Even before the new year rolled in, there had been a lot of theories and speculations around how payment technology would evolve in 2016. To find out more information, we hosted a webinar - 2016 Payment Predictions & Strategies to Jumpstart the New Year - and spoke with two industry experts - Rod Hometh, SVP of Strategic Development for North America / Ingenico Group and Jordan McKee, Senior Analyst at 451 Research. Following are some highlights from the webinar.
According to McKee, the biggest mistake merchants make when it comes to their payment strategies is “simply being uninformed.” McKee continued, “The payment industry is evolving at unprecedented speed. We've seen more change in the last five years than we've seen since the inception of digital payments.”
For merchants, it is imperative to not only be aware of these technologies and how they're influencing the landscape, but to also be able to embrace them and develop strategies around them to stay current. Why? As technology evolves, simultaneously, consumers are advancing, too. “Their demands are evolving, their perceptions are evolving and for retailers in particular, it’s important to be able to address those concerns and those changes on the consumer front,” McKee said.
To ensure your team is well-informed regarding payment solutions in 2016, we asked Rod Hometh and Jordan McKee to provide us their payment predictions for 2016:
1. Demand for NFC/Contactless Payments Will Increase
“Merchants will find consumers are simply demanding that the mobile wallets they've come to enjoy and use more frequently are accepted in their stores,” McKee noted “We're already seeing some of that with Apple Pay, and are starting to see consumers push back a bit and ask those merchants who aren't currently accepting today, ‘Why not?’ and ‘When will you?’"
More merchants need to look into accepting NFC payments from their customers. There are many benefits to offering NFC/contactless payments including:
- Increased security
- Faster payment speeds
- Improved convenience and reliability
- Enhanced customer satisfaction and loyalty
2. EMV and Payment Security Will Still Be a Focus in 2016
“The EMV adoption will continue through 2016,” said McKee. “More merchants will upgrade their payment technology to support EMV and also take other payment security measures.”
Payment security has been top of mind for merchants since the infamous Target data breach, and they have been gathering more information on next steps. With the October 2015 EMV liability shift behind us, merchants need to look to upgrade their payment technology in 2016 to protect not only their customer’s card data but also their brand’s reputation.
3. The Omni-Channel Strategy will Become a Reality
“As more merchants complete their migration to EMV and implement advanced security measures, they will increasingly look for new differentiators,” explained Hometh. “Key among these is allowing consumers to pay in multiple ways, across different channels—from in-store to mobile to online to self-service.”
Merchants need to start thinking about cross-channel solutions in their business. Think about enabling their customers to start a purchase at home and finish it in their brick-and-mortar store. Or encourage customers to initiate a transaction on their mobile device and complete it at an unattended kiosk. These are some of the many possibilities an omni-channel strategy can help merchants with.
Looking for more forecasts for 2016? Check out this infographic highlighting seven payment predictions from industry experts.
Listen to the full recorded webinar to learn more about rest of the predictions for the payments industry. In addition, Rod Hometh and Jordan McKee outline strategies and tactics merchants can embrace to leverage these technologies and delight customers in 2016.
Rachel Texeira, Director of Marketing, North America / Ingenico Group
