M-Payment - How disruptive technologies could change the payment ecosystem

Within developed economies, the field of m-payment appears to be driven by (disruptive) technological innovations. M-payments, similar to e-payments, have been regulated in such a way that banks and other established financial institutions have been able to maintain an unchallenged position in the payment ecosystem. However, disruptive technologies like Near Field Communication, but more importantly cloud technology based solutions might lead to dramatic changes. In the long run this may change the position of banks in the payment ecosystem including their control over "money flows". Yet, for this to happen m-payment solution and service providers need to understand the role of money and payment instruments as well as how payment ecosystems work, in-depth. In this conceptual paper we discuss how the ecosystem of m-payment is expected to change due to technology changes. Based on platform and ecosystems concepts, theories of money and behavioral theories a comprehensive literature review and a qualitative meta-Analyses of the m-payment literature is presented. On the basis of the theory review and literature analysis we expect that the role of Over The Top (OTT) providers in the m-payment ecosystems will be driven by cloud-based solutions and threaten the position of traditional players. Banks need regulators to safeguard their control over the money flow.