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For years the payments industry debated whether contactless mobile payments would ever take off. In 2015, a number of developments occurred that helped to finally answer that question. Use of contactless payments around the world has increased as the continued rollout and expansion of services including Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay have driven interest in and awareness of digital wallets among consumers and merchants. The question now is: What will it take for digital payments solutions to truly become a part of people’s daily lives on a mass scale? The key stakeholders in the payments industry – payment networks, card issuers, merchant acquirers, technology vendors and others – are working vigorously to develop the features and applications to make that happen. At a high level, the answer ultimately comes down to providing products and services that deliver additional value and a smooth experience for both consumers and merchants. Consumers today aren’t simply looking to tap their smartphones against a point-of-sale terminal instead of inserting or swiping a plastic card. For digital payment solutions to gain mass adoption, they need to address the entire commerce experience for consumers and merchants.
