BFC Bulletins Monthly News Digest
There has been a lot of talk about how COVID-19 is changing the future of payments. The reality is that it’s not really changing the future of payments as much as it’s ushering it into reality much more quickly than anyone expected. Here are the 5 biggest examples of this:
- Payments are going mobile. As consumers see how easy and convenient mobile payments are, plastic cards will increasingly become an artifact of the past.
- Mobile self-checkouts are becoming the new normal. Safety is critical as we seek ways to get back to some sense of normalcy. As software-based points-of-sale become more popular and more affordable, we are likely to see a drastic reduction in face-to-face checkout interactions.
- Payments and loyalty are merging. As personal mobile devices become increasingly linked with shopping experiences, merchants can more easily build deeper and more meaningful relationships with consumers. This is likely to lead to loyalty schemes being integrated with mobile points-of-sale and self-checkout options.
- Bank accounts are becoming commodities. Current accounts have long been an entry point for banks, viewed as a way to build loyalty to sell products. But we’re now entering the era of the bank account as a commodity, with companies like Google offering accounts as a way of ensuring their platforms give added benefits in terms of convenience, product range and personalized approaches.
- We are going cashless. The use of cash was already dropping before the COVID-19 pandemic. With increased concern over how physical cash poses a health risk, this trend has grown, and cash will likely never return as consumers come to appreciate the full value of cashless options.
