We can already use mobiles for payment in Poland, by sending SMSs to pay for bus tickets or car parking for example, but proximity chip-enabled phones will offer far greater convenience and will be cheaper too. Once it becomes ubiquitous in the next generation of mobile phones, NFC (Near Field Communication) technology will give users the ability to handle electronic cash easily and securely. Being able to send money from phone to phone will allow, for example, parents to upload a week’s school money for their teenage children, and have full visibility into how they are spending it. Gradually, cash will be eased out of the economy, reducing the costs of minting, printing, storing, transporting and handling money in its physical form. Home banking will be augmented by technology which will be able to transfer money from your account to your phone. In this way, banking will move once again from a bricks-and-mortar branch, via your home computer, to your mobile phone – which is always with you.

The implications of mobile banking (m-banking) are huge. In third-world countries where banking infrastructure has yet to reach the vast majority of people, m-banking is leapfrogging traditional branch-and-chequebook banks and gathering millions of new customers, enabling them to launch new micro-businesses and pump-prime local economies.

In Poland, where some 40% of the adult population does not have a bank account but where nearly 100% has a mobile phone, the rewards are potentially great. The question of regulating such business emerges – who should regulate the mobile phone operators as their operations increasingly start looking like those of banks (especially when pre-payment becomes deposit-taking)? Should it be URTiP, the telecoms and post regulator, or KNF – the financial services authority?



Clearly, as with all technological revolutions, there will be winners and loser. As ever, it’s all about timing. Does your company want to be an early adopter, with the risks and costs that this entails, but with huge potential rewards, or a close follower, watching the early adopters making mistakes and avoiding them, but risk missing out on the land grab?

Governments should be keen to see the implementation of m-payment; as cash becomes increasing squeezed out of the market, so businesses operating in the grey economy will find it harder to escape the VAT-man. And the tax authorities will be keen to find a way of extracting their 22% of each transaction directly at point of purchase – which will be easier for the entrepreneur than the current system.

Technology in payments are moving ahead in other ways. RFID (Radio Frequency ID) tagging will replace the ubiquitous barcode, an active system replacing a passive one. As you drop items into your shopping trolley, their price and the total price of goods will be shown on a screen. To pay for your purchase, simply confirm and authorise the transaction at a gate – no checkout queues, no lifting your products out of the trolley to get them scanned. Payment will again be made via your mobile, with a PIN confirmation for larger-value transactions.

Banking is set for another revolution, and this one will affect business, consumers and government. The implications for all are far-ranging. This is why the BPCC has decided at this time to make the Payments Revolution the topic for its 7th Annual Conference, which takes place in Warsaw on 29th April. Speakers are all from firms noted for being at the leading edge of m-payment; mobile operator Plus and Bank Zachodni WBK, both being ahead of their competitors in implementing solutions; consultants Deloitte, who will be helping their corporate clients introduce the new technologies, and law firm Wardyński & Partners, which has worked on the European and Polish laws governing m-payment. The Polish Council of Shopping Centres (PRCH) is partnering the conference, given its strong interest to the retail sector.

Martin Oxley, Chief Executive Officer of the BPCC said: “At this time in the economic cycle, it’s sometimes difficult to tear oneself away from the day-to-day business and look into the future. But it is unavoidable; the payment revolution will happen, it will be a major driver of future economic growth. There will be winners and losers – to understand the dynamic of what will happen – and how to ensure that you don’t miss out – you should attend our conference.”











For further information:

Wioletta Rodak-Slabuszewska, British Polish Chamber of Commerce

tel: +48 (0)22 320 01 18

e-mail: wioletta.rodak@bpcc.org.pl









About the British Polish Chamber of Commerce (BPCC)



The BPCC is an independent, not-for-profit organisation, which assists in the development of British-Polish business links.



Our mission is to serve members' interests by promoting and facilitating business, trade and cultural relations in and between Poland and the United Kingdom through the provision of top-quality information, know-how, services and events, and by working with government and related bodies in Poland and the UK.