Back in September 2014, Apple announced that it would be launching a new product. It was something that was quite different to what the company had done before. Apple announced Apple Pay, a mobile payment and digital wallet service. For many consumers, it was a sort of dream come true. Even way back in 2014 people had been complaining about having to carry around both their wallet and their phone. And it seemed like either the phone would have to go into the wallet, or the wallet into the phone.
We got the latter, which is probably for the best. It’s all a far cry from the old magnetic strip cards that used to form the backbone of the non cash economy.
The problem though is that a lot of businesses still aren’t ready for this change. Perhaps they don’t understand it or perhaps they think that it’s going to be too expensive. Who knows?
But the time to act is now. Just think for a moment about all the very recent changes in how people are making payments. Perhaps you’ve been into a coffee shop recently and noticed that there’s now an option for contactless payment. Perhaps you’ve noticed how this makes the transactions in coffee shops all the more seamless. Maybe, you’ve spotted a little sign that says, no we accept Apple Pay. It might not seem like it right now, but paying from smart devices will become the dominant form of payment within the next few years.
And in the future, payments won’t be limited to smartphones. As chip makers pack ever more transistors into a smaller and smaller space, the number of options for smart devices will increase. People will start wearing more smartwatches and smart jewellery. Heck, they might even wear smart clothes. And all these new smart objects will come with the capacity to make payments.
Businesses that don’t react to changes in EMV payment processing now risk being left behind. Customer service will suffer and customers will feel like they’re less able to pay you – never a good thing. You’ll also be at risk from fraud and may have to settle with customers through expensive litigation.
But making the transition is actually rather simple. If you already have merchant banking facilities, this can involve as little as upgrading your payment terminal. Usually, it’s as easy as buying and plugging in a new terminal and switching to a payments system that supports the new payment methods.
Good payment services will offer low rates and may offer to match your existing payment service costs. They’ll be easy to set up as well, and should be operational on the same day.
Being ready for new payment systems means that you’re meeting customers’ needs. And that’s essentially what business is all about. The reason that companies like Apple are investing so much money and effort into new payment technologies is because the demand is out there. This is something that people want, and as a result, something you should incorporate into your business model.