Microsoft and M-Com get into mobile payments

Mobile payment systems are becoming increasingly popular

Microsoft has joined with payment software vendor M-Com to push a mobile payment system that will be accepted by banks around the world.

The two companies have built a software package called BankAnywhere which is based around Windows, Microsoft SQL Server and Internet Information Services.

The software is platform-agnostic and will link phones to back-end services in banks. The deal was announced at the Sibos 2009 show in Hong Kong.

"It is clear that consumers in Asia and around the world have an insatiable demand for mobile financial services, especially payment transactions," said Adam Clark, chief executive of M-Com.

"Banks must engage customers and prospects in the mobile channel in the short term to ensure they profit from sustainable revenues and key customer segments that are adopting these services."

The mobile payment market is slowly taking off, as banks look to new payment systems to make up for declining revenues from credit cards and the high cost of traditional paper transactions.

"With the increasing adoption of mobile applications running on smartphones, the mobile channel can no longer be ignored by banks," said Red Gillen, senior analyst at Celent.

"Mobile payments continue to be at the top of the list of applications that will entrench mobile financial services in consumers' daily lives, propelling it into the mainstream.

"As banks look to invest in this strategic area, vendors that can provide solutions which go beyond simple mobile banking informational services to address other value-added services such as bill payment will be the ones that come out on top."