According to experts, payments everywhere is one of the top ten current payment mega-trends.
Everyone has the capacity to be a merchant and every device from smartphones to tablets, can be a way of accepting payments.
As traditional banks and financial institutes are becoming increasingly left behind as new systems and players are leading innovation, the change in the way consumers and businesses make payments is changing remarkably swiftly and is only set to further grow and modify.
According to Deltec Bank, “The commerce experiences of tomorrow will make payments invisible. This is an invaluable part of creating a customer-first commerce experience. These autonomous payments will cause a shift in consumer preferences and habits.”
The impact of this innovation in payments will be a decrease in the ability to differentiate on back-office capabilities, a reduction in transaction fees, and an increase in the importance of creating an emotional and differentiated user experience alongside clever use of the vast array of data captured.
According to Deloitte, the Key aspects of autonomous payments include:
- The Authentication effectively becomes the payment. Cards and their associated PIN and signature authentication methods will no longer be needed.
- Invisible transactions. The mass market will start to be reconditioned to transact invisibly — and that will happen sooner than we think.
- Rewards will become more orchestrated. The new loyalty and rewards programs will be facilitated by distributed ledgers, which means each customer is given the most value, dependant on the transaction.
Today, there is an overwhelming number of ways to pay. The market for mobile wallets is a crowded field, with large companies such as Alibaba, Google, Samsung, and WeChat all offering similar services
In addition, a number of banks have introduced their own mobile payment services such as PayMe, the peer-to-peer payments service from HSBC.
Wallets
The availability of so many options has led to customers finding the convenience of mobile wallets. With so many businesses providing this easy payment step, consumers are looking for additional incentives to capture their loyalty.
These include features such as special offers,
rewards and discounts at the point of sale. Wallets are able to:
- Offer insights and monitoring of customers spending habits
- Recommend products and services based on previous shopping habits
- Provide enhanced security notifications
Consumers are well aware that they have the power to browse different wallet options and select the ones that suit their lifestyle best.
Invisible payments
When we think of payments in the physical world we naturally think of the usual physical tools we are used to using to make payments for our purchases, such as credit and debit cards, credit card terminals, POS systems, and more and more recently the use of smartphones.
According to Worldpay, the next wave of payment innovation are payments that will literally transcend our physical world.
With the onset of smart speakers, and checkout-free stores, the physical act of making an act of paying for your shopping basket, practically becomes invisible.
“According to Worldpay, the next wave of payment innovation are payments that will literally transcend our physical world”.
To end then…
It seems voice-activation technologies are maturing rapidly, aided by rapid advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence. Some friction — like authentication — remains important, yet the act of payment is one that will take place more and more virtually. We’re yet to see where this takes us… the full impact could be significant!
Disclaimer: The author of this text, Robin Trehan, has an Undergraduate degree in economics, Masters in international business and finance and MBA in electronic business. Trehan is Senior VP at Deltec International www.deltecbank.com. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this text are solely the views of the author, and not necessarily reflecting the views of Deltec International Group, its subsidiaries and/or employees.
About Deltec Bank
Headquartered in The Bahamas, Deltec is an independent financial services group that delivers bespoke solutions to meet clients’ unique needs. The Deltec group of companies includes Deltec Bank & Trust Limited, Deltec Fund Services Limited, and Deltec Investment Advisers Limited, Deltec Securities Ltd. and Long Cay Captive Management.
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