MWC, WAC and Payment API

[#1]

It seems like the Wholesale Applications Community (WAC) was born and has grown with the Mobile World Congress (MWC).

In 2010,  WAC was formed by a group of 24 mobile network operators and was announced at yjr MWC with the charter to tackle device fragmentation through the introduction of ‘open standard’ web technologies.

At MWC 2011, the WAC formally confirmed its status as a ‘not for profit’ organization and announced that its membership had now grown to more than 60 full members.

What about 2012? MWC is having its 2012 conference in Barcelona with 1400 exhibitors. WAC’s Payment API is a new offer!

The use of Operator/Carrier’s billing is the easiest way to charge users for digital content. With it, there is no need for the user to enter a credit card number of password. The user only has to confirm the purchase and it will be put on their phone bill. It even works if the user is buying something on a PC or tablet in which case the user would be sent a one-time PIN via SMS. This ease-of-use results in higher conversion rates and therefore more revenues.

John Donovan, the head of AT&T Technology and Network Operations, said in an WSJ interview today "It'd be like freight included” “A customer nearing his data limit for the month could be more likely to download a movie if the content provider covered the price of the data transmission.”

As a developer, what’s your take on the WAC payment API? Would you like to give it a try?

[#2]

You might want to check out this news release from Facebook "Facebook revealed big plans for mobile, saying that it will be working with several wireless carriers worldwide to process payments for applications."

[#3]

Interesting, are there plans for retailers to come onboard or will payment be only a carrier billing thing?

thanks!

[#4]

Great info, thanks Hsuanhua! 

Is there a detail information about the security mechanism behind this WAC payment API?

[#5]

SMART is smart and demonstrating both WAC2 and WAC3.

http://www.rochellesychua.com/2012/02/smart-at-the-mobile-world-congress-2012-in-barcelona.html#

[#6]

Reddog,

Thank you for the inquiry. The WAC Payment API uses industry standard authorization mechanism for security. The transactions are tightly scoped to ensure highly secure operation.. The approach has also been reviewed and approved by a number of other carriers worldwide.

Anne-marieloweattcom,

It looks like Smart demonstrated apps with WAC Payment API features. Very cool!

Thanks for sharing.