Tap and go: Mastercard, FT, Weve, Fetch and Cheil discuss top trends in mobile payments and loyalty
Mobile payments have been a hot topic for years, but the innovations in and around this space continue to keep them at the forefront of digital change. Jessica Davies and Katie McQuater speak to Mastercard, the Financial Times, Weve, Cheil and Fetch to discover what’s next in terms of paying on the go and whether loyalty programmes can pave the way for mobile wallets.
Almost 40 million transactions were made each week via internet and mobile in 2013, while branch usage was in ‘seismic decline’, according to The British Bankers’ Association. This has triggered some big names in the industry to launch a new form of digital-only banks. Co-founder of Metro Bank Anthony Thomson has revealed his intentions to launch the UK’s first digital-only bank to capitalise on these trends. Meanwhile the arrival of new cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, and other digitally native currencies, has lent new meaning to the potential of mobile payments. Credit card companies are throwing their weight behind mobile payment infrastructures, with some predicting it will in time outstrip credit cards. Moving beyond plasticMastercard is among those leading the charge, and its head of payments Milan Gauder believes in time mobile payments will render the use of credit cards redundant. To find out more on what Mastercard's head of emerging payments for Europe Milan Gauder believes is the future of payments, read the full article in The Drum's print issue. Meanwhile Financial Times chief technology officer John O’Donovan, who has previously voiced his views that the term 'mobile first' has become meaningless, having already fallen behind the latest swathe of innovation – namely wearable technology. He gives his views on what the future of mobile payments should bring."If I would pick any area where I think the most significant changes will happen it will be in payments, and mobile offers opportunities to make a difference using a payment model which for us ideally is the same as tap and go. Make the transaction seamless and it offers up whole new models, especially for media companies, for people to purchase on the fly.“Without digital cash, online transactions are just not mature; it’s still easier to complete the transaction to buy a newspaper and magazine in a shop than it is online. It only takes seconds to pick up, pay and go.“Bitcoin is just an early wake-up call that a digitally native transaction format will be hugely successful when the kinks are worked out. Link this to something secure and managed on mobiles and you have the basis for digital wallets that allow for simple, online drive-by transactions.Loyalty: The way forward?Some experts believe it will be loyalty schemes that help pave the way for the mobile wallet. In The Drum's latest mobile supplement Katie McQuater speaks to mobile marketing and wallet joint venture between EE, O2 and Vodafone – Weve – on the latest trends in the space. She also speaks to Fetch and Cheil on why consumer familiarity with loyalty schemes may hold the key to mainstream adoption of the mobile wallet and how mobile has become the "equivalent" to the high street. You can read more from Mastercard, the FT, and Weve, in the latest issue of The Drum. Subscribers can download a pdf copy here.
