In the past twenty years, credit card processing has evolved rapidly with the emerging new technology, transforming how businesses accept payments. As we shift to a more digital world, the credit card industry plays a larger role every day. Business owners are experiencing nowadays that more customers prefer to pay with credit or debit cards over cash. In this blog, we will discuss emerging trends and technologies revolutionizing the payment industry and how they impact business owners.
Contactless Payment
Contactless payments, also known as Tap to Pay, arrived in the U.S. in 2014. However, its adoption increased in 2018 when Visa began issuing contactless cards to consumers. Companies like Apple, Google, and Samsung also implemented contactless payment to their mobile devices, known as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay, for customers to pay with their phones. However, during COVID-19, the global demand for contactless payment solutions rapidly accelerated.
Mobile Wallets
Another emerging technology is mobile wallets. The mobile wallet technology allows customers to turn their smartphones into digital wallets, allowing them to store their card information securely. They can also store debit card, coupon, or reward card information and connect directly to bank accounts. Popular applications such as Venmo, Paypal, and Zelle are mobile wallets that people use to pay instead of cash. Therefore more business owners are adopting mobile wallet technology as one of their payment-accepting methods for customers to pay.
Cryptocurrencies
Cryptocurrency is digital money that doesn’t require a bank or financial institution to verify transactions and can be used for purchases or as an investment. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are becoming more widely accepted as payment. In the past few years, cryptocurrencies have grown from digital novelties to trillion-dollar technologies with the potential to disrupt the global financial system. However, the adoption of cryptocurrencies in mainstream credit card processing is still in its early stages; on the contrary, businesses are exploring integrating digital money as a payment option.
Artificial Intelligence
Over a few years, companies have adapted artificial intelligence (AI) technology to their business operations. However, as technology advances, we are seeing the rise of artificial AI in the credit card industry. This technology will impact credit cards to make accurate predictions and decisions based on data analysis, such as customer spending habits, and identify patterns that may indicate fraudulent activity, allowing payment processors to act before a fraudulent transaction occurs.
In conclusion, the future of payment processing is full of exciting advancements and potential. Artificial intelligence, contactless payment, mobile wallets, and cryptocurrencies are some emerging trends and technologies that give us an idea of what to expect. Businesses must stay informed and keep up to date with these trends to gain a competitive edge because more people are using these payment methods. As a business owner, you must better position yourself to meet customer expectations and satisfaction which will eventually help foster the growth and success of your business.
