Tag: mobile payments

Ingenico Group compiles predictions being made by prominent mobile commerce players

With January coming to a close, predictions concerning how mobile payments will fare in 2016 are beginning to emerge. Ingenico Group, one of the world’s largest suppliers of mobile payments terminals, has aggregated the predictions coming from many of the groups most involved in mobile commerce. These predictions highlight the trends that are beginning to emerge in the mobile commerce space, which may go a long way in determining whether or not consumers will actually use their mobile devices to purchase products.

Mobile point-of-sale systems will be more common in the coming months

Creditcall, a payment service provider, predicts that mobile point-of-sale systems will become more common throughout the world. This is being driven by the number of credit card companies that are including new chips in their cards. Retailers are also driving the growing adoption of mobile point-of-sale systems, but they are also beginning to use mobile technology to process transactions made by consumers. More merchants are expected to begin using devices, like the iPad, to expedite the checkout process.

NFC technology is beginning to gain more support from retailers and other businesses

NFC technology is expected to see significant growth, in terms of adoption, this year. This technology allows for digital information to be transmitted over short distances. NFC has made up much of the mobile payments environment for several years and it is becoming more important for retailers to embrace this technology in order to effectively engage consumers. Retailers are also feeling increased pressure to embrace omni-channel strategies. Ingenico Group predicts that more retailers will adopt such strategies to provide better services and engagement to consumers.

Security remains one of the greatest challenges facing mobile payments

Security will likely be a prominent focus for those involved in mobile payments this year. Many consumers avoid mobile payments services because of concern that their financial information could be stolen and exploited. Organizations invested in mobile commerce are likely to make use of new technology to ensure consumer protection. An increased focus on security may ensure that consumers become more comfortable with the concept of mobile payments.

The bank from the United Kingdom let it slip that the mobile payments service will be available in March.

U.K. bank, Barclays, has accidentally let it slip that Apple Pay is not just headed to its customers but that it is known exactly when it will be arriving and, according to the large financial institution, that will be in March.

The bank been the only major financial institution in the U.K. that hasn’t supported Apple’s mobile payments.

Customers at Barclays were the only ones with accounts at a large bank in the country that didn’t have the NFC technology based mobile payments from Apple Pay available to them. The service first became available last year in July, but the bank chose not to support those contactless payments for its iPhone carrying customers. However, the bank has now inadvertently provided confirmation that it will be arriving in March.

It was the CEO who accidentally let the release date of Apple Pay slip, when replying to an impatient customer’s email.

Ashok Vaswani, the CEO of Barclays, replied to an impatient customer’s email on January 12, giving confirmation that it would become possible to use an iPhone to complete mobile payments transactions within “60 to 75 days” of that time. That slip was all it took to provide a solid idea of when Apple’s mobile wallet would become available to customers of the bank as that is the only wallet app that is supported by the iPhone.

If Vaswani’s range of dates is accurate, it will mean that the iPhone’s mobile wallet will become available to Barclays customers at some point between March 13 and March 28. Still, despite the slip, the bank has yet to actually issue an official confirmation of the dates.

This will have Barclays joining Lloyds, Halifax, and every other large bank in the United Kingdom in offering Apple Pay to iPhone using customers. The reason for the delay in supporting the mobile wallet has not been offered by the bank. That said, it has been implied that there has been a disagreement between Apple and the bank with regards to the terms of supporting the service.