Mobile Wallet is an Ecosystem: You Can't "Own" It

The concept of an "ecosystem," though sometimes misused, is quite germane in the mobile wallet and mobile payments space, simply because no single entity can "own" the entire value chain.

"Both banks and telephone companies will slowly come to this realization: No one party can “own” the mobile wallet, and the winners will be those that collaborate and cooperate," notes Brett King at ABA Journal. How 2012 will change retail banking forever

The ecosystem has been necessary even in the arguably less-complex traditional credit card business. But mobile commerce, involving credentials, offers, marketing, advertising, in-store promotions, payment and content services, are much more complex.