Lots of Moving Parts in Mobile Payment Ecosystem

The mobile payments ecosystem is quite complex. Even if you look only at the matter of security, people have a fairly good idea that there are "lots of moving parts."

Then there are the various segments, including retail payments, online payments, money transfers, mobile wallet services and integration of payment, wallet and location to create localized and personalized marketing services.

There are all sorts of opportunities for third-party or clearinghouse services as well, such as Neustar's "Intelligent Cloud" service, which exposes mobile customer location, or messaging services to application providers who might want to create "geo-fencing" and other features for personalized mobile marketing.

Neustar Lauches 2D Barcode Clearinghouse

Neustar recently launched a "Mobile Barcode Clearinghouse Services" operation intended to ensure that any mobile barcode can be read by any mobile phone or application. 

That might not seem like a big deal, but history suggests that penetration and use of any technology, no matter how useful, never gets routine and widespread use so long as the information cannot be communicated effortlessly across the entire base of people, applications and devices.

That was true for railroads. It was true for phone service. It was true of text messaging and email, and it won't be different for 2D barcodes. 

"The clearinghouse is an important component of Neustar’s mobile internet solutions strategy, which bridges network operators and enterprises and simplifies their delivery of value to customers," Neustar says. 

Neustar is right about that.