Cash and cards are fading into oblivion: now the possibilities of proximity payments and biometric identification, familiar from science fiction films, are on the agenda. New payment technologies are no longer confined to the silver screen, but are rapidly becoming part of the payment mix.
The Mobile World Congress in Barcelona recently showcased the latest developments in mobile technology. Bringing together the industry’s leading manufacturers, service providers and innovators, the annual trade fair serves as a lookout for the future. This year’s event showcased new developments in local payment technology, selfie payment based on facial recognition technology, eye scanning and fingerprint authentication, among others. Biometrics and local payments are clearly the buzzwords of the day.
In 2019, up to 55% of all online transactions were made using alternative payment methods. In this article, I dive into the fascinating world of alternative payment methods and tell you a bit about future trends.
When a concept or issue becomes mainstream, it turns a fad into a norm. This is what has happened with alternative payment methods. According to industry forecasts, up to more than 60% of all online payments will be made using alternative payment methods in the near future. The main driver for the popularity of alternative payment methods is the growing desire of consumers to shop as easily as possible online and offline.
But the popularity of payment methods is also driven by, among other things, the desire of online game players to play games as quickly as possible. Indeed, by using alternative payment methods, players can make deposits to gaming sites much more easily than by making bank transfers, for example. It is well known that players appreciate easy solutions, which is perhaps why they prefer fast casinos and alternative payment methods.
Selfie as a payment method?
The new possibilities are tantalising outside the trade fair and even entire countries: in India, there are plans to do away with payment cards and bring in biometric identification. Biometrics are aimed at fighting corruption and the grey economy, while creating an equal means of payment for all citizens – currently, most Indians do not own a payment card or a smartphone.
For merchants, payment reform means a smoother and faster transaction: making payment a secondary consideration while customers focus on what matters most. For consumers themselves, the appeal of biometric solutions and NFC technology is, of course, largely about convenience. What if, when shopping in a store, you didn’t have to dig out your credit card and remember your PIN code at the checkout, but could simply snap a picture of yourself or wave your wrist in front of the reader terminal? What if all you had to do to pay was just bring yourself?
Indeed, according to a study by Visa, almost 70% of Europeans are willing to use biometrics to verify their payments. MasterCard, for its part, launched the Identity Check Mobile, which allows online payments to be made using biometric recognition – fingerprint or selfie – in a handful of countries at the end of last year. So far, the trial has been a success: according to a MasterCard survey in the Netherlands, 92% of those who tried Identity Check found it more convenient than passwords and 83% found it more secure.
What exactly are alternative payment methods?
New payment methods can now be used in online shops, streaming services and online casinos, for example. Trustly kasino, for instance, enables fast and smooth money transfers at online casinos. Other, alternative payment methods are similar to alternative music genres in their own way. A new genre of music will eventually become mainstream as people start listening to it more. The same has happened with alternative payment methods.
As a concept, alternative payment is as easy to understand as it sounds. An alternative payment method is literally another kind of payment method. Alternative payment methods are payment methods that people can use without using debit or credit cards. However, there are a huge number of different payment methods available today and in this article we’ll take a look at just a few of them.
First of all, there are alternative payment methods that use bank transfers. However, we will not go into these methods in depth, as they are already very familiar to many people.
Another popular and much more interesting payment method is the digital wallet solution. In this case, the consumer pays for the product or service purchased using his or her mobile device. Generally speaking, such payments are made via a separate mobile app, which the buyer must first link to their debit or credit card. In particular, the popularity of these payment methods has grown enormously in recent years and they are now one of the most popular payment methods.
Why have alternative payment methods become so popular?
The main reason why alternative payment methods have become popular is that more and more consumers want to shop online today. People are also more willing to shop online if they can do so easily, which is why alternative payment methods have become so popular.
The three main factors driving the popularity of alternative payment methods are: demand, convenience and technological advances. Today’s consumers are constantly changing their shopping habits and consumers increasingly want to use easier alternative payment methods instead of traditional slow payment methods. Indeed, thanks to technological advances, consumers today are able to use many easier and faster payment methods to make their purchases.
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