LIVE FROM COMMUNICASIA 2013: Security and product integration are the two factors that are “truly fundamental” to the growth of mobile money services, Niki Manby (pictured), head of emerging products for Visa, said.

“We can’t overemphasise the relevance of security in driving consumer behaviour, in driving scalable solutions, and I do believe that this is a competitive advantage,” she said.

“In every single research study Visa does around a new product or service, when we talk to customers about what they are concerned about and what they want to be sure about, it’s security. That’s really the price of entry, and can’t be underestimated,” she continued.

With a wide range of different mobile money products and technologies being brought to market by a diverse range of players, Manby also argued that these need to work seamlessly in order to reduce complexity which could prove a barrier to consumer adoption.

“If it’s not seamless and it’s not simple, it won’t be relevant and it won’t be integrated into their lives. At Visa we think a lot about integrating these solutions, so that the consumer will have a very integrated experience,” she said.