The Future of Mobile Payment Technology
The past decade has seen an epic move from physical payments to digital payments.
Nowadays, the modern payment processing environment usually consists of a complex network of consumers, sellers, banks, and payment processors.
Online sales, smartphones, and mobile payments have not only changed the way people find and pay for products and services, but they are also changing the way payment processors accept, secure, and make payments.
Because the mobile payment technology is emerging so rapidly, it can sometimes be difficult to keep up with the new trends.
In this article, we’ll cover some of the opportunities that are shaping the future of how consumers make payments and how mobile payment solutions enable those transactions.
That being said let’s dive right in!
Fading of Physical Payment Cards…
Part of the growth of mobile wallets obviously means a downflow of physical payment cards.
Though credit and debit cards are still the leading form of non-cash payment, and the use of these payment cards isn’t going away anytime soon.
What is going away, however, are the real, physical cards.
Mobile payment apps and other forms of digital payment (bitcoin, peer to peer payment solutions) are decreasing the need for physical cards.
In fact, future mobile payment users will also be able to handle a variety of payment options- including cash, traditional cards, and mobile wallets through mobile payment technologies.
Near field communication (NFC), on the other hand, is also shifting the way consumers and merchants process a transaction, eliminating the need for physical forms of payment.
Below, we’ve shared the top 6 mobile trends that are changing the future of mobile payments.
6 Mobile Trends Changing the Future of Mobile Payments
Here are six mobile trends that are clearly showing how sellers are now accepting payments and will do the same in the years ahead.
1 – Ease of Payment Without Credit Cards
Mobile wallets or digital wallets are increasingly being used by consumers to easily pay for things in person or online.
They just love the ease, and the security and verification features, such as not having to enter credit card details on websites and not having to give their credit cards to cashiers.
2 – Growing Demand for Mobile Point-of-Sales
Mobile-point-of-sale (mPOS) technology frees sellers from in-store payment methods and lets them travel to conventional stores and business locations.
They can go almost anywhere like trade shows, food festivals, and concerts to find their customers and accept payments from mobile phones or credit cards.
The mPOS technology can also make the payment methods within the store faster and more flexible, as central payment areas are replaced by sales staff armed with mPOS devices.
3 – The Rise of Biometric Verification
Mobile wallets are highly secure mobile payment systems, all thanks to the highly developed biometric authentication process.
From the fingerprint to face detection and iris inspection, biometric verification will continue to grow as a way to validate identity for payments.
With the growing problem of fraud and identity theft, biometric verification will become a more dependable way for sellers to confirm the identity of who they are trading with.
In a business set up, for example, it is easy to recognize employees so that no one can receive unfair payments.
Industry data suggests that by 2021, we will see more than 18 billion biometric transactions occurring every year.
A visa Chief Risk Officer also predicts that the growing use of this form of verification could make the password inessential in as few as five years.
4 – Artificial Intelligence (AI) Gets Genius
Artificial intelligence devices such as Amazon’s Alexa are already getting us used to make voice commands to order and pay for products.
These voice-enabled assistants have now become a trend that’s bound to grow, forcing sellers to think of ways to provide AI shopping through their sites.
AI will also be used for uncovering more advanced fraud and will help to guard us against cyber-attacks.
5 – Social Media Speeds Things Up
People, nowadays, love to use their smartphones to scroll through their Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Snapchat, and other social medial platforms.
So, it makes sense for sellers or companies to reach out to their potential customers through social media and offer them different ways to check out the products or services they are offering, rather than being passed on to an online store.
Pro Tip: The lesser times a customer is redirected or asked to fill out forms, the more your chance of holding him or her to the end of the purchase.
The payment process on social media platforms has become faster and sleek, especially with chatbot checkouts and autofill helping to speed it up.
In fact, studies also show that about 30% of online shoppers say that they’re likely to buy from a social media network, and 60% of Instagram users urged they find the latest products through the network (so it makes good sense to sell to them directly through Instagram).
6 – Digital Wallet Solutions
Mobile wallets are one of the fastest growing trends relating to the future of mobile payment technology.
It is undoubtedly one of the best one-click digital payment solutions globally, and it’s mainly because mobile wallets offer speed, ease, and safety for customers.
In fact, the mobile wallet payments already reached $75 billion in 2016, and it is estimated to reach $500 billion by the end of 2020.
These data show annual growth of around 80% over 5 years.
In other words, mobile payments are growing speedily and the growth looks more to continue.
So, now that you know about the 6 mobile trends that will change the future of mobile payments, let’s take a look at the opportunities for digital wallet integration.
Opportunities for the Wallet Integration
It is clear that mobile wallets are slowly making a mark as a form of the payment system, but cash still remains to be a crucial need for customers’ lives.
Experts from different sectors including network operations, banks, express that, mobile payments will swiftly replace traditional wallets over time.
Recent studies show that consumers’ awareness has improved about the best mobile payment practices and services such as Apple pay, Google pay, Paytm, Phone pay, Amazon pay and Android pay.
Some of the factors that have made them successful include creating the mobile payment system safe, making it familiar with the consumers and enabling financial transactions and retail purchases.
Below are some more opportunities facing mobile wallet integration.
1 – Rural Areas
Rural areas always have a vast impact on the overall economic development of any nation.
In the same area, you will find that most people do not have bank accounts.
But, by using mobile wallets, people can now easily create bank accounts without physically going to a bank branch.
Mobile wallets also present lucidity in a business transaction in the rural area.
The increasing number of mobile and internet users in the rural area will make ways for the use of better digital payment solutions in no time.
2 – Payments and Trustworthiness
The secret to mobile payment usage is loyalty and trustworthiness.
It is clear that customers engage more with brands that they are loyal to.
Clearly, companies can gain consumer commitment by offering good discounts and rewards within their mobile wallets.
3 – Increase in Number of Smartphone Users
Recently, surveys were carried out to prove the growth of Smartphone ownership.
According to these surveys, 4 in 10 people now have a Smartphone. And the number is still growing as more people are likely to be owners of a Smartphone.
As the number of Smartphone owners is on the rise, so is the number of mobile payment users.
Therefore, it makes sense for businesses to shift towards mobile payments and allow their customers to pay online through mobile wallet applications.
4 – Increased Awareness Of Mobile Payment among Smartphone Users
Nowadays, people who own a Smartphone are becoming more and more interested in the cashless payment than ever before.
This is even more common in the younger generation and the more tech-savvy generation.
A survey pointed out that 3 in 10 people are open to using cashless payment if the situation arises.
In fact, many people in today’s world have shopping apps on their mobiles. They check prices, search products, purchase goods, and check receipts and coupons.
This shows that price figures and detailed information increase the satisfaction of consumers. And most of the consumers are now interested in using their mobile wallets instead of credit cards.
5 – Mobile Banking and Creative Mobile Payment Application
Today, many banks have now started providing mobile banking services to their customers.
A huge number of mobile users use this service to transfer money from one account to the other, check their balance and previous transactions.
These services basically act as a catalyst to promote the use of cashless payment.
Financial institutions have also come up with creative applications for transferring money.
Moreover, Mobile remote deposit capture is also one of the applications that are progressively gaining popularity.
Through this application, consumers can easily deposit their checks by taking a photo of the check and sending it electronically to the bank. This promotes efficiency and ease for the bank and the consumer.
And as a result, mobile banking consumers are more likely to adapt to mobile wallets than others.
Summing up
The future of mobile payment technology is clearly conquered by mobile wallets and mobile point of sale devices.
Mobile payment apps and some of the most popular digital payment options including peer to peer payment app are trustworthy, efficient, dependable and secure.
Therefore, they reduce the need for physical cards in different areas.
What’s more catchy is, mobile payment technologies are still developing and allow you to make payments on the go.
Near field communication (NFC), for instance, is rapidly changing the way clients make payments even on the move.
With these trends, the future of mobile technology is bright. While there is still much development to be done, but the direction is clear.
Author Bio
Nikunj Gundaniya, Product manager Digipay.guru, one of the leading Digital wallet app development company, which provides mobile finance application development services. He is a visionary leader whose flamboyant management style has given profitable results for the company. He believes in the mantra of giving 100% to his work.