Announcement and Analysis of Google Pay...ah Google Wallet

In early May 2015, a panel of merchant services and payment experts forecasted the future of the payment industry. The main trends spoken about were PCI compliance and EMV, Apple Pay and Mobile POS. I asked this panel of the status of Google Wallet and it seemed like an uneasy silence. They did not know.

Yesterday, a mere 2 weeks later, we have a clearer picture. Google announced Android Pay. Android phones are already built with Near Field Communication (NFC). The solution is to pay for products with a wave of your phone at the merchants Point of Sale terminal. Apple Pay was first to market and launched in September 2014.  Android users, which accounts for about a 62% of the US mobile phone market share and 79% of the worldwide mobile phone market share, were blocked by the cell phone carriers.   Reason:  AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon (Not Sprint) were promoting their mobile payment darling; ISIS.  Ironically, as of today, Walmart, Home Depot and other major retailers have turned off NFC at their Point of Sale terminals.  And there is another reason for that.

Major retailers don’t like paying the credit card processing fees, typically in the 2-3% range.  They got together and formed Merchant Customer Exchange, another mobile payment platform with the app called Current C.  They want to cut into those processing fees.

As the players jockey for position, let’s examine a few mechanically differences between Apple Pay and Android Pay.  Apple uses a fingerprint scanner, Android uses a Pin. I have a feeling Android manufacturers will change this soon because of this announcement.

Google says your data is secure. They are working with major payment processors and banks “to deliver industry standard security tokenization”.  Tokenization is another way of saying that the real credit card number is not transmitted for obvious security reasons.  Apple creates a token in a chip called the Secure Element.  Android token is created in the Cloud.  If you are in a cell dead zone, Android will not work.

If your phone is lost or stolen, just use the Android Device Manager (ADM) to lock down the device. However, ADM does not work all the time as advertised. If you need to use ADM to reset a forgotten password, you may be surprised that you have to reset the device to factory settings. You loose all your apps, configurations…everything.

It’s clear Google went to the major retailers to get early buy-in.  Google Pay will be accepted at 700,000 store locations.

Sources: http://officialandroid.blogspot.com/2015/05/pay-your-way-with-android.html by Pali Bhat, Google
Director, Product Management

Despite iPhone 6 hype, Android continues to dominate iOS market share
http://bgr.com/2014/07/01/android-market-share-2014/

A Primer on Android Pay and Google Wallet
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/05/28/a-primer-on-android-pay-and-google-wallet/

The Android Pay details Google didn’t tell you
http://www.cnet.com/how-to/android-pay-phone-how-it-works/

Latest Google Wallet update doesn’t fix original problem, NFC payments still at the mercy of carriers
http://phandroid.com/2013/09/19/google-wallet-nfc-payments-blocked/

poprockscandy.com is closing down

It's official...poprockscandy.com is closing down.  Started in 1997, we helped individuals and businesses with getting Pop Rocks candy.  Restaurants and bars used Pop Rocks on desserts and rimmed specialty martini drinks with Pop Rocks.  A few Japanese restaurants used Pop Rocks in their Sushi.  Some of the notable businesses; Flo at Progressive Insurance did a promotion with Pop Rocks, MGM Studios promoted a movie, Google did a employee appreciation gig with Pop Rocks and the producers of the Big Bang Theory TV show bought Pop Rocks.

Why close down poprockscandy.com?

A couple of reasons.

1.  Dwindling demand.  I started poprockscandy.com as a pure play e-commerce site.  Our organic SEO was very high because we started so early in the internet game.  We ranked #1 in search engines for many years.  However, around 2008 time frame, I noticed sales peaked and the order rate was moving slightly downward.

I started looking into the web stats and our online competition.  Stats were slightly lower too. Competition from more traditional candy distributors had certainly caught up.   We were inline in most other candy websites in terms of pricing.  Candy.com sold Pop Rocks, but their prices were 25% more, so I was not priced out.

It soon became apparent that the pay to play advertising and sponsored websites were moving to the top of search engines and getting the attention of the end users.  I had a philosophical aversion to pay Google and Yahoo.  I looked into it, but just did not want to pay.  It was a part-time business and not enough sales to justify the payment.

2.  The manufacturer of Pop Rocks would not sell.  I would order from Pop Rocks Inc every few months.  Sometimes it would take them several weeks to fulfill an order.  In the Summer of 2014, I placed an order and after 4 weeks, I called Customer Service to inquire on the status of the order.  Their answer - we can not fulfill your order with no answer to why.  I called the VP of Sales of North American.  I told him the situation and he seemed shocked and said he would look into it.  A couple of more weeks go by.  I called again and he said the decision was blocked by the parent company, Zeta Especial.  I exchanged an email with Dotty, President of Zeta Especial.  She would not give me an answer.  Conclusion:  Close down poprockscandy.com

Now, I need to change the title of my Blog.

Ciena to Acquire Cyan for $400 Million

A couple of years old a Ciena VP asked my opinion about Cyan.  The question was posed because Cyan had an innovative user interface to their management system that created some buzz in the industry.  They didn't build, it was outsourced.  Did Cyan design the requirements or did the outsourcer come up with the design - It's an unknown to me.  Back then, Cyan was getting market penetration with small, regional telecom operators, but no major customers.  I said it's someone to watch, but not worry too much about.   The Ciena VP shock his head in agreement.  

Then in March 2015, CenturyLink selects Cyan.  Not exactly a Tier 1 operator, but big enough to get noticed.  Ciena noticed enough to acquire.  Cyan was doing about $100 million in sales for the last 2 years and unprofitable.  4x revenue seems like a good deal for Cyan.

It is reminiscent of when Ciena acquired WorldWide Packet about 10 years when they got into AT&T.  

The deal is subject to certain approvals of Cyan stockholders, regulatory approvals in the U.S. and other customary approvals.

http://www.ciena.com/about/newsroom/press-releases/Ciena-Announces-Intent-to-Acquire-Cyan.html