[fc-discuss] Financial Cryptography Update: News on payments: mobile/cell, Skype, Google

[iang@iang.org]

 Financial Cryptography Update: News on payments: mobile/cell, Skype, Google 

                             March 02, 2006


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https://www.financialcryptography.com/mt/archives/000664.html



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America moves a bit closer to using cells (mobiles outside the US) for
payment.  What I find curious is why banks don't simply use their
customer's phones as two-factor tokens.  It can't be any more
sophisticated than selling a ring tone, surely?

http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=1802040
73
http://www.mobileradicals.com/blog/?p=6

Skype signs up with Click&Buy and seemingly others.  Again curious,
given they are owned by eBay these days.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060222/nyw114.html?.v=40

Google reveals more, as spotted over on PaymentNews.  Basically, move
the billing systems over to an internal money.
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/02/update-on-payments_24.html

=========8<==========8<===========
If you take a look at the history of Google's advertising programs and
online services, one thing you notice is that online billing and
payments have been a core part of our offerings for some time. To run
our ad programs, Google receives payments every day from advertisers,
and then pays out a portion of those funds to advertising partners.
Over the past four years, Google has billed advertisers in 65 countries
more than $11.2 billion in 48 currencies, and made payments to
advertising partners of more than $3.9 billion. When one of our
consumer services requires payment to us, we've also provided users a
purchase option.

As the number of Google services has increased, we've continued to
build on our core payment features and migrate to a standard process
for people to buy our services with a Google Account. Examples of this
migration include enabling users to buy Google Video content, Google
Earth licenses, and Google Store items with their Google Accounts. We
also just began offering similar functionality on Google Base.
==========>8===========>8=========

If only more companies issued their own internal money and used it for
the billing systems.  Expect Microsoft to scratch its collective heads
and wonder "why didn't we think of that?"  It's actually not that much
a leap, more a mental twist than a business change.  From there,
integrating credit card collection is easy.  (Credits:	I first did
this a few years back, but the idea has been around for yonks, I recall
Lucky Green explaining it as a potential direction for DigiCash sales,
around 1997.)

http://googlebase.blogspot.com/2006/02/buying-on-google-base.html
=========8<==========8<===========
For buyers, this feature will provide a convenient and secure way to
purchase Google Base items by credit card. For sellers, this feature
integrates transaction processing with Google Base item management.
==========>8===========>8=========

And if they do it carefully enough, they won't walk into the minefield
of regulatory interference.


http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=15906&hed=Google%E2%80%99s+Pay
Pal+Could+Be+Big&sector=Industries&subsector=InternetAndServices
=========8<==========8<===========
The Mountain View, California-based search giant made sure the test got
off to a quiet start. Google launched a video store last month, and
shoppers found that they could buy videos by signing into their Google
accounts. People have also been using their accounts to buy
mapping-related products from Google Earth, information on Google
Answers, and keywords on AdWords, Google's advertising program, in some
cases for more than a year now.
==========>8===========>8=========

Huh.  Scary but true - hype is not the same thing as strategy.	We'll
see.  Elsewhere, Technews says that Google is a direct shot at eBay and
Paypal.  I agree, it's on the agenda, but it's a shot across the bows,
the actual broadsides will come later.	Paypal is very vulnerable,
Google won't need to rush.  Also see lots of screen shots there.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/02/27/exclusive-look-at-google-payments/

https://purchases.google.com/files/buyerterms.html


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