmus test for spending behavior. Unlike some other forms of advertising, the system would allow Google to generate ads targeted by
locales and past purchases.
2) Remember what happened with hummus purchases at Safeway? After 9/11, the government concocted a plan to chart excessive hummus purchases at Safeway — being all terrorists love hummus.
3) Having your credit card activated by an app detaches you from spending in the same way FarmVille detaches you from reality.
4) It’s easier to steal a cell phone than a credit card — imagine the new breed of credit card criminal hierarchy that will be created; with foot soldiers doing the street level theft and hackers extracting the credit card information.
What’s your opinion on cell phone credit card apps? Should we all hold out for the safe-and-secure retina scans — promised to us in such sci-fi movies as Blade Runner?
Follow Harmon Leon on Twitter: www.twitter.com/harmonleon
From www.huffingtonpost.com
Wave the cost of a purchase with mobile credit card
Mar 15th
ANZ and Visa are trialling technology to turn your iPhone into a mobile credit card. Picture: AFP Source: AdelaideNow
The 50-person trial by ANZ and Visa uses an Apple iPhone case with a built-in memory card that acts as a credit card.
When waved in front of a contactless payment reader, users can make purchases of up to $100 without a signature.
Visa Australia country manager Vipin Kalra said the trial was designed to prove financial companies could launch the technology without waiting for manufacturers to add it to phones.
“We are still waiting for handsets to become available and this is a way to bridge that gap and use the technology today,” Mr Kalra said.
“It’s been a real eye-opener so far and it’s interesting to see the reaction of people around it. They say ‘how can I get one of these phones?’”
The cases, built by DeviceFidelity in conjunction with Visa, use a MicroSD memory card that works with an app and a prepaid debit card.
These memory cards could be inserted directly into BlackBerry and Google Android phones in future, Mr Kalra said, to avoid having to add an extra case to make payments by mobile phone.
Mr Kalra called the technology a “turning point” for phone credit card payments and said Visa would seek to make the service commercially available in the US this year with Australia to follow.
The new trial in Sydney and Melbourne follows a similar test with Telstra and the National Australia Bank more than a year ago, though participants can now make purchases in many more locations. More than 20,000 contactless payment terminals have since been installed in Australian stores.
Telsyte research director Foad Fadaghi said Australia was a prime location for such a service, given the high rate of mobile phone use and the willingness to try new technology.
“There’s definitely a place for this kind of service in the future and it won’t be too long before we see it used for small transactions that are now annoying, like buying coffee or a bus ticket,” he said.
“It’s quite surprising that it’s 2011 and we still don’t have a solution like this available for consumers.”
Mr Fadaghi said the potential for using a mobile phone as a digital wallet had been clear for some time, but phone makers and credit card companies would need to make it simple.
From www.news.com.au
Mobile Phones As Credit Cards Set To Become Reality This Year
Feb 22nd
BARCELONA, Spain — Cell phones are usually used to communicate with people far away. This year, they’ll get the ability to do the opposite: communicate with things that are close enough to touch.
Phones will get some surprising capabilities with the addition of chips for near-field communications . NFC is a wireless technology with a range intentionally limited to just a few inches.
The phones will be able to talk to payment terminals designed for smart cards, replacing credit and debit cards. They could be used as mass-transit passes. You could tap two phones together to exchange contact information.
A mobile phone showing the Visa payment platform at this month’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Increasingly, cell phones will be able to… View Enlarged Image
From www.investors.com
Wade McIntyre: Forget credit cards, use your cell phone
Feb 2nd
It appears one day soon we may all no longer have to worry about leaving home ever again without our wallets.
Forgetting one’s wallet is inconvenient, but I don’t remember ever doing much financial stressing over forgetting my own.
For instance, I don’t go inside a coffee house and slap my wrists because I only have enough pocket change to buy a regular cup of Joe. Rather than go home and retrieve the wallet with debit and credit cards, I simply order the inexpensive coffee of the day.
Yes, there have been multiple course dinners with special dates where I realized at the end of the meal that the billfold was back home in last night’s jeans. In those situations, I ask the special one to pick up the check. It can be tense and repercussive, but, if the special one and I never see each other again, at least we had a great last meal together.
Now my innocent days of monetary insouciance appear numbered. Banks and mobile phone companies have teamed up to see that we never have to worry about cash and plastic money being left at home in our wallets again because they’re going to eliminate plastic credit and debit cards by encouraging everyone to pay for physical purchases by using cell phones.
Our Big Bank friends are forecasting that 2011 will be the year when contract-less mobile phone payments via cell phones break into the mainstream. Bank marketing departments and their Capitol Hill lobbyists are calling this soon-to-be irresistible kind of cell-phone credit card container the ‘mobile wallet’.
Everybody is in on it, such as MasterCard, Google, Citibank and AT&T.
They’re predicting cell phone purchases will take over incrementally; much like the way flat-screen televisions captured the TV market from the big box boob tube.
The banks think such a system will be enormously popular, that we’ll be downloading coupons at checkout counters and making all our on-the-spot purchases via cell phones.
There are drawbacks. Consumers will have to upload a ton of personal and financial information on the phones in order to make purchases with them.
I’ve never permanently lost a wallet and had to spend a couple of nights in a Mexican-border town in order to have one stolen. But in less than four years, I’ve lost a cell phone and had another pilfered. You get the picture –– owners treat cell phones like throwaways because their life spans are short, and upgrades are always around the corner. Meanwhile, unscrupulous people lust for the information in the phones.
When the mobile-phone-wallet system arrives this year, we’ll start having the means to expose personal finances and records on wireless networks in all manner of options, and creeps with fraudulent intent will no doubt intensify their efforts to get this information.
While I don’t worry over forgetting my wallet at home, I’m like any self-respecting citizen when exposed to the angst and emptiness that comes from being stranded without a mobile phone. I don’t mind if my wallet sits on the dresser while I’m on the other side of town, but don’t take my cell phone away.
Maybe, to keep in step with the times this year, I’ll submit to the mobile-wallet offers when they come via my phone and in the mail. At some point I’ll enter all my financial purchasing information, insurance card, driver’s license information, Social Security number and, in order to purchase on the spot, flash ATM machines with the phone and pull out cash –– and who knows what all else.
Won’t it be great? Stripped naked out there in the new financial world, spending at the drop of a hat and part of the next great next thing, warts and all.
From www.wickedlocal.com
Wade McIntyre: Forget credit cards, use your cell phone
Feb 1st
It appears one day soon we may all no longer have to worry about leaving home ever again without our wallets.
Forgetting one’s wallet is inconvenient, but I don’t remember ever doing much financial stressing over forgetting my own.
For instance, I don’t go inside a coffee house and slap my wrists because I only have enough pocket change to buy a regular cup of Joe. Rather than go home and retrieve the wallet with debit and credit cards, I simply order the inexpensive coffee of the day.
Yes, there have been multiple course dinners with special dates where I realized at the end of the meal that the billfold was back home in last night’s jeans. In those situations, I ask the special one to pick up the check. It can be tense and repercussive, but, if the special one and I never see each other again, at least we had a great last meal together.
Now my innocent days of monetary insouciance appear numbered. Banks and mobile phone companies have teamed up to see that we never have to worry about cash and plastic money being left at home in our wallets again because they’re going to eliminate plastic credit and debit cards by encouraging everyone to pay for physical purchases by using cell phones.
Our Big Bank friends are forecasting that 2011 will be the year when contract-less mobile phone payments via cell phones break into the mainstream. Bank marketing departments and their Capitol Hill lobbyists are calling this soon-to-be irresistible kind of cell-phone credit card container the ‘mobile wallet’.
Everybody is in on it, such as MasterCard, Google, Citibank and AT&T.
They’re predicting cell phone purchases will take over incrementally; much like the way flat-screen televisions captured the TV market from the big box boob tube.
The banks think such a system will be enormously popular, that we’ll be downloading coupons at checkout counters and making all our on-the-spot purchases via cell phones.
There are drawbacks. Consumers will have to upload a ton of personal and financial information on the phones in order to make purchases with them.
I’ve never permanently lost a wallet and had to spend a couple of nights in a Mexican-border town in order to have one stolen. But in less than four years, I’ve lost a cell phone and had another pilfered. You get the picture –– owners treat cell phones like throwaways because their life spans are short, and upgrades are always around the corner. Meanwhile, unscrupulous people lust for the information in the phones.
When the mobile-phone-wallet system arrives this year, we’ll start having the means to expose personal finances and records on wireless networks in all manner of options, and creeps with fraudulent intent will no doubt intensify their efforts to get this information.
While I don’t worry over forgetting my wallet at home, I’m like any self-respecting citizen when exposed to the angst and emptiness that comes from being stranded without a mobile phone. I don’t mind if my wallet sits on the dresser while I’m on the other side of town, but don’t take my cell phone away.
Maybe, to keep in step with the times this year, I’ll submit to the mobile-wallet offers when they come via my phone and in the mail. At some point I’ll enter all my financial purchasing information, insurance card, driver’s license information, Social Security number and, in order to purchase on the spot, flash ATM machines with the phone and pull out cash –– and who knows what all else.
Won’t it be great? Stripped naked out there in the new financial world, spending at the drop of a hat and part of the next great next thing, warts and all.
From www.wickedlocal.com
Know to guard your credit, debit cards
Dec 28th
BANGALORE: Debit and credit cards are among the most frequently used articles from our daily lives. However, misplacing the same could give you sleepless nights. However, don’t panic if you have lost that much-handy card.
To begin with, make sure to store the credit card 24-hour helpline number on your mobile phone. The moment you realize you have lost your card, call up the helpline number. In case you don’t have the number, call JustDial at 23333333 and ask for the same. If you happen to be abroad, use VISA/MasterCard Global helpline numbers to report the loss.
According to rulebook…
As per rules of credit card companies, the loss should be reported within 24 hours. The sooner you inform, the safer it’s for you. Companies won’t be able to help if fraudulent transactions are made before you alerted the helpline. Once the loss is reported, the onus of any fraudulent transaction will lie with the company.
Note details
Also, note down call details such as call timing, the executive handling the call and call duration.
Also, make it a practice to keep credit/debit card details such as card number, expiry date and type of card in a place other than where the cards are kept. If you don’t have the same, ask the executive to help you with the required details.
File and FIR
Report to the nearest police station and lodge a first information report (FIR). The credit card company will ask for an FIR along with a letter stating the loss of the card, requesting blocking of the old card and seeking a replacement card. In the letter, you have to provide details such as card number, time and day when the card went missing, time you reported the loss to the helpline and contact details.
Insurace cover option
You can have an insurance cover against loss of credit card. Several card issuers offer the facility, particularly on cards that have a higher credit limit. Find out from your bank customer care if you can get a cover. However, there are clause in the insurance policy detailing that fraudulent transactions incurred before the loss was informed to the bank won’t be compensated by way of insurance cover.
Phones To Replace Credit Cards Soon
Nov 17th
A secure and reliable competing network that reduces retailers costs would be welcomed news for any one. Three of the top four U.S. mobile service providers — Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile USA — are working together to build a network that would let consumers pay for goods with their phones.Smart phones may soon displace some of the estimated 1 billion credit and debit cards in consumer wallets.
Major banks, mobile phone companies and card processing networks are vying to enter the emerging U.S. market for mobile payments, which some say could eventually replace credit and debit cards as a primary means of payment.
While the technical details are sketchy, the service would let customers make purchases by holding a smartphone in front of an electronic reader in stores. Transactions would be processed by Discover Financial Services (DFS), the fourth-biggest payments network in the U.S. behind Visa, MasterCard, and American Express (AXP). London-based Barclays (BCS) would help manage the accounts
The idea behind mobile payments is for consumers to be able to wave their phone at a machine to pay for items such as train tickets, potentially eliminating the need to carry a wallet.
Mobile marketing: Will phones replace credit cards?
Nov 2nd
Mobile marketing is growing in importance, with more and more companies realising the benefits of the medium.
But, the latest development within the mobile sector could see mobile phones replace credit cards for purchases made online.
A new deal between American phone giant AT&T and mobile phone payment provider Boku has been described as the “tipping point” for US ecommerce and could also have a far reaching impact on the UK sector.
Under the deal, consumers will be able to use their phone to buy digital goods and services such as music and movies on Boku-approved websites.
“Carriers are really starting to take mobile payments seriously,” said Ron Hirson, Boku senior vice-president.
“We’re taking huge steps toward making mobile payments a ubiquitous checkout option online, right next to credit cards.”
The news comes just days after figures from ABI Research found that the number of active mobile phone subscriptions has now increased to five billion worldwide.
Posted by Nicola Carpenter.
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Are consumers ready to trade in plastic for cell-phone credit cards?
Sep 19th
In the coming months, some American consumers will embark on an experiment that will finally begin to answer a question with multibillion-dollar implications for the nation’s credit-card companies, mobile-phone carriers and tens of thousands of merchants doing business from coast to coast.
Will U.S. shoppers embrace the chance to make store purchases with a simple swipe of their smart phones? Such a system would eliminate the need to carry plastic credit cards and would accelerate the evolution of the mobile phone into an all-purpose device useful not only for talking, reading e-mail and listening to music, but also for handling financial transactions.
Yet, U.S. consumers have historically lagged well behind their counterparts in Asia, Scandinavia and elsewhere in adopting new uses for mobile devices. Many see the concept of one-swipe smart-phone shopping as a potential security nightmare, a bad dream littered with such goblins as lost or stolen phones, erroneous charges, and invasions of privacy, courtesy of aggressive retailers.
The issue is taking on urgency amid new reports that the nation’s two largest mobile providers — AT&T and Verizon — are on the brink of a major pilot project to test the use of smart phones as credit cards in up to four cities. As for the projected consumer buy-in, industry experts are predicting that the smart phone will gain on plastic credit cards — but at a slower pace than overseas.
“[Smart phones] have to be more convenient than credit cards, possibly cheaper and secure,” says Shawndra Hill, a professor of operations and information management at Wharton. In addition, the enthusiasm of store owners ultimately will prove as essential to the success of the experiment as that of consumers, Hill and other experts note. “Of course, merchants will have to accept the proposed type of payment,” Hill points out. “In order to get merchant buy-in, the new system will have to be easy to use and cheaper with respect to transaction fees and equipment compared to … credit cards.”
