Just had an interesting conversation with a colleague on this. The fundamental question we need to answer is why payments matter to consumers. Assuming people only need money to buy things, then its a given that payments are a critical element of consumers life style, yet they are at best an annoyance, and certainly not fun.

So the web lifstyle has to bring convenience, and simplicity for making payments. Financial Services providers care about this, because payments are the conduit to balances, both loan and deposit balances, and balances are how FI’s make money.

This is one of the new frontiers that needs to be udnerstood. Visa are offerring debit on their credit cards – thats a new payment medium, which we concluded customers will buy into – that must have implications and benefits. We read today that BofA purchased MBNA – what happens when they offer debit and credit on one card – worldwide access to multiple services from a trusted provider.

This is getting interesting.