Just How Vulnerable Are Mobile-Payment Apps to Hack Attacks?

From Mobile Marketing Watch –

“Making a purchase or other payment is not like it used to be. These days, cash and credit cards aren’t the necessities they once were because alternative-payment options are just a tap or two away on a mobile device through apps such as Google Wallet, Apple Pay, Square, Levelup, Kash and PayPal.

But just how secure are those mobile-payment apps and who makes sure that the companies behind them are doing all they can to keep your personal data safe?”

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The 'Pay' model is strong, but banks are still in play

From Mobile Payments Today –

“Apple Pay registered some impressive figures when it launched in the U.S. in 2014. It seems, though, that adoption has slowed, as more devices go unregistered and the initial hype dies down.

An ongoing survey conducted by InfoScout in cooperation with PYMNTS.com shows the number of eligible Apple Pay users who tried the service dropped from 15.1 percent in March to 13.1 percent in June. The victory, though, is the impact on the market. Apple has done an exceptional job in bringing mobile contactless payments into the mainstream, paving the way for Samsung, Google and the banks.

Samsung Pay has been live in Korea since August 20 and has picked up around 500,000 users. This statistic should grow following launch in the U.S. at the end of September and not least because the platform can make payments with both contactless and mag stripe terminals. On top of this, Google launched Android Pay on September 10. We're yet to see any adoption figures here but the land-grab is certainly going to be interesting. Indeed, the advertising war has already commenced!”

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Why Mobile Payments Aren't Gaining Traction with Small Businesses

From Entrepreneur –

“A year after the launch of Apple Pay and five months into Google’s Android Pay service, it seems like mobile payments have finally caught fire with the public. Thousands of banks and retail giants have jumped onboard, yet small businesses—which account for more than 90 percent of businesses in the country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau—are so far responding with a collective meh.

“I would say it’s been a fairly negligible adoption rate so far,” says Jordan McKee, senior analyst covering mobile payments at 451 Research in Boston. “There hasn’t been a tremendous amount of interest given the cost of upgrading terminals to accept NFC payments.”

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