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Just two years ago, everyone thought Starbucks was the best mobile wallet around. It used QR code. While the superior CX of NFC-based Apple Pay can't be denied, the intersection of owners of highend smartphones with NFC support and frequent WalMart shoppers is probably so small that WalMart chose to go with QR code.

SWIFT needn't bother. For all the hype around BTC, Blockchain, Ripple etc., I haven't come across a single nonbank / "rebittance" service for B2B cross-border payments (other than PayPal, whose CX sucks). TransferWise, Xoom and many other services I explored only do B2C. The one service that promised to support B2B - AlignCommerce - advertises Fiat-BTC-Fiat cross-border transfers with all the benefits of transparency etc. But, when I actually reached out to the startup, I was told that the company still handled the US$-INR corridor via bank-based wire transfers through the good old correspondent bank network. Besides, it posed onerous documentation requirements unlike a wire transfer directly via a bank. It also seems to hold the money in its own account before allowing the receiver to withdraw it to their own bank account. This sounded like PayPal, so I went back to bank-based wire transfers, with all their attendant issues around non-transparency of charges, etc.

USA hardly ever implemented 3DS, with leading PSPs like Stripe hitting out openly against the friction posed by 2FA. India is waking up to the realization that, beyond a certain point, increased security is counterproductive to the basic purpose of stimulating electronic payments. Nice to see something like that happening in the EU zone. End of the day, Mitigating Fraud Does Not Pay The Bills.

In the absence of any info about the intended use case, let me guess from the cast of characters and the emphasis on speed that this technology will be used in structured financial products and algo trading. Can we expect "Big Short II" and "Flash Boys II" from Michael Lewis soon?

Of all the drivers for mobile payments, I don't see a single one saying people love mobile payments and find them superior to their existing mode of payment (e.g. cash, plastic credit / debit card). Until that happens, mobile payments will remain a solution seeking a problem and won't go mainstream. But I wish I'm proved wrong: I've been hearing that mobile payments will go mainstream every year since 2007 and I wish they actually did very soon so that I'm spared of these predictions year after year.

Am I understand from this that the 9M people in UK in "serious debt" are flush with funds and are unable to repay their debts because their lenders are unable to collect them digitally?

At one time, there was only "one way" and it sucked. People like me who were used to making online payments by credit card for over a decade went back to cash because they were sick of 2FA-caused failed payments. Individual companies like PayTM, HDFC Bank PayZapp broke out of that one way, innovated with their respective mobile wallets and drove traction for mobile wallet payments.

I for one am perfectly happy with the present situation and don't want a national mobile wallet and, with it, the inevitable return to the "one way" regime.

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Kudos to Axis Bank. I'm familiar with Mobile OTP (from several banks), hardware token (HSBC) and OTP App (SBI). While hardware token is my personal favorite, all three technologies have their own shortcomings. As long as it works as advertised, Axis Bank's card with insitu OTP generation capability promises the best tradeoff between security and convenience.

Maybe it's only me but I see a mixup of Apple's role between this and Apple Pay. Here, Boku is the PSP (not Apple Inc., which is the Merchant). In Apple Pay, Apple Inc. is the PSP. IMO, a more appropriate headline would be "Boku rolls out carrier billing for Apple iTunes in Russia".

As for bypassing credit cards, Boku is the one doing that, not Apple. To paraphase a line from Boku's website, "Apple isn't interested in payments. It's interested in iTunes sales". Like Boku, Zong started off as a 100% MNO direct billing platform. However, as I'd highlighted in Banks Have Nothing To Fear From TELCOs, Zong achieved real traction only after it allowed credit cards to be used as the funding source. There's no saying that Boku won't follow the same path soon. Then we're back to the good old banking rails.

I also echo your sentiments about wanting to make a "micropayment". Micropayment was the hot topic for exactly this use case 5-7 years ago. Many publishers jumped on the bandwagon but found out to their dismay that the generosity was restricted to a tiny fraction of content consumers who are also content creators. More in my comment at http://qwt.io/s_ketharaman/ruI4. Hope the buzz caused by ad blockers will revive interest in this topic.