The new contactless payment services let you pay your bills without any hassle. This modern technology is developed to ensure consumers do not waste their important time doing menial tasks. The system of contactless payment consists of devices or smart cards integrated with NFC or RFID technologies. These technologies offer high-end security for transaction process by creating a secure network between the payee and the recipient. Contactless payments are not similar to those transactions made by using mobile e-wallets. This process is carried out in close physical proximity which prevents unauthorized access during the transaction. Enterprises have found new opportunities in the market for contactless payments and have started investing in order to expand this market.
Allied Market Research has estimated that the global contactless payment marketwould reach $27.23 billion by 2025 at 20.8% CAGR. The main driving factors for the growth of this market is the integration of contactless credit cards with existing cards, increased smartphone penetration, and benefits regarding the contactless payment.
The market has furthermore supplemented in the increase of sales of devices havingNear Field Communication (NFC) feature. The near field communication, also known as NFC, is a set of communication protocol that helps two different electronic devices, like smartphones, to share information if they are kept close to each other (less than 4 cm apart). NFC offers a reliable and efficient mode to share information swiftly. This high-end device is perfect to cope up with advancing technologies.
The NFC market is gaining significant profits as the demand for the NFC chips are increasing astronomically, while the rates for the manufacturing are decreasing significantly. As everyone is adopting to this new mode of online payments, it has boosted the growth of this market.
Another corporation to plunge in to the cashless payment market is KeyBank. It has partnered with Mastercard and FIS to launch their KeyBank Mastercard contactless credit cards and debit cards. These cards ensure high-speed transactions with a single tap and ensure top-notch security with secure dynamic encryption.
This new feature let the client “tap and go” at point of sale terminals. They have engineered their contactless chip with EMV security. This high-end security generates a unique code during every transaction which ensures that customers can securely make any transactions much faster than inserting a card. The increasing awareness of the contactless payment has ensured significant rise in the market.
Another sector to gain profits from this market is Bluetooth Beacon and Ibeacon Market. To get a hold on this market Bluetooth Beacon and Ibeacon have executed a set of protocols. They are as follows:
- Growing adoption of RTLS
- Implementation of beacons in retail stores to engage customers
- Increasing use of beacons in the hospitality sector
- Rising use of beacons in the industrial sector to enhance security measures
- Emergence of smart home automation
- Consistent growth in smartphone technology
- Contactless payments and mobile marketing
- Growing penetration of internet
- Development of virtual beacons
- Increasing use of beacons in fleet management
These protocols are set to increase the market of the Bluetooth Beacon and Ibeacon in the field of cashless payments.
The cashless payment market has profiled from platforms that feature e-wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. The statistics have shown significant increase in the use of transactions made by mobile phones drastically. This “In-app” transaction method has increased due to factors such as convenience, speed, and security. It offers smooth and hassle-free transfer using encrypted security. These apps are the strong drivers of cashless economy and boost the contactless payment market.
Visa has played a vital role in the e-commerce market by offering technical methods to ease the end-to-end payment. Furthermore, Visa has offered secured technology to store the credentials in any mobile device. They have worked on new standard to store the payment credentials in gadgets, wearables, and mobile devices. They have come up with tokens, which is a surrogate card number that resembles the real one. This token is just a pointer to a real card number that is securely stored in their system know as Visa Token Service. Visa can effortlessly control this token to curb any fraudulent transactions.
Verifone is among the many companies that garnered huge profits from investing in the market of contactless payments is Verifone. Verifone is one of the largest POS terminal vendors, and offers payment and commerce solutions in the world. They have perfectly synced devices of every day use by engineering POS to incredible new levels. They have launched Carbon Mobile 5 which is an all-in-one, single screen commerce solution. Carbon Mobile 5 is a portable and powerful device which enables to easily checkout and smoothly run Android apps like loyalty, point of sale, and inventory management. This device can easily be set up for SMBs and offer vital solutions to consolidate operations, CRM programs, and payments.
The primary focus of Verifone is to improve and personalize the in-store customer experience. The Carbon family offers an end-to-end product called Verifone Cloud Services. This service permits payment acceptance and offers business to increase customer engagement and drive efficiency. So, whether you are a merchant, estate-manager or a consumer, you can effortlessly manage and grow all your business with the help of this cloud service. On the security aspects, Verifone’s Engage payment engine, Carbon Mobile 5, offers safe and secure access to the Android developer ecosystem. It also enables the user to integrate their business applications smoothly.
Despite all the uproar and trend of the contactless payments, Microsoft has decided to opt out. It will no longer continue with its Microsoft Wallet mobile app. This decision was made since its mobile operating system failed to smoothly run and support services. This application was exclusively programmed for Windows 10 user and offered similar functions like its competitors: Apple Pay and Android Pay. It was engineered with NFC chips on their Lumia handsets to ensure hassle-free payment.
To cope up with the system errors, Microsoft programmed another Wallet app in 2012 for Windows Phone 8 operating system. This e-wallet required a secure use of SIM network, which is provided by an operator, to run. But this new software faced minor glitches and errors. Hence, they decided to stop the contactless services for devices that run on Windows 10 mobile operating system.
New technologies will continue to advance to make the life of a user simple and hassle-free. These new booming technologies will act as a catalyst for the increase in the market of contactless payments market.
Pratik Kirve holds a bachelor degree in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering and currently working as a Content Writer at Allied Analytics LLP. He has avid interest in writing articles across different verticals. When he is not following updates and trends, he spends his time reading, writing poetry, and playing football.