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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Friday, 29.03.2024, 00:15

Mobile payment is revolutionising the retail world

Eugene Eteris, BC, Copenhagen , 26.06.2013.Print version
According to mobile industry analysts, at recent cards and payments forum, mobile payments are poised to become a half-trillion-dollar market segment up to 2015. The value of mobile payment transactions globally will top $235 billion in 2013, growing to be a market worth an estimated $721 billion with more than 450 million users by 2017.

Mobile payment innovator “mPowa” is the heading company is such growth; the company is expanding its global footprint with a number of contracts around the world with high profile organisations like Portugal Telecomm Group and First National Bank in South Africa. mPowa mobile payment solution is on the verge of further major success with other parts of the world.

The mPowa’s chief executive argued at the 4th International PLUS-Forum Cards and Payments conference in Moscow (June 2013) that mobile payment is revolutionising the retail world. The Forum was attended by senior banking, finance, ecommerce, retail, telecommunications and government executives from Russia and CIS regions as well as the rest the world.

He outlined how the traditional point of sale is becoming more mobile and how in response mPowa, the first tool to make commerce fully mobile, has enabled mobile devices to take payments anywhere. With mPowa it is easy simply to insert a credit card into a compact card reader, which then communicates with a mobile device via Bluetooth, enabling merchants to accept payments on the move.


Feature of retail payment

The vision of the future of retail is going to change: the consumer’s relationship with and perception of money has changed. The connection can be anywhere, anytime and is received, delivered and transacted through multiple venues, mechanisms and devices. Now it is trust not gold that governs ‘money’, sounds the main message from the conference.


The principle is simple: making payment easier customers are less likely to leave a store without making a purchase if they can easily use their favoured credit or debit card. The figures for loss of revenue through payment channels being unavailable or not used in a particular retailer make sobering reading, so the idea of making the process easier still with mobile payment using smartphones and tablets will be another step change.


“Connected consumerism”

Digital experiences have created a new age of ‘connected consumerism’: buy online, pick up in store; buy in store and pay days later with a choice of multiple payment methods.

 

And the store experience is changing too. The ‘checkout’ process can occur anywhere – in the aisle or at home. As a result, mobile payments will challenge and redefine long-standing assumptions on store design with an emphasis on product interaction.

 

They will also drive retailers to learn new ways to connect brands with consumers: geo-fencing,  mobile checkout, augmented reality, virtual try-on and other techniques will come to the fore. This will offer real-time insight-driven shopping and financial tools to the consumer and will spell the end of the uninformed passive shopper.
 

There though is a warning: user adoption requires trust, interoperability of platforms, security, privacy and government regulation. Mobile payments must be at least as secure as using credit cards and cash today.

 

Experts say that with mPowa, they are more secure and more productive than cash.   







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