Mobile payments are now popular and attract more and more consumers for whom the mobile device is truly becoming a means of payment. The Covid-19 crisis that we are going through has largely contributed to accelerating this trend: increased Contactless card payment limits in many countries around the world; eg France where this limit has been raised from 30 to 50€. Another example is the WHO (World Health Organisation) recommendation for the use of contactless payments. All these elements, which go beyond the immediate effect related to the health crisis are playing and will play a major role in the roll-out and spread of mobile payments via contactless technologies.
The need to propose adapted solutions
In this context, merchants and retailers need to anticipate this trend and consider how to develop their infrastructures and means of payment. Innovative solutions for the acceptance of contactless payments are emerging, based 100% on software technologies known as “Tap on Phone” or “Tap to Phone” and supported by payment networks such as Mastercard and Visa. These solutions offer new opportunities to merchants previously excluded from the digital payment system due to payment acceptance solutions high ownership costs and lack of convenience. For example, 30% of merchants in France still did not accept contactless payment in December 2019 according to GIE CB (to be read on Le Monde.fr). Hence the interest for these small merchants to get access to an affordable solution based on software and using the merchant’s smartphone or tablet as the only hardware needed. Other use cases are possible, such as for large retailers who would like to make the shopping experience more fluid and minimise the waiting time at the checkout by allowing their sales staff to accept contactless payment methods directly from a professional tablet. A solution such as dejamobile’s ReadyToTap™ Payment for Merchants will enable retailers to stand out from the crowd by offering an optimal user experience for accepting all contactless payments: bank cards, NFC mobile wallets or wearables.
Beyond payment acceptance
Such an approach is also an effective way to give a new momemtum for payments. The use cases mentioned above are just some of the many examples showing that a “Tap on Phone” solution represents a real opportunity to create an innovative and fluid in-store experience. Transforming your smartphone or Android tablet into a payment terminal becomes as simple as downloading an application. By reducing the cost of contactless payment acceptance solutions or simplifying their deployment with a 100% software solution, merchants can focus their efforts on the user experience and innovation.
Raising awareness among all the players in the value chain
It is therefore fundamental that all the actors in the payment value chain take up this innovation to ensure its dissemination on an industrial scale. The payment network industry represented by PCI, Visa and Mastercard has already widely encouraged Tap on Phone/Tap to Phone initiatives through specifications that provide an initial standard regulatory framework. Today, it is therefore possible to start a pilot project based on these standards for a widely available commercial solution by 2021. The recent acquisition by Apple of Mobeewave, a Canadian company that pioneered contactless payment acceptance solutions for smartphones, underlines the relevance of this technology and is already giving the market growing momentum. Acquirers, handset manufacturers and providers of software solutions for merchants are key players who are already reconsidering their payment strategy to offer their merchants integrated applications that meet new consumer and payment habits.
To conclude, it appears that the generalisation of contactless payment acceptance by merchants represents a real opportunity to revitalise the world of in store payments and create new and appealing shopping experiences. Dejamobile, through its ReadyToTap™ Payment for Merchants solution, is already contributing to this movement to democratise contactless payments for the benefit of merchants and the consumers.
