PayPal looks to the year ahead, makes m-payments predictions
27 December, 2012
category: NFC
Dave Marcus, president of PayPal, takes a look into his crystal ball and makes his predictions for the 2013 mobile payments landscape.
Marcus is adamant that the payments revolution that has begun this past year with NFC-enabled transactions and mobile wallet apps will continue into the new year. It is clear that the public is keen on a streamlining of the payment experience, and for this reason, Marcus makes a few predictions that he feels will characterize the payments landscape in 2013.
First, Marcus feels that NFC will again fail to achieve widespread adoption, stating that the NFC debate will finally be put to bed. He feels that tapping a phone to a contactless point of sale (POS) terminal is no more convenient than swiping a credit card and thus will discourage many from adopting NFC technology.
Second, Marcus posits that the loyalty and coupons sectors will merge, making it easier for consumers and merchants to automatically leverage appropriate coupons and offers. He believes that mobile wallet apps need to do more than simply offer a different means of payment. Merging payments, coupons and rewards points will make for a more comprehensive payments solution.
Third, PayPal’s president believes that cash registers will be the next piece of the puzzle to go mobile. Marcus sees a shopping experience where sales associates will freely roam stores helping customers to check out and pay directly from the aisle or changing room.
Finally, Marcus sees a revolutionizing of the shopping experience that will stretch beyond simple check in. Citing specifically location-based shopping experiences as a revolutionizing factor, solutions like Apple’s Passbook are already paving the way. Marcus posits that location aware, context-relevant shopping and payments experiences will be a landscape-changing technology in 2013.
Marcus believes that 2013 will be the year that for a true disruption in the shopping and payments space, stating that PayPal is prepared to play an integral role in solving payment concerns for people, merchants, developers and advertisers alike.