Predictions in 2018 from Verifone

June Felix
President of Verifone Europe

Alternative payment methods will continue to shake the retail industry

The introduction of new payment methods is constant and customers have high expectations. Retailers must stay nimble to accommodate new technologies as they emerge.

2018 will continue to see mobile payment applications and their use grow exponentially. Apple Pay is already reporting more than one million new users each week. Popular cloud based wallets such as WeChat Pay and Alipay will also break down borders and disrupt the payments ecosystem.

As is often the case, the Nordics may offer some strong indication as to where we are headed. Banks there have collaborated to establish mobile payments schemes, which are remarkably successful. MobilePay, which launched in Denmark in 2013 has grown to more than ‌‌3.6 million users (about half the population) in three years. Norway’s VIPPS and Sweden’s Swish are two other very strong models. These schemes support bank account to bank account transfers – a different model to the now-familiar use of a smartphone to initiate a card transaction.

Nathan Gill
Vice President, Commerce Enablement & Global Innovation

Convenience and speed will top customers wish list, specifically in the restaurant, and fast food sector
Technical advancements in Point of Sale (POS) devices, combined with omni-channel services and apps, will allow us to take payments to new levels; capabilities that merchants could only have dreamt of ten years ago.  We’ll start to see better integration of loyalty schemes at the point-of-sale, which means plastic cards will begin to disappear.

Allowing consumers to ‘pay at the table’ with mobile solutions will improve the customer experience in restaurants. Through payment apps, customers will engage in a feedback loop, constantly providing updates on their experience at the point of sale. Ultimately, restaurants and merchants want good feedback from customers, so the more channels that are available to do this will make the experience feel personal and immediate.

Self-serve at the Kiosk: Dependable, fast and secure kiosk ordering is proving invaluable in many of the larger quick service restaurant (QSR) chains.

Kevin Freeguard
Managing Director Fintech Payments Commerce

Security is (as always) paramount and PSD2 will create new challenges
As banks open their systems to more users, expect to see a growth in alternative and new ways of making payments – all because of PSD2. The Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) is all about ‘leveling the playing field’ and introducing greater competition to the traditional banking sector, by sharing data more widely. It comes into effect in the UK on January 13, 2018.

It should herald an onset of a greater number, and more importantly, greater type of players in the payments ecosystem. By opening up properly controlled access to bank accounts, PSD2 should catalyse innovative products and services – from peer-to-peer payment platforms through to futuristic biometric-enabled payment methods. A bigger market with more choice is a good thing for firms which are able to adapt quickly.

So, expect to see a continued upward trend in payment innovations – from peer-to-peer payment platforms through to greater in-store acceptance of emerging technologies, including increasingly popular mobile wallets and wearable devices (such as the Apple watch), and biometric payments made with fingerprint and facial recognition technology.