By Chuck Martin
Every day it becomes clearer that the smartphone is becoming the hub of commerce.
When American Express recently unveiled its new EveryDay credit card targeted at moms on the move, it touted the idea of earning points each time the card is used.
The new credit card is integrated with the AmEx smartphone app so that consumers can use their phones to monitor the status of their points.
AmEx already had neatly integrated deals within its app some time ago so that when a person checks in and makes a purchase at a designated retailer, a credit is automatically added to the consumer’s account.
Hassle free with no retailer training needed. In both cases, smartphone required.
When I hit my daily goal of miles walked or stairs climbed, my Fitbit Force gently vibrates to let me know. But when I want to see greater details of my daily or weekly activity, you guessed it, back to the smartphone for the Fitbit tracking app.
When I use my Loop FOB mobile payment device, I first plug it into my phone to select my default credit card of the day. It then acts totally independently, just by placing the device near the cash register and pushing the button on the side each time I want to pay.
Add a card? Back to the smartphone.
For my son’s Samsung watch to be fully functional? Smartphone required.
At the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, MasterCard introduced an opt-in service for credit card transactions to be enabled for traveling consumers when they’re in a specific geolocation abroad. How to know? The proximity of the smartphone.
In these and countless other examples the smartphone is always part of the action.
Maybe at the beginning, middle, end or continuous steps along the way, but it is always present and involved.
As any merchant taking a credit card payment knows, a card not present transaction involves a transaction where the cardholder is not physically present with the card when the payment is being made.
Payments, commerce and transactions of the future are more likely, in one way or another, to have a smartphone present.
Chuck Martin is Editor of the mCommerce Daily at MediaPost and writes the daily MobileShopTalk column. He is the author of “Mobile Influence,” “The Third Screen,” and “The Smartphone Handbook.” He is CEO of Mobile Future Institute. Chuck Martin is a frequent Mobile Keynote Speaker and Mobile Marketing Speaker internationally. He also addresses Social Media in Mobile.
