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Showing posts with label mobile payments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mobile payments. Show all posts
Wednesday, 2 February 2022
Monday, 31 January 2022
What are payments rails? - Decoding: Banks - Episode 2
Wednesday, 25 November 2020
The NEW Google Pay - Free Recorded Webinar
In November 2020, Google announced the relaunch of Google Pay. Google Pay, which up-to-now was a relatively simple tap-to-pay app, will now become a complete financial service competing with the likes of Venmo, Mint, Apple Pay, and even some banks.
The new Google Pay is already available through the Google Play store in the United States. The original and much less ambitious Google Pay has now been tagged as the "old version" and is still available.
This webinar (recorded live 24 November 2020) is an introduction to all the features of the NEW Google Pay as well as a comparison to the old version.
This webinar will give you an advance look at what you can expect to get from Google's latest version of this popular app that already has 150 million users in 30 countries. Find out about the three tabs, "PAY", "EXPLORE", & "INSIGHTS"; as well as what "PLEX" has to offer when it launches in 2021.
To view this webinar CLICK HERE
Wednesday, 7 October 2020
World Payments Report for 2020 just published by Capgemini
Capgemimi has just announced the publication of its “World Payments Report 2020”. The report is the leading source for data, trends and insights on global and regional non-cash payments, the key regulatory and industry initiatives, and today’s dynamic payments environment especially in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new edition analyzes how the payments industry can respond to evolving retail and B2B customer expectations and highlights the need for payment firms to rapidly prioritize technology transformation in order to become digital masters and stay competitive.
You can download it directly from Capgemini. Click HERE.
Saturday, 16 May 2020
COVID-19 and the Payments Industry
In just a couple of months the COVID-19 virus has change the world. How we work and how we live has changed and probably will never be the same again.
Did you miss our free webinar? No problem. Watch it now - on You Tube.
In this presentation, we examine the effect that the COVID-19 pandemic is having on the Payments Industry and explore some possible future outcomes in the areas of banking, fintechs, the cashless society, mobile wallets, online shopping, customer behavior, and more.
Want more details on our online training products? Check out the below URLs.
Stanley Epstein's courses
Richard Barr's courses
Did you miss our free webinar? No problem. Watch it now - on You Tube.
In this presentation, we examine the effect that the COVID-19 pandemic is having on the Payments Industry and explore some possible future outcomes in the areas of banking, fintechs, the cashless society, mobile wallets, online shopping, customer behavior, and more.
Stanley Epstein's courses
Richard Barr's courses
Tuesday, 22 November 2016
Mobile payments trends report shows mainstream adoption is a long way off
When Apple Pay was launched, many analysts believed this would be the start of powerful mobile payments trends. They felt that Apple was the key to the mainstream adoption of mobile wallets. That said, that wallet app has now been available for about two years and adoption has been slower than anticipated.
Some analysts are now saying that the start of the widespread use of mobile payments won’t happen for some time.
READ MORE>>
Saturday, 20 August 2016
Are mobile payments a fintech quagmire?
oOOo
A while back I wrote an article in which I expressed my concerns about the future of mobile payments; “Why I am worried about the future of mobile payments”.
In essence, the problem that I focused on is this - there are just too many forms of mobile payments being offered by too many organisations and by too many banks. This approach creates confusion. It come about because everyone is bent on promoting their own form of payment mechanism in the hope that it will be the next “big thing”.
There is nothing new in this approach. Ever since banks and technology began to come together beginning in the 1970’s, there has existed this weird notion that if a bank can create something unique they would be able to capture the market, beat the competition and make a fortune.
Of course this notion is totally false. We have seen this proved on countless past occasions whenever new innovations have just failed to take off, simply because banks failed to note that the key to success is co-operation.
If they cooperate everybody wins. If they don’t cooperate we end up with multiple failures.
If there are too many payment mechanisms and too many payment apps all that will be achieved will be a multitude of duplicate systems. These systems will often be inadequate in their own right too as they fail to adequately address user needs. These users will be totally frustrated as too will be the retailers. Very rapidly these mechanisms will fall into disuse and be abandoned.
The key to success is a single simple uniform and universal mechanism available to all users, sellers, banks and technology vendors.
So now I fast forward from these sentiments which I jotted down in March 2015.
In recent weeks two articles have grabbed my attention. Both point to the sorry state of mobile payments today.
The one article is “Mobile banking adoption growth is slower than you think”. Here Stephen Greer makes it clear that there is a disconnection between the hype surrounding mobile banking and the reality of how consumers actually interact with financial institutions. He points to the facts that a recent iteration of the Federal Reserve’s “Consumer and Mobile Financial Services 2016” survey report shows that mobile banking adoption is really slow. Among the reasons for the slowdown is the fact that 86% of respondents say that they don’t use mobile banking because they can achieve their banking needs without it. Many consumers are perfectly fine solely using online banking or ATM’s or branches.
Their reasons for non-adoption are that many apps are not mature enough (39% said the screen was too small; 20% said apps were too difficult to use). And what applies to mobile banking applies to mobile payments as well.
The second article was even more damning. “This new app proves mobile payments are a mess” states that basically there was a time when to make a purchase was a simple process. You gave the cashier money or a credit card and you would get your purchases and maybe some change and maybe a receipt and off you would go. But today in many places that have embraced mobile payments, a multitude of the different services and apps has left the process at the checkout counter a confusing mess.
Different stores accept different payment mechanisms. This means that users have to have a multitude of different apps on their mobile phones as they don’t all work the same way. This leads to confusion and delays to the frustration of all concerned.
Different retail outlets have joined the fray as well. In the U.S. Walmart refuses to accept Apple Pay because it wants to promote its own mobile wallet app.
So the intervening year and a half since I expressed my concerns have left me even more skeptical then I was then. No one, either banks or retailers seem to see how this misguided notion of beating the “competition” is not working. In the end the people who matter, the consumer, are going to turn their backs on this disorganized mess.
And that would really be a pity.
In essence, the problem that I focused on is this - there are just too many forms of mobile payments being offered by too many organisations and by too many banks. This approach creates confusion. It come about because everyone is bent on promoting their own form of payment mechanism in the hope that it will be the next “big thing”.
There is nothing new in this approach. Ever since banks and technology began to come together beginning in the 1970’s, there has existed this weird notion that if a bank can create something unique they would be able to capture the market, beat the competition and make a fortune.
Of course this notion is totally false. We have seen this proved on countless past occasions whenever new innovations have just failed to take off, simply because banks failed to note that the key to success is co-operation.
If they cooperate everybody wins. If they don’t cooperate we end up with multiple failures.
If there are too many payment mechanisms and too many payment apps all that will be achieved will be a multitude of duplicate systems. These systems will often be inadequate in their own right too as they fail to adequately address user needs. These users will be totally frustrated as too will be the retailers. Very rapidly these mechanisms will fall into disuse and be abandoned.
The key to success is a single simple uniform and universal mechanism available to all users, sellers, banks and technology vendors.
So now I fast forward from these sentiments which I jotted down in March 2015.
In recent weeks two articles have grabbed my attention. Both point to the sorry state of mobile payments today.
The one article is “Mobile banking adoption growth is slower than you think”. Here Stephen Greer makes it clear that there is a disconnection between the hype surrounding mobile banking and the reality of how consumers actually interact with financial institutions. He points to the facts that a recent iteration of the Federal Reserve’s “Consumer and Mobile Financial Services 2016” survey report shows that mobile banking adoption is really slow. Among the reasons for the slowdown is the fact that 86% of respondents say that they don’t use mobile banking because they can achieve their banking needs without it. Many consumers are perfectly fine solely using online banking or ATM’s or branches.
Their reasons for non-adoption are that many apps are not mature enough (39% said the screen was too small; 20% said apps were too difficult to use). And what applies to mobile banking applies to mobile payments as well.
The second article was even more damning. “This new app proves mobile payments are a mess” states that basically there was a time when to make a purchase was a simple process. You gave the cashier money or a credit card and you would get your purchases and maybe some change and maybe a receipt and off you would go. But today in many places that have embraced mobile payments, a multitude of the different services and apps has left the process at the checkout counter a confusing mess.
Different stores accept different payment mechanisms. This means that users have to have a multitude of different apps on their mobile phones as they don’t all work the same way. This leads to confusion and delays to the frustration of all concerned.
Different retail outlets have joined the fray as well. In the U.S. Walmart refuses to accept Apple Pay because it wants to promote its own mobile wallet app.
So the intervening year and a half since I expressed my concerns have left me even more skeptical then I was then. No one, either banks or retailers seem to see how this misguided notion of beating the “competition” is not working. In the end the people who matter, the consumer, are going to turn their backs on this disorganized mess.
And that would really be a pity.
Sunday, 19 June 2016
Webinar 30 June - Mobile Payments - From M-Pesa to Apple Pay - Critical Success Factors
This webinar offers a brief history of payments and detail basic mobile payment models in operation today.
Aimed at providing a deeper understanding of the structuring of mobile payments this webinar will assist both operating staff as well as decision-makers to find their way in this complex new payments landscape. Of all the thousands of mobile payment schemes in operation across the globe many are doomed to failure. Yet there are some critical success factors that point the way to mobile payments success. These factors can be drawn from those few that have succeeded. This webinar will highlight these critical success factors, ensuring that you too can get it right the first time.
DETAILS HERE>>
Monday, 1 February 2016
Mobile payments – why the latest technology may not be such a good idea just yet
In a recent article (‘Reflections on the fintech revolution’) I referred to technology vendors who constantly harassed the financial services industry with a range of new technologies and tech-solutions leaving it up to the banks to find the problem for their solution to solve.
The reality was that there are dozens of problems and for the most part they are all partially solvable by these new technologies. In truth however many of these solutions are simply just not viable. This is either as a pure business proposition or because somewhere along the line the technology is not quite as perfect as one is led to believe.
Just look at the modern banking scene with its miracle device – the mobile phone.
The mobile phone has, among many other uses given us mobile banking and mobile payments. Many people confuse mobile banking with mobile payments, so let’s put some of the myths to rest before we take another step.
Mobile payments are having either stored value or an electronic version of your credit/debit card on your mobile phone. Nothing really new here – just a different human/system interface in the form of your mobile phone.
Mobile banking is simply putting your old Internet or online-banking onto your mobile as well. Add to it some of the abilities that the technologies on your smartphone gives you, for example a digital camera to image your cheque for deposit, or you for that matter to have a live chat with your own personal banker, plus all the old standbys of bank balances, statements, transfers and payments and the like and – hey presto! We now have a ‘new’ animal called ‘digital banking’ (which of course can all be done from your old fashioned desktop or shiny new tablet too).
About a year ago Apple Inc. announced the development of its mobile payment solution, Apple Pay. Apple Pay is a mobile payment and digital wallet service that allows users to make payments using limited range of Apple iPhone models. Apple Pay will work with Visa's PayWave, MasterCard's PayPass, and American Express's ExpressPay contactless terminals. Users do have to preregister their credit cards for inclusion in the service. Once this is done the service allows use of the credit card or cards without the plastic needing to be present.
Apple Pay is not a new payment system but simply a new way of presenting ones credit/debit card with some high tech validation routines thrown in.
So-far-so good. No need for bulky physical wallets crammed with dozens of plastic cards. Stick them in your iPhone and you are set to go…or are you?
So you don’t have an iPhone (or the right model). Well, two options present themselves. Buy an iPhone or wait until a similar Android mobile payment mechanism appears. Samsung has just unveiled ‘Samsung Pay’. While similar it is not the same as Apple Pay; and it has yet to be launched. No doubt many Samsung mobile models won’t work with their new payment service. So one way or another it’s going to cost you a lot of money.
Other gremlins are lurking too. Battery life on your iPhone (or other smartphone) could prove to be a major headache. After the recent UK launch of Apple Pay TfL (Transport for London) issued a warning to tube, train and bus passengers paying with Apple Pay on iPhones and Apple Watches not to let their batteries go flat or they could get stuck at gates and face penalty fares. Other problems were in evidence too like the speed at which Apple Pay operates and the time it took for the system to authenticate the user and open the gates. This is slower than the less high-tech Oyster card.
As for me? Well I am going to hang onto my credit card a while longer yet.
Wednesday, 20 January 2016
What is a payment system?
What is a payment system? I am reminded of lengthy debates around the office on just this question - and the heated and, at times, passionate discussion that ensued. My antagonist, who is also my partner, took one view and I took the other. The thrust and parry of the dialogue ebbed and flowed … long into the night over innumerable cups of coffee.
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) definition of a payment system states; “A payment system consists of a set of instruments, banking procedures and, typically, interbank funds transfer systems that ensure the circulation of money”. (From “A glossary of terms used in payments and settlement systems”, Committee on Payment & Settlement Systems. BIS, Basel, Switzerland).
Armed with this definition we can examine the components that make up what we so glibly refer to as a “payment system”. This examination will help us see what a payment system really is.
The BIS definition focuses on “... instruments, banking procedures … interbank funds transfer systems”. Let us examine each in a little more detail.
Instruments – a mere half century ago this was easy to define. Payment instruments were basically cash and cheques. Today however there is a vast range of payment instruments. Apart from the cheque and cash we now have giro-payments, electronic transfers, internet payments, debit orders, standing orders, credit cards, debit cards, electronic “cash”, mobile payments and so on. And the nature is each is vastly different from the other.
Banking procedures – these cover a huge area. Anything that is not an instrument or that does not relate to how that instrument is moved, must, by definition, be related to a banking procedure. Here there are internal bank procedures (such as how a branch initiates payments), payments systems rules, the agreements (such as those between banks, between banks and their customers, between banks and the clearinghouse), national and international payment laws and payment regulations. We must also not forget the actual operational procedures, either manual or technology driven within individual banks that are used to initiate, verify and process the payment. All of these procedures are simply to get the payment ready for the next step, to move it to a transfer system.
Interbank transfer systems – this covers local and national clearinghouses (for physical instruments such as paper), ACHs (automated clearinghouses for the electronic ones), message carriers (such as S.W.I.F.T. – Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Transactions), switches for ATM transactions, the national and international credit card networks and so on. Missing from the BIS definition is the intrabank systems that give effect to payment instrument transfers within the same bank. These are transfer systems too.
The key word in the definition is “set” - for all these components have to be combined to make up a complete unit which achieves the desired outcome – just like a tea set with its cups, saucers, tea-pot, strainer (or perhaps a tea-bag holder), milk jug and sugar bowl are just the thing for carrying out correct ritual for brewing and serving tea.
Sure, one can have tea without all this but it’s not really the same.
The analogy, while useful as a description ends here - in a payment system the missing components give rise to a serious problem – Risk.
Risk takes on many forms; credit risk, liquidity risk, legal risk, operational risk, settlement risk, systemic risk and put the whole fabric of the payment system in danger.
Despite this we often associate the word “system” with only the technology; the bits and bites, the hardware and the software. We tend to forget that there is a lot more that goes into making up a payment system.
So the next time that you write out a cheque or take that credit card from your wallet, or casually use you smartphone give a thought to the process that you are initiating in a complex structure that we take so for granted - the payment system.
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