What’s in store for 2017

The decorations are down and the Christmas festivities are becoming a distant memory as people’s attentions turn to 2017. What changes are we expecting to see in the card payment industry for the year ahead?

It appears that 2017 will see an increasing level of payment innovations from all across the globe. The popularity in mobile payments looks set to rise as companies look to capitalise on the Smartphone revolution, as the demand for electronic payments grows. The payment industry has become saturated with more and more competition in the last 18 months, and companies are seeing more competition from overseas companies in what is deemed an extremely competitive market.

2017 will see the payment industry evolve as companies adopt and embrace new technologies. The importance of app payments and wallets will play a pivotal role as their popularity increases. This is sustained by more customers wanting to pay by their smartphones, and both Visa and Mastercard are currently developing new platforms with fresh innovative solutions.

E-commerce payments continue to lead from the front ahead of face-to-face transactions. A recent report from the Centre for Retail Research, stated online retail sales in the UK have grown from £52.25bn in 2015 to £60.06bn in 2016, a rise of 13%. These figures are set to continue to rise in 2017 and beyond.

There is continued talk about increased focus on loyalty and reward programs from some of the leading smartphone providers including Apple and Samsung, and they will look to integrate this into their existing payment platform applications.

The payments industry is always a competitive sector as companies look to stay ahead of the competition, and the meteoric growth of contactless payments has revolutionised the card terminal industry along with the introduction of Apple and Android pay and these trends are expected to remain at the forefront. This year will see the pace of change and innovation quicken, driven by regulatory reforms.

Ingenico look set to launch the Teliium TETRA range in the coming months, and this is designed to run multiple web apps in parallel and provide easy and secure access to the native platform features and external servers. It is hoped it will drive additional revenue, whilst also combining business apps with payment to create a new consumer experience and drive additional revenue.

Innovation in payment trends is inevitable. It’s only a question of how and when. Give us your thoughts on what you expect to see in the year ahead.