United Colours of Payments

Colors of Payments: Disruption brought to the payment industry by Apple, Android, Microsoft, Samsung, and many other players as now as “Pay”. “Pay” is a very favorite word for any company to come up with a payment solution, so to my best understanding and knowledge in today’s time, So it would not be wrong to call the payment industry the best example of the United Color of Payments.

The idea of this short write-up is to know the thought processes, mindsets, and views of different people around the globe. People with different cultures, mindsets, industries, skills, languages, and levels of job, etc. What is the common payment method among them?

Banks  & Currencies

We all know very well that Banks in countries like Indonesia, India, China, and the African Continent don’t seem overly concerned with banking the unbanked. If they were, we’d likely be seeing more initiatives to pull in the majority demographic as customers. However, these consumers aren’t going to be transacting as much or as often as their more affluent middle-class counterparts. As such, profit margins reaped from this group won’t be too exciting.

This article explores the different modes of Mobile Payments, different types of payment colors, i.e., currencies, and different big brothers. ApplePay, Samsung, Microsoft, Google, Facebook (I guess it’s ok to call them big brothers), and many more, and where we are actually and where we want to be.

The advantages of using some of it and exciting news in the mobile payment space also put emphasis on the most important key point: the Mobile payment Revolution. The virtual currency aims to combine the advantages of direct cash transactions with the power of digital technology. Mobile Payments There are myriad ways mobile payments are already being used.

Transformation of Payment Methods

From shopping on phones to ditching change at the parking meter, consumers are embracing mobile payments for an ever-growing number of daily tasks. There is obviously room to grow, and we’re nowhere near banishing credit cards or cash just yet, but it’s clear that paying with a mobile device is gaining traction, hence creating an aroma for the united color of payments. In case you need detailed information or deliberation on any part, please feel free to get in touch directly. To me, Mobile Financial Services is (I am using “IS” not “ARE” as I feel it’s ONE) my passion and my thought process.

There are various colors of mobile payments across the world that are in use today, along with all methods. Colors in terms of currencies: a person sitting in the US making payment for goods and services for some in India or Africa where the US dollar is painted with white and black ink, making payment for its pear currency in green or blue color. “Speed to market is The king,” for whom? Consumers or service providers?

Are we heading towards Cashless payment, i.e., a new Society that is CASHLESS as the future? If we had any global ministry of innovation for regulation and control, then for sure, till date, cash will be the single king, but since it’s not, mobile payments have proven themselves as economic freedom. In the current payment race or war, everyone is running to get their share of this hot cake. We are now getting the new arrival of Android Pay, announced by Google at its I/O conference.

Just imagine how powerful this central payment hub would be for consumers as the payment cake size continues to increase and upgrade with the new ecosystem, applications, and devices coming to market. Banks and Card companies are working restlessly in the U.S.,  a typical market where Credit card debt is still incredibly common—with 39% of Americans reporting unpaid credit card balances, it’s not far behind mortgages as a leading contributor to American consumer debt. While those balances are much lower than those for student loans, the high interest rates and revolving nature of credit card debt can make it a serious threat to consumers’ financial health.

Merchants and Billers – Acceptance of eMoney

To get merchant conversion for their acceptance religion from older magnetic stripe payment terminals to support NFC payments from mobile phones or smart cards and to EMV compliment cards, but a complete transition will take years, pay attention to “S” at the end of the word years in the last statement. If you’re among the 80% of Americans with debt, the best thing you can do is focus on managing your debt and credit well. Taking out loans or using credit cards can be a great financial strategy, but it’s important to go after the balances with a plan.

Regularly review your credit score so you understand how your debt affects your credit standing, and set realistic goals for paying your debt down while saving up for your future. The main drivers behind the success of mobile money are the explosive growth in the number of mobile devices and the fall in the cost of computing power, which have lowered the barriers to new entrants in this field. Mobile money (m-money) is quite versatile and can support a variety of services, in particular person-to-person (P2P) money transfers, which are of significant value for emerging economies.

The other key driver for this is the inaccessibility of banking services to the general populace, mainly due to poor infrastructure and a lack of trust in local banks among countrymen and companies. Another very interesting color of mobile payment is International money transfer through mobile, or favorably called as cross-border remittances in the MNO domain.

Thats where Mobile money remittances have proven and claimed that in Sub-Saharan Africa, cross-border remittances are projected to reach US$33 billion in 2015 as the services are growing above 6% in more than three countries with increasing mobile connectivity, according to WorldRemit, a United Kingdom-based online service company that lets people send money to friends and family in other countries.

Mobile Financial Services & Payment Intelligence

All subscribers use phones to make payments, no matter what type of handset they have or which network operator they belong to. If they don’t need to modify your phone or load any special application to make payment in a secured manner, that would be the ideal and best method or solution.

Apple Pay – Presenting Old Technology In a New Wrapper

Apple Pay has launched some additional context about the state of mobile payments in general, which includes much more than just Apple Pay.

After 12 months, if we see where it is, the answer is still in a very small balloon. The hectic pace of change in payment systems All of this is because the physical and digital worlds are converging. Online, mobile, virtual wallets, and smartwatches, among others, mean that all businesses need to remain alert to the latest trends and developments.

They and their customers will almost certainly start paying for goods and services in new ways in the future. A month after Apple Pay launched, MasterCard was quick to remind analysts in the company’s third-quarter earnings call that Apple Pay wasn’t the only player innovating in the mobile payments space.

All these new ways will continue to change and proliferate as time goes on. Some providers of payment solutions for the financial industry, retailers, hospitality, and e-commerce Android Pay, ApplePay, Samsung’s, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft Pay services are from big players, but there are thousands of regionally trusted small brand and MFS providers who are also coming into play to claim their share of the hot cake pie, and all the banks are launching their own versions. Then there is MasterPass and Visa Checkout.

There are some proposed definitions from industry associations (e.g., GSMA and Mobey Forum) and the European Union, but there is no agreement on a common definition.

What People Buy

Now, after all these studies, my questions to me, for Which I am still looking for responses,

• All Mobile Payment Service providers, along with some Social Media Service providers, are just focusing on disrupting the market. or any action to create such a market
• What all initiatives are going on by Mobile Payment Service Providers (MPSP) to create such needs where consumers feel for Mobile Payment Systems and services?
• Whom we are acquiring consumers or merchants
• And there are many, many more questions that are jumping around, looking for some responses to share later on.
• As said by my friend, I think your questions have merit.” Someone called the mobile payment industry “a solution looking for a problem.” ‘. So if that is true, I hope we find our problem soon with the solution we have created beforehand.
• Are you creating need now after having a solution at hand?

My understanding of everything going on around the world on the mobile payments front is that we should avoid a creative mess, stop innovating, and start improving. As the test, measure success and repeat what works for me very well (of course, the innovation process does not stop completely). Developing something new on top of other “things” is not always the answer; sometimes un-developing something existing to uncover the hidden gems already there is useful. Can I ask if you like Un-Develop to Innovate?

Food For Thought

However, this differs per country and per part of the world. In most European countries, for example, people have adopted debit and credit cards as their primary forms of payment. Contrary to cash, this is an intangible form of payment, just like mobile payment. The step between paying via card and mobile payment is smaller than between cash and mobile. Therefore, in Europe, consumers are adopting many forms of mobile payment.

When we look at the merchant processing fee, which becomes the biggest issue we face, If we use some International Payment Merchants as an example, the fee for a transaction is 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction (in many markets). If a standard physical POS is considered retail, it can fall to as low as 1.3% in Singapore or even lower if you are an electronics store with a large transactional volume. With razor-thin margins, the MPF weakens the innovation factor. This MPF is on top of the other transaction costs. Mobile payments will get better once the MPF becomes more competitive.

Points to Note:

All credits if any remains on the original contributor only. We have covered all basics around FinTech Payments, its working models and the importance of quality financial services to the masses. In the next upcoming post will talk about implementation, usage and practice experience for markets.

Books + Other readings Referred

• Research through open internet, news portals, white papers and imparted knowledge via live conferences & lectures.
• Lab and hands-on experience of  @AILabPage (Self-taught learners group) members.

Feedback & Further Question

Do you have any questions about Telecom, FinTech or their new enablers i.e AI, Machine Learning, Data Science or Big Data Analytics? Leave a question in a comment section or ask via email. Will try best to answer it.

Conclusions: What are the implications of this war? Is it going to change the world (unlikely), be a significant “win”, be a nice hack, or simply serve as a road sign indicating that this path is “UNKNOWN”? Which system is useful and needed for the business considering the market in which you operate and synchronized with your strategies and goals? While mobile payment announcements from various smartphone makers are growing in frequency, there are still too many unknown and doubtful thoughts that such services will drive much interest in buying the smartphones that support them. In countries that prefer cash as their main form of payment, it might be more difficult for mobile payments to gain ground.