Four main trends are driving change in banking, and all are very relevant when it comes to mobile banking:
- Banking is increasingly digital, and mobile is at the heart of the experience.
- Customers are becoming increasingly demanding and self-driven. This is especially true amongst the younger demographics and millennials, as readers of our mBanking report will know.
- The sector’s core business is being challenged by disruptive players. This includes fintech startups, tech giants and even social media networks.
- Regulation is eating away at banks’ revenue streams. For example, the European Commission has introduced a cap on the interchange fee levied on merchants. This has traditionally been used to fund customer loyalty benefits such as cashback and airport lounge access. Increased compliance is also affecting the bottom line.
We just completed a webinar with NFC World on this very subject, so here’s the recording if you’d like to listen and learn more:
For many in the industry, the rise of mobile payments has been incredibly exciting especially over the past 18 months. Not only have there been important technology developments like HCE and Tokenization, but we’ve seen huge buy-in from the three largest players in mobile—Apple, Google and Samsung—each launching their own payment platforms. We’ve spoken about this before, but it is looking increasingly likely that 2016 will be a true breakout year for mobile payments in the same way 2015 was for contactless.
Now is the time that many issuers are starting to think about their strategy for mobile payments, and we wanted to share three guiding principles we’ve been using. Hopefully these will help shape your thinking too:
- Be agile
- Be vigilant
- Be innovative
Being agile is imperative, as issuers will likely have to participate in multiple programs. Standing still at this point when it comes to mobile payments is no longer an option. Issuers need to treat mobile payments as seriously as their competitors do, and maintain the agility in infrastructure and marketing so they can swiftly change course if required.
Don’t stand still on security. Recognize that fraud never goes away, and criminals and malicious agents will continue to hunt for weak spots. It is important to be prepared to adapt security according to risk and have the newest and best security technology at your disposal to react swiftly to any breach or suspicious activity.
Finally, issuers should be thinking of new ways to use mobile payments technology to further their business. Now is the time to start working on new products and services, even if it won’t be core for your business for some time. That’s because competitors in the OTT and fintech space already are, and if you don’t get involved, they will.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on our approach to mobile payments, so get in touch with us, either in the comments below or online @GemaltoMobile. More information about our products and services can be found here: http://www.gemalto.com/mobile/mcommerce/mfs/mobile-payment
