Are you interested in learning more about the mobile payments stalemate? Earlier today, as I was browsing for information about mobile banking, I found a number of articles that may help.

First, to provide an overview of the existing card payment landscape, I would recommend an article by Jeremy Simon titled Merchants encourage use of PINs for debit card payments. In the article, Mr. Simon provides a sampling of the fees that retailers pay to banks every time a card transaction occurs. This example assumes a customer bill of approximately $40:

* Debit card purchase (customer enters PIN number) = $0.24 paid to bank
* Debit card purchase (customer signs the receipt) = $0.35 paid to bank
* Credit card purchase = $0.50 paid to bank

Next, I would recommend an article by Richard Winston titled Mobile Wallet Will Take Time to Mature in U.S. This article does a very good job of providing an overview of the mobile payments landscape, the challenges ahead, and the parties involved.

Finally, to understand the granular perspective, I would recommend downloading the white paper from Diamond Management and Technology titled: Mobile Payments: Mobile Operator Market Opportunities and Business Models.

As you dig into the data you will notice that the critical element is trying to determine how the carriers will be compensated for their role in mobile payments initiative. While merchants, customers and banks would appreciate the carriers performing this service for free, the fact remains it’s unlikely to happen.

Yet, the money to pay the carriers must come from somewhere, and it is equally unlikely to come from:

* Retailers volunteering to pay higher fees
* Banks volunteering to forego a portion of their fee
* Processors volunteering to forego a portion of their fee
* Customers paying a premium to utilize a virtual wallet

So that's the quandary. Will the standoff be resolved? I'm not sure. In the article Wave-Pay-Go by Bank Systems and Technology, I read, "Alarmingly for banks, carriers may take a more aggressive position by assuming direct control over processing, billing and collection of payment transactions, thereby removing banks from the process and threatening payment transaction revenues."

Brandon McGee is vice president and senior product manager at The Huntington National Bank. He is not only the real deal, a genuine industry insider, but also knows exactly what's on the minds of financial service pros as they contemplate the various mobile options. For more great content, check out his blog, Mobile Banking.