Since consumers are now surrounded by a wealth of technology and expect businesses to lead the way with innovation. Many organizations have finally realized that the key to success in this digital world is to evolve continuously to remain competitive. Similarly, most banks and financial institutions are trying to better understand the disruptive potential of emerging technologies and how they affect financial landscape.
The trend leading to a cashless future is real
The emergence of digital technology is leading to a faster and more convenient payment solution all over the world. Heavy investments in fin-tech over the past decade by leading financial and tech giants are redefining the payment strategies as we know it. Mobile banking, social media service and analytics, NFC payments, bio metrics, digital wallets have changed the way payments are done. Recent trends show that digital money kept in mobile wallets will soon replace physical cash and even credit cards. Explosion of payment applications is a positive move that democratizes payment and shows that one size- fits all approach no longer valid.
For most people in Europe their phone is already their wallet, especially among millennials and Gen Z. There is a continuous customer demand for a more convenient payment method in Asian countries as well. The payments industry has recently seen the entry of diverse non-bank digital players that are presenting competition for banks. The prominence of smartphone as a payment channel and rapidly evolving customer expectations has enabled many organizations, especially banks to rethink about the existing payment infrastructure.
The truly global phenomenon of smart transactions
The rapid adaptation of smartphones and tablets is leading to a convergence payment and transaction world. These changes in customer behavior are fueling into digital wallets, cardless transactions and real time payments, in a growing list of countries around the world. If you forget your wallet or purse when you go out with our friends, you can simply transfer some cash electronically from your phone. Banks and Businesses in Asia should also anticipate this change while being ready to capitalize on the opportunities that change offers.
Banks historically have the advantage of accessing their customer’s data to aid analytical innovation by means of segmentation and profiling. But Innovative digital financial firms have refined data from new sources (social media, behavioral data) combined with analytics to give them unparalleled advantage to identify and serve their customers better. Manipulating these rich data chunks are the first stage for innovations in products and services, particularly in non-card, real-time payments.
The industry is currently going through a wave of infrastructure modernization at scale. When combined with investments in analytics and innovative loyalty programs, this data can be used to payment providers to more efficiently entrench their value propositions and improve customer retention.
I future a person will have a virtual credit card in their smartphones along with driver’s license, passport and other important documents that uses multiple bio metrics to identify him/ her. The future of Payments in Digital era is disruptive, banks and financial institutions have no choice but to adhere to this rapid change.
