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Contactless Christmas

22nd December 2008by Consult HyperionLeave a comment

[Dave Birch] Hhhmmm. Only a couple more shopping days left until Xmas, time for a real man to start thinking about presents. What would make a good present for a Digital Money Denizen this year?

The disgruntled commuter, the perpetual pessimist, the misanthrope, the ironist [which covers a large percentage of the people we know!]: Whether you find in your daily commute something soul-sucking or rather darkly comedic, Bad Oyster knows that public transit ain’t all a pleasure cruise. Its Sardines, Roulette and Mind the Gap (‘between your expectations and the service provided’) wallets (£2.99) are like a miniature dose of defensive humour for your harried journey.
[From Londonist: Santa’s Lap: Designer Oyster Card Holders]

Not bad. But these are about accessorising (is that the word? My spell check is unconvinced) the payment instrument rather than the payment instrument itself. Meanwhile, over in Hong Kong, they’re showing what can be done with a bit of imagination.

This premium and stylish Octopus series offers four adorable animal designs for customers to choose from, each gorgeously adorned with colourful crystals. Each Octopus Ornament also comes with a beautiful charm and chain which can be easily attached to a handbag, mobile phone or MP3 player, or worn on the wrist as an accessory, adding a touch of dazzling glamour! Each Octopus Ornament design is beautifully packed in an exquisite gift box, making it a perfect treat for family and loved ones.

Combining sparkling glamour and payment convenience, Octopus Ornaments are for sale at only HK$328 each (not including any deposit or initial stored value) at 7-Eleven outlets in Central, Admiralty, Wan Chai, Causeway Bay, Tsim Sha Tsui, Mong Kok and Sha Tin starting tomorrow (4 December 2008). Only a limited quantity is available.

Like all Octopus products, Octopus Ornaments can be used on public transport and at more than 5,000 retail outlets across Hong Kong.
[From Octopus Holdings Limited – Press Releases]

I still have the same boring old Oyster card I bought years ago, although I rarely use it anymore because of my splendid Barclays OnePulse card. It sits at the bottom of my rucksack, only used to help friends or family members who have forgotten theirs. But if I could get a Hello Kitty Oyster tag for my bag, I would. In fact, I’d probably get several, so that I could pay in the most appropriately fashionable way.

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Contactless front line

16th December 2008by Consult Hyperion3 Comments

[Dave Birch] You may have noticed the announcement of a new contactless purse/loyalty scheme in the UK.

UK coffee chain Coffee Republic has teamed up with electronic money operator sQuidcard to launch the Coffee Republic contactless prepaid ‘Payment and Loyalty’ card.
[From The Paypers. Insights in payments.]

I asked Forum friend Adam Smith at sQuidcard for a card and he was kind enough to send me one. I logged on to their web site, registered, loaded a tenner and looked forward to my first contactless loyalty experience.

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Drastic for plastic

4th December 2008by Consult Hyperion2 Comments

[Dave Birch] At the recent Digital Money Summit in London, Tomi Ahonen noted that more people on Earth send text messages that use the Internet and that there are 3.4 billion mobile phones in use worldwide (of which three billion are unique subscribers). To illustrate the critical role of mobile phones in the future of payments, he used the example of South Korea to light up the trajectory of payment cards. There, half of the population already use mobile payments of one form or another

Incidentally, he also mentioned that 43% of the population there have a Cyworld account. I’ve written about Cyworld and it’s Acorn currency before, but this reinforced the view that we should not see virtual worlds such as Cyworld as games. They are not games — from the payments perspective — they are transaction spaces. Cyworld, by the way, is now the world’s second biggest music store after iTunes.

In South Korea, gift cards for the virtual currency used in Cyworld, known as dotori (“acorns”), are sold in more than 10,000 retail outlets as well as online and via mobile phones. Players use the currency to buy avatars and media to decorate their virtual space. Since one dotori costs approximately 10 cents, this market is obviously limited. Indeed, it amounts to only about $200,000. Per day.
[From Dave Birch: | Technology | The Guardian]

Tomi’s main point, though, and a point that has stuck with me since, is that we (ie, payments people) should not be taking existing instruments such as credit cards and simulating them on mobile phones, we should be creating “something that is magic” because great mobile services — whether Shazam, one of my favourites, or the cameraphones that convert English text to Japanese — look like magic to the consumer. Yes! Another manifesto commitment for digital money!

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