The Top Six Digital Payment Trends For 2021
The tech and payments spaces constantly evolve to create new and exciting possibilities for merchants and customers. Some “advancements” become a headache for merchants to keep up with. Others seem to make merchants’ lives so much easier that we’re all left wondering how these solutions took so long to come to market. With coronavirus and shut-down fallout, we’re all looking for ways to make our businesses more resilient and protected. Now that we have the first few months of the year under our belt, we’ve decided to take a look at a few of the payment industry trends we see rising more in the months to come.
Payment Trend 1: Merchants leaving third-party aggregators for processors with better customer service
Merchants often call Durango Merchant Services because they can’t get their current processor on the phone to discuss holds, freezes or extra fines. We didn’t fully realize the extent of this issue until we jumped on a few online forums this winter and discovered the overwhelming issue of terrible customer service. Third party aggregators such as Paypal, Stripe and Square may seem to be an easy solution from the beginning, but as high risk businesses grow, they’re often pushed aside for easier, “retail” type accounts.
We were shocked at the lack of help for what we see as VERY important issues. We won’t be surprised if we see even more merchants looking for a one-on-one customer service experience leaving these types of processors in coming months. In a time when everyone is already hurting for funds and reliability, an uncommunicative processor is the last thing you want to deal with!
Payment Trend 2: The growth of decentralized payment networks and cryptocurrency
Generation Z has reached consumer age and provides a new customer base with new preferences for merchants and business owners. The open innovation model of decentralized payment networks allows for rapid development and innovative solutions. Over 2 billion people are now using mobile wallets in 2021 and along with the mobile wallets comes a widespread adoption of cryptocurrency.
Our Cryptocurrency solution allows merchants to accept cryptocurrency often within their existing gateway. With very little effort on the part of the merchant, it seems like a no brainer to add this additional payment stream. Diversifying your payment options means diversifying your customer base, and that’s never a bad thing!
Payment Trend 3: Continued expansion of ecommerce and online sales
Coronavirus seems to have finally pushed the United States into the world of contactless payments. Instant billing and contactless terminals are on the rise, but so is the world of ecommerce and online sales. More people are shopping online than ever before and will be looking for retailers with a great online experience. Clear refund policies, fast shipping and diverse payment options will be a must.
More customers than ever before went online to find essential and non-essential items while also avoiding indoor spaces and capacity restrictions. Customers looking for convenience caused businesses with policies such as overnight shipping and same-day-delivery to rise to the top. An overhaul of the postal system will likely be required to keep up with demand, but ecommerce and ordering online is not going anywhere!
Payment Trend 4: Faster, better, stronger technology everywhere
Although it seems like something out of a distant future, there’s a high chance we’ll be using payments through facial recognition technology by the end of the year. Virtual reality technologies and a broader use of AI makes these “sci-fi” fantasies seem not that far off! Faster mobile connectivity drives ecommerce sales and with shut downs keeping people indoors, it’s likely that ecommerce will be the way of the future. The continued consumer desire for contactless payments is pushing the industry to new creative depths with customers looking to make payments across a wide variety of platforms including refrigerators, vehicles and watches – technologies which often integrate advertising and respond to voice-activation. Anyone else just counting down the days until we can order toothpaste from our mirrors? No, just us?
Today’s consumers are quickly getting used to invisible payments. Services like Airbnb, Uber and Amazon have allowed for saved payment methods, two factor identification and other seamless technologies. Merchants will be looking for processors able to bring them into the 21st century with seamless integrated systems. Faster technology and infrastructure due to vast 5G networks can’t hurt as well.
Payment Trend 5: Greater security and fraud measures
With new technological developments, a greater concern for customer and merchant security has arisen. New technologies often fall behind in security measures and will need to catch up in the coming months. New security threats include more frequent breaches, spam and cyber crime.
Customers and banks alike will be looking for top-grade “intelligent” security measures to ensure money is tracked and insured throughout the entire process. In today’s market, security measures have to be totally unobtrusive so as to not interfere with the customer experience. Consumers are looking for security without hassle.
Fortunately, technological advancements allow for the detection of fraud in real-time and the longer these technologies are in use, the smarter they get. Authentication factors such as location, time of transaction and even predictive behavior help to reassure customers. Processes such as two factor authentication and text confirmations will be commonplace.
On the note of security, if just the thought of PCI compliance give you a headache. Check out our latest blog article which outlines what PCI compliance is and our “trick” to getting approved with as little headache as possible.
Credit Card Processing With Durango Merchant Services
We believe a good processor straddles the line between experience and innovation. Here at Durango Merchant Services we pride ourselves in our 20 years of great merchant processing history. At the same time, we work hard to stay “up to date” on the latest innovations and technologies to ensure our merchants are up to date on security, integrations and features.
If you are concerned about moving your payment systems into the future, reach out to us! We’d love to chat about our cutting edge technologies to reduce spam and fraud, all while reassuring your customers. Our high-risk experts will be able to be able to help.
