Following a breakthrough year and an increased adoption rate, mobile payment systems prepare for an even better year ahead. Since Apple Pay launched, others have jumped into the race to be the leader in mobile payments, including Android Pay, Samsung Pay and even Chase and Walmart with their own branded pay offerings. This market saturation has forced retailers to adapt and install contactless terminals in stores. This push will also shape what features and functions consumers will demand in the coming year from mobile payments.
According to Jon Squire, CEO and founder of CardFree, San Francisco:
Consumers can expect to see more movement toward taking the focus off the actual payments process – including payment types, payment technology and POS confusion – and more focus on providing value added services like real-time offers, the ability to order ahead and skip the line and/or loyalty programs that have meaning to the mobile customer.
One way to increase the engagement of users is to provide more value than the actual convenience of using a mobile wallet. Targeted deals solve that problem. For example, a retailer can add a monetary reward into a user’s mobile wallet for simply using it for a first time purchase. Another way is to combine the efforts of a beacon strategy to offer promotions and specials directly into a user’s wallet when they enter a store to entice them to make a purchase.
Because of the ability to offer incentives like this, you will see that retailers will jump on board with their own mobile wallets, like Walmart. Walmart Pay was the first retail branded wallet. But now Target and Starbucks has added their name to this list. Starbucks’ success with their mobile pay app helped launch this latest endeavor into the mobile payments space.
And not to be left out, Samsung Pay has announced new support for their mobile wallet. Samsung also said that their mobile wallet will now be added to lower priced models of their smartphones and mobile devices. Samsung expects their mobile payments system to be available sometime this year.
Want to stay on top of the latest in mobility developments? Receive them in your inbox weekly. Sign up now.
