In our 5 minutes with profiles, MEF members talk about their business, their aspirations for the future and the wider mobile industry. This week David Poole introduces mobile authentication solution specialist MYPINPAD.

MYPINPAD is a technology company with a goal of delivering economic, scalable solutions to meet our clients’ diverse requirements for authentication and identity management.

The Company is managed by an alliance of leaders from the payments industry with a collective 100+ years’ experience spanning a wide spectrum of banking, security and payment technology.

In our 5 minutes with profiles, MEF members talk about their business, their aspirations for the future and the wider mobile industry. This week, CEO and Founder Jon Fisse introduces Atomite.
What does Atomite do?

Atomite is a data privacy management (DPM) enterprise specifically designed to address regulatory mandates that B2C companies interested in redeploying their customers’ personal information for marketing, IoT or other alternative purposes should only do so after providing those customers with bona fide transparency, choice, consent rights and consideration.

In our 5 minutes with profiles, MEF members talk about their business, their aspirations for the future and the wider mobile industry. This week, Vice President of Global Telecoms and Media Industry Tim Barber introduces ForgeRock.

ForgeRock is the Digital Identity Management company transforming the way organisations interact securely with customers, employees, devices, and things. Organisations adopt the ForgeRock Identity Platform as their digital identity system of record to monetise customer relationships, address stringent regulations for privacy and consent (GDPR, HIPAA, FCC privacy, etc.), and leverage the internet of things.

In our 5 minutes with profiles, MEF members talk about their business, their aspirations for the future and the wider mobile industry.This week, founder and CEO Stuart Lacey introduces Trunomi…

Trunomi unlocks the power of customer data using consent and data rights. We provide technology which enables businesses to request, receive and capture customer consent to the use of their personal data or preferences – for whatever purpose the business specifies e.g. digital marketing.

Video ads outscore all other formats by all measures of effectiveness – and none more so than ‘rewarded’ video ads. MEF Minute talked to market analyst On Device Research about the impact of this rising medium…

Facebook recently gave game developers a new ad option: rewarded video.

The logical reaction to this news from market watchers was: what took you so long?

Smartphones are not just a part of our lives, they are our lives.

That’s just one of the conclusions reached in Deloitte Africa’s recent consumer survey, Game of Phones.

Here Arun Babu, Partner in the Strategy & Operations practice of Deloitte Consulting in Africa and Telecommunications Leader looks more deeply at the survey results which indicate the primacy of smartphones in one of the world’s most interesting and dynamic markets.

Global Communications Manager Sam Hill shares details of a new industry platform for members and non-members alike, a curated database of current research, reports and whitepapers from across the mobile ecosystem.
While there is a wealth of useful material out there taking a deep-dive into the latest consumer insights, tech trends and buzzwords, finding current data or research on specific areas of interest can be time-consuming, and it can be easy to miss that essential data nugget you’re after.

MEF’s recently published Mobile Money Report supported by Wirecard, asked 6,000 consumers in nine countries about their usage and attitudes towards mobile payments. It paints a detailed picture of how mobile money is taking hold in both growth and established markets and is available to download here for free.

The study found that 78 per cent of us had made a purchase by mobile in the previous six months, which suggests that all but the most tech-phobic consumers have now embraced the m-commerce habit. That figure is a global average. There are of course differences at the country level. China for example is leading the charge. The study reveals 88% of China’s citizens currently make mobile transactions.

Below we’ve picked out 18 statistics from the report that track the use of mobile money around the world.

Advanced voice biometrics tools offer multiple new ways to mitigate fraud and risk. Stephane Groud, Product Director at MEF Member Myriad Connect discusses how voice authentication can protect individuals and organisations from crime.

Voice biometrics, now coming into its own as a highly accurate means of authenticating users, presents multiple new opportunities to organisations to mitigate the risk of fraud and crime.

Robocalls continue to plague consumers, but what does the life of a phone scammer look like? Jonathan Nelson, Product Manager in the Reputation Service Unit at Hiya shares a glimpse of the work undertaken by their state of the art unit dedicated to detecting and monitoring spam numbers.

Phone Reputation Service engines constantly evaluate phone number behaviour to sniff out spammers and scammers. The service runs in real time, observing traffic patterns and collecting reports from users provided directly or via partnerships, as well as from public sources such as the FCC Consumer Complaints database.

VP of Marketing at OLAmobile Luis Garcia explains the latest developments in the mobile advertising space, and shares three simple concepts about mobile affiliate advertising that every value added services marketeer should know…

The rapid proliferation of mobile devices is definitely changing the marketing industry. This means it’s now possible to understand that most users are going from desktop to mobile, opening up a whole new reality and allowing all mobile advertisers, such as MVAS providers, to reach more potential customers all around the world.

Frederic Martinent, Product Marketing Director at Gemalto envisions the nightmarish dilemma facing mobile network operators on how to deal with the pressing problem of monetizing, or not, their customer’s data.

A voice whispers to you, “monetize…monetize…monetize”. You’re suddenly surrounded by board members, staring at you sternly. “Why didn’t you take this opportunity?” the director of finance glowers at you, his face made up of data rather than flesh. Suddenly, they all stand up and march towards you, reaching for you and your job with outstretched hands.

MEF has announced the results of its Global, EMEA and LatAm board elections for the 2017/2019 term following its AGM in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress last week.

19 executives representing the diversity of the global mobile ecosystem from mobile operators to companies at the forefront of mobile payments, messaging, personal data and content were elected to take forward MEF’s mandate.

MEF has announced the results of its Global Board elections for the 2015/2016 term following its AGM in London last week.

Candidates representing a variety of markets and sectors contested four seats on MEF’s Global Board, reflecting the organisation’s diverse membership as mobile becomes the primary technology for engaging consumers in growth and established markets

The newly elected and re-elected board directors are:

It’s one of the great truisms of the mobile industry: smartphone ownership is rocketing in developing markets. But is it true? Well, kind of but not really. At least according…

All over the world, ride-sharing apps are taking on powerful local taxi businesses. But in India, the situation is a little different: there are hardly any local firms to take…

Rafael Pellon, MEF LatAm Board Member and partner at Focaccia, Amaral, Salvia, Pellon & Lamonica, here explores the ongoing issues surrounding the repeated blocking of hugely popular Whatsapp across Brazil, and the knock on effects this has had across the region and the mobile app ecosystem.

Almost a month since the 2nd wholesale blockage of WhatsApp in Brazil, Brazilians are starting to appreciate that WhatsApp has become nothing but essential.

MEF recently hosted its largest LatAm event to date: MEF Connects Brazil, held during Tela Viva Móvel, supported by Movile and Digital Virgo.

Over 130 senior executives from 60 companies representing the mobile ecosystem in Latin America got together for the business networking event.

We partnered with Tela Viva Móvel, the most relevant conference in Brazil for the mobile sector.

Brazil’s economic growth is well documented. It is a mobile first country with 50 per cent of all households using mobile as their primary means for communicating and getting online.

Today that’s a mix of feature phones and smartphones but by 2018, one third of the country is predicted to own a smartphone.

Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF), is today announcing the results of its 2016 EMEA and LatAm board elections which took place during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last week.

As mobile continues its reign to become the primary channel to engage and transact with consumers…

MEF recently hosted the third annual MEF Connects Indonesia in Jakarta in association with Indosat/Ooredoo. The event was supported by TIMWE Group and Bango. MEF Asia GM Linda Ruck shares highlights and photos from the night.
With a population fast approaching 260 million, Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous country and the third-largest smartphone market in the Asia-Pacific region (following China and India). A mobile first nation, Indonesian’s love social media, with Facebook (fourth largest user base in the world), Instagram and Twitter ruling – while mobile money has made great progress, cash is still king.

In our Spotlight interview, we learned how Syniverse approaches security and privacy in the brand/consumer relationship globally. But how does the global transaction processor approach doing business in the uniquely challenging Chinese market?

We spoke with Dave Ratner, President of Enterprise Solutions during GMIC Beijing about Syniverse’ business in China and how the company enables brands and enterprises to “connect, engage, interact and protect” its mobile first customers.

We spoke to many of our members during this year’s GMIC Beijing about the challenges and opportunities of providing mobile services for the Chinese market.

Here are two more video interviews with members active in China, mobile messaging business, Twilio and law firm Dentons, who share their insights into what its like to do business in this challenging market.

You can’t succeed in China unless you have an unfair advantage. But if you do have one, the rewards are huge. That was the key take-away from experts at the recent MEF Connects China held during GMIC Beijing…

Thinking of expanding your business into China? Be careful. This is the advice from a VC that specialises in taking overseas companies into the region.

“95 per cent of companies do not belong here.”

Clear informed consent is the key to ensuring consumers trust every digital transaction. It’s a critical issue – which is why MEF’s Global Consumer Trust Working Group has examined the issues in order to develop a free whitepaper on the subject. Here, we present some of the highlights.

In 2010, 7,500 people sold their souls to the UK retailer, GameStation. These unwitting customers had bought from the store and missed the “immortal soul clause” buried in the site’s terms and conditions. Thankfully, this was an April Fool’s joke and GameStation returned its harvested souls back to their rightful owners.

In May 2018 the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will be implemented. Consumers will be compelled to give permission before any of their data is collected by a company, and that data must be transferrable and deleted, or returned on request.

The regulation is a significant step in placing the consumer in control of who uses their data and how it is used. At the same time the business models of apps and services often rely on personal data to help monetise their offerings.

As a mobile first region, the growth in Africa is relentless.

Landmarks like registering its billionth mobile subscriber have already been passed and the systematic upgrading of mobile networks to 3G and 4G LTE is enabling a flourishing mobile ecosystem that, coupled with the declining cost of smartphones is helping to galvanise the African mobile economy.

Here we take a look at the recent market trends, analysis and forecasts that show how growth in the region is taking shape.

High-profile data breaches and a growing consumer desire to know how user information is gathered, stored and brokered underlines just how central the issue of consumer trust is in mobile.

Supported by Mozilla and bics, MEF’s recently published Consumer Trust eBulletin explores these issues and offers insights on regulation, market stats, and via MEF’s white paper – Understanding the Personal Data Economy – a closer look at the idea that consumers can actively participate in how their personal data is used – a model premised on a value exchange that is built on trust and informed user consent.

With summer holiday season fast approaching, it is time once again for travel marketers to focus their spending on the channels that matter – and for savvy professionals that means putting mobile at the centre of the mix.

This infographic from MDG Advertising notes the importance of mobile optimisation for any travel site, and the prevalence of mobile in booking and sharing among millenials. Worth noting too is the sheer increase in mobile search for travel categories across the board in 2015; hotel searches up 49 per cent, cruises, 49 per cent and airlines 33 per cent.

55 percent of consumers expect their mobile health apps to be hacked within the next six months, according to a recent report from Arxan Technologies. Executive IT leaders (48%) who have oversight or insight into the security of the mobile healthcare and produce apps also share the same concerns.

Mobile financial services continue to push out in every direction. From simply sending money peer-to-peer through to in-built car technology that allows drivers to pay for petrol without leaving their vehicle. Its all going on.

This infographic from Ovum and Amdocs is the result of the findings from a survey of 8,500 mobile users across 17 markets and provides insight in to user behaviour and the barriers to entry in the mobile money sphere.

In 1997, Bill Gates said, “We need banking but we don’t need banks.”

In other words its the FinTech services that support the ways in which consumers and businesses transact that are paving the way forward. For most, mobile devices are the centrepiece of the disruption and with that disruption, investment is following.

At the end of last month the 2nd MyData event took place. It was an ambitious 2-city location (Tallinn and Helsinki) complete with a boat trip and even a track choosing game to help delegates navigate the complexities (in case it wasn’t complicated enough!).

Here’s some of the highlights by COO Joanne Lacey, MEF’s speaker at the event which brings together a passionate community of developers, researchers, Government agencies and businesses looking to build a more human-centric approach to personal data.

MEF COO Joanne Lacey describes how fraudsters seeking to exploit a highly successful (and lucrative) enterprise messaging businesses could be costing an estimated $2bn annually, and what they can do to mitigate their losses while creating a more sustainable industry.

For businesses providing enterprise messaging as a service, revenues are not insignificant. At the end of 2016, mobile analyst firm, mobileSquared, estimated the market to be worth $17.2 billion and forecast a rise to $58.7 billion by the end of 2020.

British citizens could see an end to pre-ticked boxes and default opt-outs under a proposed new data bill. The law reflects changing attitudes to the way digital services handle consent, says Tim Green…

Last week, the UK government issued a ‘statement of intent’ to strengthen its data privacy laws via a new Data Protection Bill.

This will include the right to be forgotten, the right to require social media platforms to delete information when asked, and tighter regulation on default opt-out or pre-selected tick boxes.

With just 6% of consumers happy to share their personal information MEF CEO Rimma Perelmuter looks at the impact of trust on businesses serving the mobile audience. MEF’s Consumer Trust report 2016 identified the rise of the Reluctant Sharer. Just 6% of consumers said they were always happy to share their personal information. 41% said they did not want to share data but felt compelled to do so if they wanted to use the app or service.

The ‘reluctance’ was not good for business and manifested itself in a lack of trust which prevented consumers from buying, downloading and doing more with their mobile.

Last week’s ransomware attacks were aimed at vulnerabilities typical of big enterprises and government bodies, but the true impact was felt by consumers – cancelled trains in Germany, people forced to pay cash for petrol in China, missed hospital appointments in the UK, the list goes on, with poor user experience and damaging trust the result.

While the WannaCry attack was upon a very specific desktop vulnerability, the possibility of similar attacks on other operating systems, the media coverage and the effect on consumer’s perception of digital safety are lessons to be learnt. We asked what can mobile tech industries can do to better prepare for similar attacks and protect consumers…

Accenture’s 2017 Banking Technology Vision report explores the role of AI in banking and customer engagement. It found that 78 per cent of bankers believe AI will revolutionise the way banks gather information and interact with customers.

One of the key advantages highlighted was that whilst AI is increasingly automating customer interaction, it is also providing a more personalised experience.

Chatbots for example are increasingly used by banks to handle routine enquiries and represent a more personalised experience than visiting the modern day substitute for branch banking, a website or app, where customers interact with layers of screens and drop-down menus instead of a person.

Another Mobile World Congress is over. There was more of everything this year. More visitors (108,000 up 7% on 2016), more exhibitors, more keynotes and more announcements made. It can get very noisy.

But in amongst the noise the important technology trends emerged, trends that will shape the mobile ecosystem going forward.

2016 was an eventful year for technology innovation across the board. And whilst new models have come to the fore the global base of mobile users continues to grow, confirming mobile’s central role in how businesses innovate and monetise their services.

Everything has been fair game, from the collection and responsible use of user data through to new ways for consumers to perform everyday tasks like talking to their bank, ordering and buying a coffee or transferring money to a friend.

But how will the mobile ecosystem change in 2017? And what are the areas of the ecosystem that are ripe for disruption or collaboration? We asked MEF members to provide us with their thoughts on the big trends for 2017…

Secure messaging is critically important for any enterprise with sensitive information to protect. Infinite Convergence developed the NetSfere app to give enterprise employees safe messaging that’s also fun to use. MEF Minute spoke to the firm at Money 20/20 last month.

Around a decade ago, digital technology and the smartphone changed the workplace. Gradually, people stopped using their company desktops and laptops exclusively for work, and began to do business from their own mobile devices.

Messaging giant Ubiquity works closely with banks in its native Italy. But the company has ambitions beyond financial services. In this video from Money 20/20, MEF talked to Ubiquity’s VP of growth Daniel Mensi…

In the early part of the decade, Italian banks answered the call from customers to go mobile. They started to send notifications about transfers, account balances and so on direct to people’s phones.

Waheed Adam, Chairman of iTouch Messaging, describes a rich-media messaging solution tailored to the African markets and describes the unique challenges and solutions facing businesses bringing these services to the region.

While Africa faces many technological challenges in terms of bandwidth and stable/affordable data and internet rates/services, improvements are being made and the technology ecosystem is getting better.

Just a few days before Mobile World Congress, Google announced plans to integrate RCS messaging in to new Android handsets. 27 mobile carriers and OEMs have agreed to make it their default-messaging app so that the newly christened ‘Android Messages’ will become a native feature of Android devices going forward.

Here, MEF member, Robert Gerstmann, MD for CLX Communications discusses the significance of the Google RCS announcement.

Robert also caught up with MEF TV at Mobile World Congress. See his thoughts from the show floor in the video below.

Deutsche Telekom’s Sea Hero Quest is no ordinary mobile game. It’s also a research tool, gathering data that helps scientists in the fight to understand dementia. This unique project won this year’s Meffy winner for Innovation in mHealth…

Dementia is on the rise. It is one of the most challenging medical issues of the era. Scientists have little understanding of where dementia comes from, how to stop it, or even how to detect its earliest signs.
And even though dementia affects 47.5 million people, research around it is limited. For every six research scientists looking into cancer there, is just one researching dementia.

Consumers in mobile first countries are desperately hungry for digital services. But they can be held back by the cost of data. Opera is tackling this with its Opera Max product, which has won the Innovation in Mobile First Markets Meffy for 2016…

It’s ironic that the countries where mobile is ‘first’ are generally the countries where mobile data is the most expensive (in real terms).

In its recent State of the Mobile Web report, Opera Software revealed that the average German can pay for 500MB with one hour of work.

Everyone is watching the development of chat bots and conversational commerce. US-based Kasisto is right at the heart of the space. It has launched its own banking bot and is helping others do the same. Kasisto won the 2016 Innovation in FinTech Meffy…
The financial services space is fascinated by chat bots. They seem to offer an enticing combination of the easy access of digital and the personal touch of the high street.
It’s why so many banks and card networks are experimenting with the concept. US-based Kasisto is helping most of them.

MEF Minute readers won’t need reminding that mobile is the most personal, universal and immediate of all media. People love this. Sadly, so do fraudsters, scammers and opportunistic marketers. As phone penetration has passed 100 per cent in many regions, unwelcome calls and texts have proliferated. Hiya Mobile says from January to May 2016, nearly 1.5 robocall complaints were submitted to the Federal Trade Commission in the US. Hiya offers...