Big Retailers Join Google, Telecoms, Banks In Developing Cellphone Shopping Solutions

The fast-emerging market that is transforming cellphones into payment devices – a trend so far driven by Google and big cellphone companies – has left retail chains in the dust. In an effort to get some sort of competitive advantage about two dozen retailers, including Walmart and Target, are collaborating on creation of their own mobile-payments system. Already involved in the fray are banks, credit-card networks, telecom firms and technology companies, all scrambling to meet the demand among younger consumers for a simpler, faster way to use mobile devices to shop. Skeptics warn that all of this technology competition may  only confuse, rather than satisfy, consumers.