Cashless made easy – further developments in payments processing!

When it comes to payments and payments switches there are many approaches that can be pursued when implementing them and with each step taken, new opportunities may open up. There is never a dull moment to be had when so many parties are involved and it all comes down to better serving the end user. In the case of payments these end users are consumers and there are few arguments to be made these days that it is the consumer that is driving change in the industry.

It is very clear that the way financial transactions are being handled and whether it is online banking, mobile and contactless engagements or more traditional credit and debit card processing there really is no end in sight to the innovation that follows. Innovation continues to drive the way we all opt to interact with the financial institutions we trust with our cash and when it comes to disruptive innovation, recall back in 1990 when AT&T disrupted the credit-card business with the launch of its innovative Universal Card “with a bang (as the) telecommunications giant blanketed the U.S. with card offers and promised consumers who signed up no annual fees for life. The AT&T Universal Card became an overnight sensation.”

There was perhaps no bigger mover of the innovation needle in more recent times than Apple with its announcement of Apple Card. While some industry watchers are skeptical of what this might mean for the industry, in general from the biggest banks to the slickest fintechs it means there is a new player on the street and one with a billion iPhones that Oprah Winfrey credited with her being enthusiastic about Apple, Apple TV+ and yes, Apple Card - “They're in a billion pockets, y'all. A billion pockets!"

For the NonStop community where payments solutions are responsible for almost a third of all NonStop systems being deployed, the meaning isn’t being lost. After all there will be some leakage expected from current card networks including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, etc. but by making it even easier to use your iPhone together with Apple Wallet and the new Apple Card there will be a lot more transactions being generated.

Cash may very well be the biggest loser when all is said and done and that’s not entirely unexpected as it is the Millennials or Gen Y together with the Gen Z or Centennials that will take advantage of this new foray into the financial marketplace by Apple. In fact, Apple may now very well have become the biggest fintech of all, supplanting the likes of PayPal, Square, Kabbage and Stripe. This younger generation has no allegiances to cash and  shopping, travelling and even dining is all done with a tap of their smart phone. Indeed with Apple throwing its support behind Apple Card, it is likely to make “going cashless” transition a lot easier for at least a part of society.

These references to Apple and to going cashless was the focus of the most recent feature article published in the April, 2019, issue of NonStop Insider, OmniPayments – Modern Payments for a Modern World

It is also a reminder that you can never truly underestimate the reach of a company fundamentally driven by the user experience all of which is to say – if Apple wants to transform the entire credit card experience eventually it will and the impact will be felt by all those NonStop vendors providing payment solutions and yes, ultimately NonStop itself. Too radical? Not the least, especially given as much time as we now have to prepare and accommodate! Remember, "They're in a billion pockets, y'all. A billion pockets."

For the moment, commentary coming from the NonStop community vary from “No fees of any kind, including late fees. Game changer!” to “I don't suspect a great impact at the onset. My gut feel, not based on empirical research, is that even Apple Pay didn't have the uptake that Apple and others were expecting.” Both responses carry weight and hone in on one particular aspect of Apple Card. It will be a game changer even as it brings heft to existing Apple products – your merchant doesn’t accept Apple Pay? No worries, present your Apple Card and all’s cool! Need your expiration date well, OK, look it up on your iPhone and check Apple’s Wallet app. It’s all there.

There will always be disruptive forces at work in the financial industry. Big companies with even bigger ambitions to influence consumers’ spending habits will continue to innovate with Apple being just the latest to make a really big splash. When it comes to vendors like OmniPayments, with its support of NonStop systems, there may be little impact initially from the introduction of Apple Card but you have to believe OmniPayments will be ready for any significant uptick in transaction volumes following the introduction of the Apple Card. What NonStop with OmniPayments does better than any other payments solution is scale and that is good news for OmniPayments as it is good news for the NonStop community.

To read the feature published in NonStop Insider, make sure you check out the April issue by clicking on the hyperlink included above or cutting and pasting this link into you browser: https://www.nonstopinsider.com/uncategorised/omnipayments-modern-payments-for-a-modern-world/