Venmo is finding success among a younger generation
Venmo, a payments firm based in New York, may become the flagship mobile commerce facilitator among millenials. Younger generations are finding physical currency to be bothersome, opting instead to use digital currency and store their financial information online. The massive popularity of mobile technology has begun causing a major shift in the commerce world, and millenials choosing to forsake physical money are at the heart of this shift. Firms like Venmo may stand to benefit from this trend.
Younger generations often cause a shift in technology and society and mobile commerce is coming out on top
This is not the first time that a younger generation of people have caused a major shift in society. Traditional telephone land lines are no longer popular thanks to the growth of smartphones, which received strong support from young consumers. Young people are also abandoning traditional television services, opting instead to get the majority of their entertainment online in some form. Mobile commerce has managed to find a great deal of success in various sectors, and young consumers have helped secure this success.
Venmo processed $314 million during the first quarter of 2014
Venmo has processed some $314 million in mobile payments during the first quarter of this year, a 62% increase in the payments it processed in the prior quarter. The Venmo application has become quite popular with younger consumers, with many of these people using the app to send money to their friends and pay for products online. One thing that sets Venmo apart from its competitors in the mobile commerce field is that there are no fees associated with transferring money through the mobile application.
Some mobile payments firms are finding more success than others
Venmo is not the only mobile payments firm that has found success by engaging younger consumers. There is no singular platform that these consumers favor, however, and they frequently jump from one mobile payments service to the next. This fickle nature has made it difficult for some firms to find lasting success in their competitive market.
MasterCard is offering a similar service with its MasterPass platform. The MasterPass application is meant to help make e-commerce more convenient to consumers, but MasterCard is not likely to try to form a direct connection with people using the app. Instead, the company is likely to continue focusing its efforts on providing services to its business partners, allowing them to connect with mobile consumers more dynamically. For MasterCard, creating something new is not the priority. The company wants to see its MasterPass service integrated into existing platforms.