So far, "it's not really being pushed and no one has really come out and said 'we're marketing this,' " said Megan Bramlette, an Auriemma managing associate. The reason, she said, is because a solid commercial model has not been determined by the various players in the market, including mobile phone operators, card issuers and processors.
"It's a business issue, not a consumer-adoption or technology issue," Bramlette said. Those players still need to decide how to divide up the fees for a mobile payment service. But that could change. "If consumers were going bonkers about this then you can be sure the business model would shake out faster," she said.
There is a glimmer of hope, according to Auriemma. Twelve percent of 511 consumers it surveyed said they would change mobile carriers in order to take advantage of mobile payment technology and 15% said they would obtain a new handset that would enable them to make mobile payments. Bramlette said this is a substantial number since consumers usually only change mobile carriers and phones when they have a customer service problem.
