Dear iTV Doctor:
OK, I finally understand what you're saying about how we can accelerate the adoption (and profitability!) of interactive television by "handing off" to the enormous pool of mobile devices that are in the hands of virtually everybody we want to talk to. Probably the fastest way to generate iTV revenue is with commerce. But while interactive applications work best with an intuitive "one-click" consumer interface, transaction security usually requires multiple log-in screens, passwords, security questions and more.
How important is that security to consumers? And is it really holding up the adoption of mobile commerce?
Penny-Wise in Pennsylvania.
Dear Penny-Wise:
The answer to both of your questions is "Yup." And there is a lot going on in the space. Google just announced a trial program where consumers can "bump" their smartphones against a digital reader at the store to complete a sale--emphasize AT THE STORE. Over-the-air mobile transaction security, however, is one of the many problems we must solve to get to fully interactive linked experiences on multiple screens. But there is some new information available, thanks to a research study conducted by our good friends at Mobio Identity Systems. I asked Mark Binns, Mobio's chief marketing officer, to summarize the study that you can read at this link: http://www.mobioid.com/reports/mobile-handcuffs/
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iTV Doctor: Mark, why did Mobio conduct this study?
Binns: Here at Mobio, curiosity got the best of us and we wanted to know: what has been holding this market, and the consumer, back from mobile commerce? So we conducted a survey to see what consumers thought about mobile payments. Our survey was distributed to the general North American population. 1,085 people responded, which makes the findings statistically significant to +/- 3%, 19 times out of 20.
iTV Doctor: What did you learn?
Binns: We found out that the VAST majority of consumers (94%) said they would make a mobile payment if they knew it was secure. As we hoped, there is an overwhelming interest in mobile payments regardless of age, sex, or country of residence.
We also learned that security is the most important factor for 73% of all respondents. The next most important factor when making mobile payments is simplicity, which only yielded 12.4%.
Of those not interested in mobile payments, 69% stated security concerns are their number one reason. In short, consumers told us that security is the biggest barrier to the growth of the mobile commerce market.
iTV Doctor: OK, so would true mobile commerce hold-outs be more open to mobile payments if security was 100% guaranteed?
Binns: Of those respondents who said they were NOT interested in making mobile payments AND did NOT see themselves making mobile payments within the next year, 56% said they WOULD consider making mobile payments if they knew it was secure.
Overall, it is now very clear to us that security, and perceived security by consumers, is critical to mobile payment adoption on a wide scale.
iTV Doctor: Fine. So now we know that consumers will start spending their hard-earned money with mobile devices when we get real security. So how do we get there? What can Mobio do to help?
Binns: Mobio can help by making truly secure mobile payments available to the masses. We use patented tokenization and encryption techniques to ensure that a consumer's identity, including their credit card number, is safe during each transaction. Further, Mobio can help educate consumers on what constitutes a safe and secure transaction, versus a non-secure transaction. We can help consumers make better decisions about how to engage in mobile commerce so they can build their own trust with the industry and technology.
iTV Doctor: We tend to believe, in the interactive space, that the consumer has a VERY low tolerance for complex multi-click, multi-screen applications. They want what they want, and they want it NOW. How does a consumer use Mobio to make a purchase?
Binns: You are right--speed and convenience (in addition to security) are very important. Using Mobio, a consumer can scan a barcode and with the quick entry of their credit card security code and a transaction confirmation box checked off, they can buy a product. We eliminate the need for re-entry of credit card data and addresses for each transaction. In fact, the consumer's credit card isn't even stored on their phone--it is held off-site in a secure data center in an encrypted format, again adding to the security of the system. Basically, Mobio enables one-touch purchases in a secure environment for every consumer.
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The iTV Doctor is *Rick Howe*, who provides interactive television consulting services to programmers and advertisers. He is the recipient of a CTAM Tami Award for retention marketing and this year was nominated to Cable Pioneers. He is also the co-author of a patent for the use of multiscreen mosaics in EPG's. Endorsed by top cable and satellite distributors, "Dr" Howe still makes house calls, and the first visit is always free. His services include product development, distribution strategy and the development of low-cost interactive applications for rapid deployment across all platforms. Have a question for the iTV Doctor? Email him at itvdoctor@itvt.com
