To generate an income a business needs to be able to relieve its customers of cash. This transaction is fraught with difficulties when conducted online. Security, for example, is users' number one concern regarding e-commerce. And it's not just customers. Businesses report high levels of attempted online fraud.
Methods exist to address the problems but no common standards are in place.
Then there is the question of transaction cost. The security verification and credit-checking of customers combined with the cost of billing takes a massive slice of profit at low transaction values. Enter the mobile phone. This fact becomes particularly interesting when considering the ability of mobiles to double up as a sort of mini-wallet with which purchases can be made. The crucial factor here is that to the telecoms provider, the marginal transaction cost of billing an existing customer is close to zero.