Ryan Hughes
- Championed digital asset management before the data boom on consumer devices, and mobile applications before app stores existed; currently playing a leadership role in the mobile payments market.
- Key player in the creation of SoftCard, a joint venture involving AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA to develop the world's first wallet to span multiple banks, networks, and mobile operators.
- Currently leveraging the real world experience of deploying mobile payment solutions to assist banks, mobile network operators, handset manufacturers, and everyone in between to deploy products that engage their consumers.
- Named by in-Mobia as one of top 6 influencers in wireless industry; by Sports Business Journal as one of top 10 influencers in mobile sports; by Billboard as one of top 10 executives in mobile music.
- Formerly two-time captain of the Cornell varsity hockey team, a second round draft pick in the 1990 NHL draft, and leading scorer and MVP of the Boston Bruins minor league team in 1995-96.
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- Post-Meeting Engagement
Mobile Payments
Common Problems
- Companies interested in offering mobile payments to their customers are unsure what kind of technology to adopt and what company to partner with.
The fundamental advancements in mobile technology are changing the way consumers shop today. As mobile payment technology replaces plastic cards, consumers expect the same ease of use as paying with plastic, and the convenience of "everything being in my phone."
Yet the rapid advancements in the field of mobile payment create dilemmas for companies that want to embrace the opportunity. They are not sure of what kind of technology will be around for the long haul and they don't know which companies will provide them with the infrastructure flexibility they will need to deploy and ultimately evolve with the market. Consequently, some companies – particularly smaller ones – postpone decisions and miss opportunities to offer their customers the latest and most secure payment options available.- Companies do not know how to handle customer verification regarding mobile payments.
- The process of establishing the correct identity of a consumer setting up a card in a mobile wallet can be too cumbersome and cause consumers to abandon setup. The process can include passwords, one-time-use codes, SMS validation, and more. Managing the experience along with the right security framework to avoid fraud is critically important.
Operators in the mobile payment industry are struggling to figure out what data elements can be collected directly from the consumer and which elements can be collected passively. No firm rules yet exist on the most secure and easiest way to collect the data and verify that the consumer is properly identified in order to ensure a secure transaction. If proper verification steps aren't taken to protect the consumer, the result will be high incidents of fraud with mobile transactions. - Host card emulation (HCE) is coming on the mobile payment scene, forcing companies to consider this option.
Beginning with Android's KitKat operating system release, Google now offers host card emulation or HCE, which stores payment credentials in the cloud instead of in the phone itself. The option introduces risks that the HCE-enabled app can be compromised. Businesses must weigh their choices carefully to ensure that every necessary step is taken to provide a secure environment for mobile payments, how to securely provision payment credentials, and how to refresh the payment "tokens."
- Companies don't know how to handle mobile payments via Android devices.
- Android represents approximately 50 percent of the smartphones in service today. The Android system is more open for development than Apple, which offers Apple Pay as a proprietary solution that employs an embedded secure element. Since Apple has unmatched leverage in the U.S. market, when Apple introduced the system, it dictated the technology interface, customer validation, and business terms to the banks. When it comes to deploying mobile payment systems on Android devices, the options and technology implications are not as structured or rigid, making the business strategy more complex. There are also many more players in Android, including Samsung Pay, Google Wallet, Android Pay, the banks' own mobile applications, and more.
- Companies need to create technology that protects consumers against identity theft and other fraudulent uses.
Consumers need assurances that their smartphone mobile payment credentials will not be easy targets for hackers. Issues to be addressed are how to perfectly secure a consumer's information, store, and manage lifecycle events like lost/stolen, while still making it easy for the consumers. The user experience in paying at the point of sale has historically been defined mostly by Visa and MasterCard, as the primary rule makers of the payment industry. With the advent of mobile payments comes new technology implications that will establish new definition around how these digital payment solutions will work, and how they will be secured.