Mobile banking and money transfer has still not
quite achieved the delicate balance of ease of use and safety of service. There
is a reluctance by many to download the necessary apps or input personal
information like bank details or names and addresses. With the release of new
systems and apps however, we could be on the brink of a mobile payment revolution.
MOBILE PAYMENT
The recently launched Paym scheme looks to be a turning point for how we think about mobile payment.
All major banks have included (or will include) a Paym option in their own
mobile apps which allows users to pay people by entering their phone number.
Once registered, you simply need to type in a recipients number to be able to
transfer money. This cuts out the need to ask for account numbers and sort
codes, and as Paym is embedded within your banking app, it means that payments
can be made securely.
This could really push mobile payments into large
scale usage as the simplicity could attract those that don’t currently use the
system. Alternatively, if this doesn’t prompt people to use mobile payment then
it’s difficult to know what will.
CONTACTLESS PAYMENT
We could maybe see a widespread adoption of
contactless payment in the UK too. There has been an indication that consumers
are willing to pay for goods using mobile apps as Starbucks’ in house app has 10 million users. By downloading the app to their phone, customers can hold up their
screen to a scanner which then deducts the cost of their coffee from their
virtual wallet. This must be topped up, but if there are funds available in the
account, payment is made much quicker.
EARLY ADOPTION
Imperial College London has become the first
University in the UK to implement mobile payment in their retail and food
outlets. The app Yoyo allows students to top up their accounts and scan the QR
code on screen to deduct the amount from their Yoyo account. The appeal for
people using these apps is not just about speed and ease of use, but also the
benefits they receive from retailers. Offers and rewards are helping to promote
the method of payment, but what will really encourage people to adopt these type
of transactions will be one or two widely used apps.
THE FUTURE
At present there are not enough popular apps and
those that do want to use contactless payment are spread across a number of
different apps. Once one or two apps strike the balance between safety and
usability and come to the forefront then we may see more people trusting mobile
apps as a payment method. There are even predictions that contactless payment could make its way to the wearablemarket too. Fancy paying for
a coffee with your smartwatch, or a few nods of the head to transfer money with
Google Glass? It could be here sooner than you’d think.
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