ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the threat faced by card companies from mobile and other alternative payment products. Marketing a mobile payment scheme that simply offers an alternative to cash, cards, and checks for all types of transactions is courting disaster. Electronic bill payment and presentment offers an attractive opportunity for banks to reduce their check-processing costs for loss-leading products. Billers offer bill payment services directly. Customers can access the website of the retailer, provide their bank account details and pay directly. Electronic checks, truncated and authorized at the point of receipt, offer a viable payment mechanism for the twenty-first century. With new technology, government backing and support of the entire banking community, electronic checks are poised to compete effectively against payment cards, especially debit cards. Payments can be directly charged to the mobile phone bill, bypassing credit and debit cards in the process.
