For years, the payments industry has been waiting for Apple to disrupt the market with a payment-capable iPhone. Some are finally getting sick of the wait.
"We do not wait for Apple," says Peter Vesco, senior vice president of payments for Deutsche Telekom AG, the parent of T-Mobile USA.
The German company is involved in numerous payment initiatives on its home turf, most recently announcing a
Moving forward with various partnerships represents a sound strategy for Telekom or any other telco or mobile wallet developer at this time, says Gil Luria, analyst with Los Angeles-based Wedbush Securities.
"I don't think anybody is really going to wait for Apple," Luria says. "If they did, they only have to wait until October," when the next iPhone is due to be announced, to get clarity on Apple's plans.
Even if Apple does announce a mobile wallet development, it will likely take the same approach as Google and Isis, Luria says. Both of those companies rely on Near Field Communication chips built into phones to allow contactless payments at the point of sale.
"The only reason retailers might wait would be to see if Apple does something so compelling that it would make sense to buy an NFC terminal," Luria adds.
All of the major players in payments are "hedging their bets" and establishing as many partnerships and relationships as possible "because it is way too early in the mobile payments game to know which path will pan out," he says.
Telekom appears ready to explore all of those paths.
"Our mobile wallet is open for further partners," Vesco says. "Not only from the banking industry, but also from other business areas."
Telekom has an interest in working with companies expanding merchant loyalty programs or event ticketing service through NFC, he adds.
"This will involve local partners as well as global partnerships for content in the wallet," Vesco says.
It is talking with Google to bring aspects of its mobile wallet into the Telekom/MasterCard arrangement.
"Deutsche Telekom Group, as an international telecommunications company, has various existing business relations with Google and, in this context of course, we are discussing further business potentials," Vesco explains.
Talks with Google at this time do not include payment technology or NFC development related to payments, Vesco notes.
Not much news has been forthcoming about the
And although Telekom does not wait for Apple, it views any eventual Apple payments system as positive.
"We welcome every party who also supports mobile payment and NFC, because this will help develop the market," Vesco says.
