ETA launches m-payments committee

The Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) has launched a committee to oversee the US mobile payment industry.The Mobile Payments Committee will work on solving issues around network interoperability, developing regulatory frameworks, and improving security.The committee includes representatives from the four main US mobile network operators - AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon - and delegates from the broader electronic payment industry, including MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover, as well as Google and PayPal.Our industry must work collaboratively to ensure that the regulatory and business environment promotes innovation and cooperation, said ETA chief executive Jason Oxman.The chair of the committee, Jackie Moran - executive director of federal relations for Verizon -also stressed the need of collaboration between all parties, both from the private and the public sectors, so that the early stages of mobile payments are handled in the best possible way. The mobile payments industry may be in its early stages, but analysts believe it is set to expand quickly. In July Gartner forecast that the value of mobile payments transactions will surpass USD171 bn in 2012, increasing by over 61% since 2011, and the number of users will almost double, reaching 212 million.