3 payment trends to watch

1. Mobility or Death

It’s no secret that mobile technology is at the forefront of every recent and up-and-coming innovation. According to Pew Research Center, in 2015, approximately nine out of 10 Americans owned a cell phone, and they not only use their devices for communication, but they are an essential part of their lives, used to conduct many of the tasks that were once relegated to a desktop computer or in-person—such as paying their bills.

As you look ahead to potential payment technology investments, mobile capabilities should be at the top of your check list.

2. The Diverse Pool of Competition

Financial institutions are no longer just competing with other financial institutions. Start-up FinTech firms and even non-payment technology behemoths such as Facebook and Amazon are causing disruption in the payments and lending landscape. Paypal®, Venmo®, Digit, LendingClub, and the various crowdfunding sources are directly competing with financial service providers by offering consumers alternative ways to make payments, conduct peer-to-peer transactions, and move money from account to account across their various financial institutions. This trend is particularly popular with Millennials.

While these companies still have a large hurdle to overcome in gaining trust and demonstrating security, they are gaining momentum by steadily building trust with customers—handling transactions previously only resolved by traditional financial institutions.

3. The Intersection Between Online and Mobile Banking and Financial Education

There are a vast number of resources and personal financial management and banking applications available to consumers. If not through their financial institution, there are numerous resources—some paid and some free—that can aggregate account data to give consumers a bird’s-eye and/or granular view of their financial health.

Essentially, consumers want to not only be able to see basic data about their account activity (transactions, payment history, etc.), and to easily move money from person-to-person and account-to-account, but they also want literal education such as pop-ups with financial terminology, or advice on how to reach short- and long-term savings goals.

The payments industry is certainly evolving, and the challenges financial institutions are experiencing today, may not even exist three to five years from now. Preparation is critical, and keeping your customers’ needs—and their experience with your payment technology—top-of-mind is the primary way to stay ahead of the payments curve.

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