Mobile payment is defined as paying for a product or service over a wireless network. In general you have two types of mobile payment. One is proximity payment at the merchant point-of-sale. You bring the cell phone close to the check out terminal to make the payment.

Today it's expected to be done over NFC (Near Field Communication). NFC technology is the wireless connectivity standard endorsed by the industry for data transfer over the mobile phone. The second type is remote payment over a wireless network. This type of payment uses mobile technology such as a short message service (SMS), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD). It includes transactions that use cash, bank accounts or debit and credit cards, as well as travel cards, gift cards or PayPal.

In developing markets, together with mobile banking, it allows people to use financial services in a more efficient way - and sometimes the only way - at more affordable costs, and can greatly improve standards of living. In developed markets, mobile is more of an extension of the existing payment infrastructure that allows people to deal with their financial needs in a timely and convenient way.