Third Party
I think it's needed someone independent of the banks & mobile operators to focus their thoughts. They were too interested in protecting their own turf rather than providing a service that the person on the street wanted.
Apple (for better or worse) have the muscle to say to the banks & operators: This is how it's going to be done. (And the operators seem to have lost)
All we can hope for now, is that the specs for this are opened up and other people can implement it.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
