By Flávio Rocha

THERE SEEMS TO BE NO LIMIT to the growth of cell phone and smartphone sales, while tablets have become the target of consumers wanting to keep pace with the evolution of electronics. According to the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), the Federal District and 20 of the 26 Brazilian states now have more than one cell phone per inhabitant. As a whole, Brazil has 116.5 phones for each group of 100 people. There is no longer any doubt that the present and the future are to be found in the democratization of mobility.

Without ignoring other technologies, the companies that have the best chances of success in a sector as competitive as IT are those with the best solutions to the questions around mobility. Going further: The successful will be those better able to respond to the demands of clients avid to expand the possibilities of integration with consumers. It is not merely a question of innovation, but one of creating rapid and secure solutions fully adapted to client needs.

Performing bank transactions over their cell phones is already a reality for millions of Brazilians. In contrast, however, a recent national survey shows that almost 70% of cell phone users are totally unaware of any type of mobile banking activity available on the market. The technology market’s shortcut to mobility will obviously be massification of these solutions. Only in this way will it be possible to overcome the resistance still found in some companies and among consumers in relation to this novelty, particularly as regards security.

In the very near future, London will provide us with an excellent example of digital convergence. With the 2012 Olympic Games on the horizon, the British have licensed more than 60,000 commercial outlets to receive payments by cell phone. Mobile payments or M-payments are already carving out a market niche as an agile and secure option of payment for services and purchases. Even small-scale merchants or street hawkers will be able to provide clients with the practical advantages of cell phone payments with no major investments. Mobility solutions are democratic.

Not for Just the Few

In Brazil, banks, payment companies, cell phone operators, and debit and credit card management companies have steadily intensified their efforts to disseminate mobile payment services, with the promise of supplanting or at least greatly reducing the use of today’s plastic cards in just a few years. Different technologies are already being tested.

With the democratization of these services, what is now available to the privileged few will become commonplace in the near future, without restricting this service to this or that card company, this or that store, bank, or operating company.

Elimination of today’s cards could also lower the price of services. At this point, one could ask: Is the use of the card destined to disappear? No. Just as printed newspapers have not disappeared with growth of the Internet, cards will continue in use well into the future alongside the new technologies.

However, mobile devices will continue accumulating new functions. The so-called e-wallet will soon be available on cell phones and like devices, not only with credit cards but also with one’s income tax number and identification, together with such things as gym membership cards. At a recent technology fair in the United States, I witnessed an application that does simultaneous translation of conversations, thus lowering language barriers. New solutions are also available in the field of health: the visually impaired can now read texts by simply passing their cell phones over the document.

In the case of Brazil, budgets have not kept pace with the aspirations of companies that want to enhance their services and offer mobility solutions to their clients. The process is still in an embryonic stage.

Despite growing interest, technology for mobility is not a priority for many companies. At the same time, those that have managed to overcome initial resistance and move forward are still in the experimentation stage. Initially, mobility is a complement, one more way of providing services and facilitating the life of clients. It is in the second stage that companies and institutions begin to seek out something that is truly unique.

Wouldn’t it be more effective to inform consumers about clearance sales or preapproved credit lines when they are already at the mall, perhaps even walking in front of the store? Being able to locate branches or correspondent banks just a few clicks away is already a very real and practical reality. Some banks have taken the lead, while others are hurrying to catch up, but all are mobilizing rapidly to get clients out of branches and lower the price of services.

Today, a complete technology solution is that offering access no matter where the client is located. Though the initial goal is client satisfaction, it is also a pursuit of new and potential users of services. There is no turning back: the differential is to be found in solutions that satisfy everyone, bringing added value to the company or institution and facilitating the life of consumers. In short, this is the moment for focusing on quality and the democratization of mobility services.

 

FLÁVIO ROCHA is the business-finance director of Cast, an IT services company with presence in all of Brazil’s major cities and in the United States.