Creating Killer Apps for Merchants' Mobile Commerce
Name: Will Wang Graylin
Title: CEO and Founder
Company: ROAM Data, Inc.
What I’m working on now… Some more killer apps for merchants to securely transact with consumers on mobile devices, using ROAM Data’s mCommerce platform. The platform helps payment service providers and carriers deliver secure commerce apps much more easily than traditional technologies being used today.
My crowning achievement is… Someone else can answer this one when I’m gone. Right now, I’m just excited to have an opportunity to help bring mobile commerce to market.
Industry Association Awards... Winner of ETA (Electronic Transaction Association) Technology Innovation Award 2010; Multiple time Winner of SESAMES Award (2006, 2005, 2003) at CARTES (largest payment show in the world held in Paris) for Payments Innovations, including Best Banking/Finance Application Award; Mover and Shaker Award from Transaction World Magazine Aug 2005, Winner of Harvard University and Northeastern University Business Plan Competitions in 2003 for my last startup, a Mobile POS services company, Winner of Lycos Labs Business Plan competition 2001
Education… Dual Masters degrees in Business Administration, and Electrical Engineering/Computer Science from MIT. Certified Engineer from US Navy Nuclear Power Program, Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering Computer Science from University of Washington
When I’m not working, I like to… Paddle on the ocean in Hawaiian outrigger canoes in the summer, ski and snowboard in the winter, spend time with my family whenever not traveling, sing and play the guitar & piano during in-between times, read and listen to history and biographies, and every once in a while invent a new gadget to solve a problem I’m annoyed by and willing to pay for
My favorite payment factor is… Using the mobile phone for commerce, for merchants to not only compel a customer to buy, but easily and securely making that transaction happen.
I think the next big thing in payments is… Mobile commerce for sure! It represents a variety of applications from mobile shopping, ticketing, couponing, payments, banking… remote and face to face transactions… B2B, B2C, B2B2C, P2P… from developed countries to emerging countries… mobile phones will be used more and more to transact! Security, convenience and cost are the key drivers. Leveraging the most convenient device that people carry is a no brainer, but making it happen across all the different devices, Operating Systems, UIs, carriers, is extremely complex – that is why ROAM Data has created a platform to solve this big problem, to make it much easier for commerce to happen across devices!
Cash is… King for companies, but is a necessary inconvenience for merchants and consumers to transact in many cases still. It is an ancient payment instrument, and in the electronic world we now live in should eventually become less and less relevant. It will take time to replace cash, but the industry has made a huge dent already in the past few decades, which will accelerate in developed countries.
Checks are… Are not far behind cash in terms of a payment instrument to be replaced by alternative electronic means.
NFC will… Will have big players pushing to standardize as a more convenient payment instrument for consumers, but it will take time and require the same type of software application platform that ROAM brings, to create the “killer apps” that can leverage NFC for consumer adoption. It’s not just about the chip but about what apps it can deliver for merchants to win customers, and it is complex. ROAM can help the NFC implementers reduce the complexity on the software and services side.
EMV is… Is already rooted in many countries to reduce fraud. It helps retailers who are using EMV, but the fraud will shift to other places, and continuous effort to battle fraud is crucial as alternative payments are used more and more, on the Internet and with Mobile Commerce.
P2P will… Is growing in pockets, it faces some of the same issues as any payment methodology regarding security and adoption. Some emerging countries may find ways to leapfrog developed countries like the U.S. using mobile phone solutions for P2P, trusted infrastructure and ease of use are key elements for adoption in each region.
My mentor is/I’ve learned from my mentor… I have had many mentors in my life - frommy supervisor Bryan Bockhop when I interned at IBM, who taught me to file my first patent, and persevere through an award winning project that many thought was impossible, to my current advisor and investor George Wallner (founder of Hypercom) who taught me to focus on the customer’s needs, and look for new ways to solve payment problems, to many others, including my father Victor Wang, and my serial entrepreneur cousin Gene Wang. I have been very fortunate to have great people that are willing to share their knowledge with me.
PYMNTS Innovators
TaxiPass: Cards Will Control Where Cash Was King
Cash, Check or Text: Mobile Payments for the other 97%
Checks are Checking Out - Will that be Cash, Credit or Mobile?
Acculynk: Creating a Customized Consumer Checkout
Can Two Truly Tango in the Payments Industry?
Face(book)-to-Face(cash) with Aaron Greenspan
E-payments: Skyline's Plans to Transform
TSYS' New Offering and the Innovator Behind It
Biometrics and Magstripes: Making Beautiful Payments Together
TSYS Innovator Says Capture Consumers with Customized Applications
Post your comment
Comments
I think the next big thing in payments is… Mobile commerce for sure!
Posted by NHL jerseys, 12/08/2010 3:40am (2 years ago)
Roam will change the world one merchant at at time by enabling them all with payments in their hand.
Posted by Gene Wang, 11/08/2010 1:04pm (2 years ago)
Congrats Raom, on Eta award.
I think Innovating through app design and function is key to being a killer app. As such I would like to introduce my app BILLING where we created the first touch based signature capture function for a virtual credit card terminal app almost a year ago. Learn some more on BILLING: http://www.spartadata.com
Our app supports and works with Roam merchants.
Posted by Michael Cruz, 11/08/2010 12:51pm (2 years ago)
RSS feed for comments on this page | RSS feed for all comments