Can you imagine a world in which your wallet can be made useless? There will be no cash, and no cards. You may find it difficult to image the scenario, but the fact is that you will be able to witness this into reality in the near future. In 2016, retailers are focusing on mobile payment systems to allow the customers pay for their products and services using a quick swipe. The buyers can also tap at the payment terminal using their mobiles or a smartwatch.
More and more consumers are shifting to mobile payment methods day by day. If you own a retail business, you should understand the major drivers in the market and explore new ways to adopt mobile payment systems.
Let’s talk about some of the major factors that influence the rapid adoption of mobile payment methods:
1. Enhanced security features
When we talk about mobile payments, security is the king. As the mobile systems evolve at a lightning pace, technology companies and financial institutions are looking for new ways that can make mobile payment experience easier and safer for the consumers. There are several precautions such organizations can adopt to offer enhanced protection to the users. One of such methods is tokenization. It allows transactions to happen without the exchange of sensitive information like credit card details. In 2016, we can expect that the evolution of such processes will have a great impact on the growth of mobile payments and enhance customer confidence in this technology.
With any new technology, especially where money is concerned, it may take some time for the customers to trust new features and services. Technology companies and financial institutions can start building trust among the consumers in two ways. Companies would have to invest a large sum of money for mobile fraud detection and prevention. Companies would need to make sure that the customer’s hard earned money is safe and secure. As of now, mobile payments are considered to be a new method for processing transactions and security is of utmost importance in this evolution.
2. Retailers will be bound to upgrade their payment hardware
Gone are the days when the retailers used payment terminals that required a swipe and a signature. Merchants are shifting towards chip and pin hardware terminals now. If the merchants haven’t adopted the new payment hardware terminals, they can be penalized severely. October 2015 was a deadline for retailers and any fraudulent transactions would be the liability of the retailer. So, if you are a retailer still using old terminals for payment, you would need to ensure that there are no fraudulent debit cards or credit card transactions. As millions of retailers have adopted the mobile payment technology, it’s time for you to embrace it before it gets too late.
3. Big players will join the mobile payments race
Tech giants like Apple, Google, and Samsung are likely to embrace mobile payments revolution in 2016. This would surely create a serious buzz for mobile payments. This will increase customer confidence and the transactions made using a phone or smartwatch will grow exponentially. Apple Pay, Google’s Wallet, and Samsung Pay will be seen all over in retail outlets across the globe.
The final word on Mobile Payments in 2016
In today’s lightning paced business world, retailers are shifting their attention from traditional payment applications to mobile enabled services. Customers can expect payments to happen quickly and easily. The increasing speed of things will improve the efficiency of transactions also. 2016 will be a huge year in the world of mobile payments. Let’s look forward to more of it.
