The industry is like a 1920s Hollywood actor who does not understand the new technology, has not seen it coming and doesn't understand why the change is happening.
Look ma, no hands (or mag stripe): Sporting eyewear with a built-in camera, a cashier or flea market vendor could accept a payment card simply by looking at it.
I was at the counter of the local UPS store notarizing a document when I was shocked by the comment of another person standing nearby: "I would like to make a deposit."
A successful payment network would unite banks under a large and trusted external corporation in order to more simply and transparently tackle currently complex financial supply chains.
If banks do not preserve their own mobile app experience throughout the sales cycle they will miss the biggest part of the "big data" sequence: customer interaction before, during and after purchase.
It's time IT professionals, telecommunications experts and bankers in the U.S. to immerse themselves in the African-spawned technical and marketing innovations around mobile payments.
Competition between Amex, Discover, MasterCard, PayPal and Visa is fierce and intensifying. What would Facebook's angle be if it aspired to build a broader payments business?
If Citi, or any bank, turns the mobile channel into a scapegoat for its problems, it might leave a lasting impression that the channel is somehow unreliable.
