Mobile payment methods continue to soar in popularity in the UK following the introduction of Apple Pay, Android Pay and Barclay’s Pingit. Together, with the anticipated launch of Samsung Pay, this is lessening the country’s dependency on cash. Ralf Ohlhausen, business development director at PPRO Group, writes
The latest digital money index from Citigroup and the Imperial College London showed the UK to have the biggest uptake in the past year.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Mobile payments (m-payments) initially took longer to take off than predicted, and sceptics were unsure if we would ever reach this level of popularity.
While the UK leads the adoption race, with 74% managing money and making payments using a mobile device respectively, Europe has seen a threefold increase in the last year leaping to 54%, as compared with 18% in 2015.
M-payments have finally reached the tipping point. And with companies such as Apple and Samsung now getting serious about the platform, it seems a fair bet that the pace of change is about to accelerate.
Apple Pay is currently rolling out to most major markets, keeping pace with the rate at which consumers are starting to accept m-payments. Given how often Apple has got it right, particularly in terms of waiting for technology to mature and matching user expectations, there is every reason to be optimistic.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataMerchants and PSPs
What about the payment service providers (PSPs) and merchants which have been keeping their distance?
Well, as playwright Dürrenmatt famously said: “What has once been thought can never afterwards be unthought.”
Dürrenmatt was referring to nuclear power, and while m-payments hopefully do not come with the same potential for harm, the principle remains: It is here to stay. And merchants who listened to the sceptics but did not make mobile a priority must start playing catch-up.
This is a lesson for all of us in the industry. Generally speaking, most new technology follows Gartner’s hype cycle – hyped, and then criticised before maturing and becoming reality.
When the next big thing is announced, do not get overly excited, or overly pessimistic. Watch it going up and down the hype curve, investing when it reaches the “trough of disillusionment”, when everyone is quick to point out early failures, saying: “It will never work.”
As an industry, we have got to get better at recognising and embracing this cycle for what it is.
We need to stick with good ideas, even when they do not seem to be fulfilling their early hype.
Usually, it is just a matter of time and patience, particularly when consumer habits have to change, but no one wants to be the late adopter when, suddenly, everything starts coming together at last.
