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Why is Swish worrying you? It is basically a payment overlay on top of whatever technology runs in the mobile devices. If tomorrow the dominant mobile OS is Fo

Why is Swish worrying you? It is basically a payment overlay on top of whatever technology runs in the mobile devices. If tomorrow the dominant mobile OS is Foobar, there will be Swish for it and things just keep on working. It is not tied to a US or Chinese megacorporation, so there is no risk of geopolitically-influenced political decisions ruining the show, like those threatening SWIFT, for example. Swish works just fine inside Sweden, for Swedes. All countries should have the equivalent of Swish and then make them interoperate if sending money to another country. I can think of one thing why Swish and "e-krona" is not a good idea: if the lights go out temporarily, it will be difficult to pay for something (although figuring this out is a technical problem -- the payments could be queued in the terminals or something). If the lights go out forever and we enter the quiet apocalypse, then there is very little use for cash either, aside from use as tinder or drying shoes, and plastic notes will not work for those either.

majewsky 8y ago
> If tomorrow the dominant mobile OS is Foobar, there will be Swish for it and things just keep on working. How could there ever be a new mobile OS in this scenario? If stores rely on Swish, consumers have to use a mobile OS that supports Swish, so nobody can enter the mobile OS market (except if they pay Swish to provide a port for their OS on day 1).
- jnurmine 8y ago
  Yes, of course, they'd have to provide a port on day 1, or people would not use that mobile OS. It's the same thing if the mobile OS lacked, say, Mobile BankID (a 2FA app used for a lot of things in Sweden). Those are simply hygiene features, like a web browser. It's common for a new product rollout (whatever it is) to have discussions with different companies beforehand, this is how e.g. games magically appear on the market around the same time when a new game console is launched. The game studios get their hands on development hardware and documentation before anyone else. So I don't see Swish being any kind of blocker for anyone wanting to roll out a new mobile OS in Sweden. Whoever wants to come in first contacts Swish, they do the legal paperwork and then contract someone to build the app. And it's not like Swish is the only option to pay in stores. It's not that common, in fact. Paying with a debit card is the most common thing.
gigatexal 8y ago
I was assuming the OP had some sort of contactless payment ability on their mobile phone. But since they had difficulty in using it especially because the platform seemingly forces a new user to have a Swedish bank that’s a huge barrier to entry.

majewsky 8y ago

> If tomorrow the dominant mobile OS is Foobar, there will be Swish for it and things just keep on working. How could there ever be a new mobile OS in this scenario? If stores rely on Swish, consumers have to use a mobile OS that supports Swish, so nobody can enter the mobile OS market (except if they pay Swish to provide a port for their OS on day 1).

jnurmine 8y ago
Yes, of course, they'd have to provide a port on day 1, or people would not use that mobile OS. It's the same thing if the mobile OS lacked, say, Mobile BankID (a 2FA app used for a lot of things in Sweden). Those are simply hygiene features, like a web browser. It's common for a new product rollout (whatever it is) to have discussions with different companies beforehand, this is how e.g. games magically appear on the market around the same time when a new game console is launched. The game studios get their hands on development hardware and documentation before anyone else. So I don't see Swish being any kind of blocker for anyone wanting to roll out a new mobile OS in Sweden. Whoever wants to come in first contacts Swish, they do the legal paperwork and then contract someone to build the app. And it's not like Swish is the only option to pay in stores. It's not that common, in fact. Paying with a debit card is the most common thing.

gigatexal 8y ago

I was assuming the OP had some sort of contactless payment ability on their mobile phone. But since they had difficulty in using it especially because the platform seemingly forces a new user to have a Swedish bank that’s a huge barrier to entry.