Lately, a change has been happening in the financial sector. There has been a rise in disruptors to the traditional establishment. Consumers are moving away from conventional payment methods and switching to safer and more convenient digital alternatives. Here are five digital payment innovations that are transforming the way we use (and spend) money:
1. Apple Pay and Paypal
New payment methods like Apple Pay and PayPal, are transforming transactions processes. Their frictionless experiences have raised the bar in security and user experience. By the cooperation of the traditional banks and the new payment innovators, they have been able to produce solutions that add value to the shifting consumer demand and the banks' value chain. A core focus of payment innovation is security. Banks and payment executives must focus on this, in tandem with customer convenience to make any design succeed.
2. Global Storefront
Software and services turn almost any locale or any device into a potential POS.
Today, the line between face-to-face and remote payment environments has become so blurred in some markets that it nearly no longer exists.
The era of single-purpose transaction terminals is coming to a close. Software turns any locale, any device, into a point of sale. A transaction can now take place at any point in a shop-and-buy timeline; it can be physical or digital. What this means is that the point of sale needs to do more than process transactions.
Retailers around the world are also demanding more of their POS to support their daily business operations beyond single-purpose payments capabilities. New form factors—like multifunction devices running on open platforms—present new opportunities to displace cash.
The new POS is more than just a place for checkout—it's a launchpad for offers that can build relationships and reward customer loyalty.
Read more: Opinion: Check Subsidies Better, Faster and In Advance
3. QR Payments
Applications such as mVisa, have significantly allowed the growth of QR code payments around the world. The innovative mobile payment solution will enable consumers to pay for goods and services by scanning a QR code on a smartphone or entering a merchant number into their feature phones. In Belgium, we have experienced the rise of Payconiq, a system allowing small businesses to accept digital payments without having to integrate a card machine. The merchant doesn't need to put a minimum amount on the transaction unlike previously with the card machine due to the extra charges.
4. Paying in Messaging Applications
With messaging platforms like WeChat, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Line reaching billions of people, they create a new commercial ecosystem. The e-commerce industry now benefits from peer-to-peer transactions, and much more. Such as allowing consumers to purchase without leaving the application they are in. Messaging applications perfectly blend in with e-commerce as they are personalised and have your contact details. By leveraging social data, it can provide rich context and recommendations. Additionally, they run on a broad spectrum of hardware, creating a shallow barrier for entry.
With interest growing in peer-to-peer (P2P) payments, messaging apps offer an easy way to meet demand. Benefits for merchants include using the messaging platforms to display inventory, manage shopping experiences and engage with consumers by providing augmented support. For a brand, these tolls might be just as necessary as the actual sale of the product.
5. Sending Your Money Everywhere
Distributed ledgers can ease the transformation to low-friction, virtual coins bills.
A shared, networked virtual ledger, also called a "blockchain," can report transactions as they occur. The transaction data is shared; however, no longer copied, making it a useful platform for brand spanking new types of currencies and payment methods.
First applied to assist Bitcoin and different cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology might be accelerated if clients accept it and if it can generate traction on a bigger scale. The use cases for blockchain can span endlessly.
The dispensed ledger protocol provides a secure, borderless mechanism on which you can build complex transactions and price exchanges. With vital banks poised to begin issuing digital currencies, dispensed ledgers will assist accelerate the shift to a cashless future.