Today, we’re highlighting mobile payments, innovations, trends and what’s new in mobile payments around the world. Because of new technology in developing countries, many payments innovations do not follow the traditional development cycle of established markets. As a result, they often preview product introductions that follow later in mainstream markets.
2016, was a year of mobile payment launches including CVS, Kohl’s, Walmart, Citi Pay, Chase Pay, Visa and MasterCard. Worldwide mobile payments are expected to total $780 billion by 2020, according to Taiwan-based research firm TrendForce.
A new Javelin report mobile says retail payments will hit $180 billion this year and $410.5 billion by 2020. The problem will be consumer confusion over too many payment choices. Javelin predicts mobile payments will converge to simplify consumer payment choices. Fiserv noted only 16% of the US population had used a mobile wallet while 33% of “late millennials” and 36% of “early millennials” had done so.
Pew Research reports 24% of Americans make no purchases using cash during a typical week while 24% use cash only. Australia will overhaul payments to real-time payments in the second half of 2017 – a big step forward. The Indian government’s new Aadhaar universal payment app will eliminate plastic cards, point of sale machines and multiple apps allowing consumers to pay with a 12-digit number on their smartphone.
New York City’s new ParkNYC app won’t help you find a parking space in the city but it will let you easily pay a parking meter with your smartphone and let you know when it nears expiry. In China, Alibaba’s Alipay launched a Pokémon style game that lets consumers receive cash gifts in time for the Chinese New Year (Jan 28).
Mobile Payments Today: 2016 in review
While 2016 wasn’t the year of years for mobile payments, we did have a lot to talk about. One of the bigger takeaways from 2016 is that banks and retailers want to control mobile experiences, payments included.
This year was one that saw CVS, Kohl’s and Wal-Mart launch a payment feature within each of their respective mobile apps. Chase Pay finally launched more than a year after its initial announcement and Citi Pay came out of nowhere. Visa and MasterCard each announced initiatives to help banks play a larger role in mobile payments.
Banks and retailers have realized they need to be part of the mobile-payments conversation and not leave everything to Android Pay, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and PayPal. But even those providers made improvements to their products to make them more attractive to consumers. Via campfire-capital.com
Global Mobile Payment Market Expected to Approach $800 Billion in 2017
Digital transactions accounted for less than 10% of all U.S. retail sales, and that number will only increase to around 10% by 2020. Mobile transaction payments are expected to reach a total of just $27.67 billion in 2016 and grow to $314 billion by 2020, according to research firm eMarketer. Worldwide mobile payments are expected to total $780 billion by 2020, according to Taiwan-based research firm TrendForce. According to senior research manager Kelly Hsieh, Apple and Samsung have an advantage:
Among the smartphone makers that are also developing their mobile payment businesses this year, Apple and Samsung are two brands that have an advantage over their competitors. Since Android has over 50% of the mobile OS market share worldwide, Google also has an opportunity to build up an extensive mobile payment ecosystem. Google has recently accelerated the international expansion of its digital wallet platform Android Pay and made a big step forward this December by announcing partnership with major Japanese e-commerce and Internet company Rakuten. Via finance.yahoo.com
The Mobile Payment Market Ahead: Big Profits, Confusing Choices
The report offered one downright explosive truth bomb: mobile retail payments would hit $180 billion this year, and by 2020, would hit $410.5 billion. That, however, wasn’t all that the report had to offer, as there may be some problems ahead too, even if they’re the good kind of problem to have.
The Javelin report went on to note that, over the course of the next two years, a vast array of new choices will emerge and descend on the market like a horde of ravenous wolves descends on an open-air butcher shop. In fact, Javelin projects that the sheer number of new mobile wallets and mobile payment systems in the field will be so vast that the average consumer will get confused. Via paymentweek.com
U.S. Mobile Online Payments to Reach $319 Billion by 2020: Report
Mobile online payments will continue to dwarf mobile proximity payments in stores even as both grow significantly into the next decade, according to a new report. Mobile payments made through browsers and apps will surge from more than $122 billion last year to nearly $319 billion in 2020, according to the report from Javelin Strategy & Research. During the same span, mobile proximity payments will rise from $10 billion to nearly $92 billion. Javelin said it expects the two mobile modes to converge as, first, mobile online payment capability and then P2P payments are included in digital wallets that, until now, were primarily used for proximity payments at the point of sale. The San Francisco-based research firm expects this to benefit issuers offering payment apps that make all three types of mobile payment possible in one place.
“This mobile wallet ‘convergence’ will create value by simplifying users’ choices when it comes time to pay,” said Emmett Higdon, director of mobile for Javelin Strategy & Research. “Banks and card issuers have a unique opportunity to simplify the purchasing experience by offering a single branded wallet solution that brings together mobile payments, money movement functionality, and account management capabilities.” Via cardnotpresent.com
The 2 Sides Of Mobile Payments: $92 Billion Vs. $296 Billion
This mobile payments convergence will take place in two waves, with mobile online retail payments first, followed by consolidation of person-to-person functionality into mobile wallets that currently work primarily in-store, according to the report. Much like consumers use Amazon’s one-click checkout, consumers ultimately will gravitate to similarly streamlined mobile wallet options to pay for everything everywhere.
While the $92 billion projection of mobile proximity payments is substantial, it is only a fraction of the amount of money that will pass through mobile phones via app and browser payments. Javelin pegs that number at $161 billion this year climbing to $296 billion in three years. Via mediapost.com
Millennials could drive mobile wallet adoption
The study found that, overall, just 16% of the general population had used a mobile wallet. But 33% of “late millennials” and 36% of “early millennials” had done so. That’s a significant boost, and could point to even higher adoption coming down the line as young millennials and Gen-Z gain spending power. Via businessinsider.com
The ‘cashless economy’ and new modes of payment
Today, 24% of Americans indicate that they make no purchases using cash during a typical week. At the same time, an identical share of Americans (24%) say they use cash for all or almost all of their typical purchases, and about half of Americans (51%) fall somewhere in the middle: They say they typically make some purchases using cash and some purchases in other ways.
A plurality (if not outright majority) of most demographic groups indicate that they tend to mix and match cash and other modes of payment – but some groups are less reliant on cash than others. For instance, those with household incomes of $75,000 or more per year are substantially more likely than those earning less than $30,000 per year to say that they do not make any purchases using cash in a typical week (34% vs. 15%); conversely, lower-income Americans are much more likely to say that they make nearly all of their purchases in cash (38% vs. 10%). Blacks also tend to be more firmly rooted in the cash economy: 42% of blacks use cash for nearly all of their purchases in a typical week, compared with 28% of Latinos and 19% of whites. Via pewinternet.org
Real time payments overhaul coming in 2017
While it has received little public attention so far, the system’s launch is a sign of Australia’s system of digital money and payments finally catching up with, and surpassing that of many other countries. Australians have embraced electronic payments, but the infrastructure that sits behind some of these systems lags that of other countries.
The RBA, which pushed the banks to develop and fund the NPP, said in 2012 that Australia’s system of payments between bank accounts looked “a bit dated,” lagging less developed nations such as Mexico. Once the new system is switched on, Australia will leapfrog other nations and join only Sweden and Mexico in having “real-time” payments. Via Sydney Morning Herald
Aadhaar payment app set to simplify digital transactions
The Indian government is coming up with an ‘Aadhaar Payment App’ that could silence digital payments critics. The new app would do away with plastic cards and the point of sale machines once believed to be essential for a less cash society.
The app, to be launched on December 25, would also eliminate the fee payments for service providers like card companies such as Mastercard or Visa, which has been a stumbling block in merchants switching to digital payments making it affordable to even merchants in remote villages, said people familiar with the development. All that it needs is an Android phone with the merchant. Via economictimes.indiatimes.com
Four things you must know about Aadhaar Payment App
Now there is no need to download and make payments through various digital apps. Aadhaar Payment App is an initiative by the government for making cashless transactions through your multiple bank accounts. The universal app offers you to ease out your payments through any bank account without using the internet facility. The unique 12-digit number, which carries your identity, is needed to do payments at the various merchant who is accepting payments through the Aadhaar card.
What are its benefits for a customer? You do not require a debit card or credit card for payments You do not need POS machine to swipe the card. You do not need the internet to connect to any app to register. You do not need multiple apps like digital wallets to make any payment. Via financialexpress.com
Newser takes ParkNYC mobile parking app for a ride in Manhattan
Working as a street reporter for New York’s Hometown Newspaper, avoiding the occasional parking ticket is about as easy as winning the lotto. But the city’s new app, ParkNYC, lets drivers pay for metered parking straight from their smartphones.
The idea is you no longer have to run to feed the meter when your time runs out. Drivers can now pay for parking with phones in parts of Manhattan. The best feature to me was that the app automatically warned me that my meter was about to expire 15 and five minutes before the time ran out. Phew! Via nydailynews.com
Chinese tech giant Alibaba launches Pokemon Go-type app for ‘catching’ cash
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is giving Niantic’s hugely popular Pokemon Go a run for its money with a new game that awards players with envelopes filled with cash instead of cute virtual creatures. Alipay, China’s most popular mobile payment app, has launched a location-based, augmented-reality app feature that allows players to collect virtual red packets containing real money.
The idea is based on the tradition of the Lunar New Year, which kicks off on January 28, where people give each other gifts of red envelopes called ‘hongbao’ containing money. Via rt.com
Much more mobile ahead
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