Upsurge forecast for futuristic transaction devices

A credit card or debit card need not be carried to a shopping mall or retail store in the near future. This will ensure that a customer need not worry over having multiple cards nor is there any fear of theft. Because, customers will have wearable devices that will soon replace physical cards in payment transactions.

A report by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report released on Tuesday said that wearable payment solutions will see an upsurge which will have minimal turnaround time for payment Stock Market Trading Tips

These include wearable devices which be may like a band with micro-chips attached containing bank account-related information. These are swiped by the user near the payment terminal in stores, malls or supermarkets without having the need to carry a physical credit or debit card.

However, industry officials said that some authentication may be required before such a device is used for a transaction. At present, some global banks and card companies have brought out such products in the international market which just has to be tapped anywhere near the payment system after which the money is auto-debited from the account via debit card or credit card information is captured.

The CII and PwC report, called ‘Banks taking a quantum leap through digital’, said with the proliferation of mobile-based services and the lowering of the median price of smartphones, the payments industry is growing exponentially. The growth is aided by policy, infrastructure and guidelines, formalised by the regulators Financial Astrology Trading Tips

Innovative and disruptive solutions have made this volume-intensive and low-margin industry a lucrative one.

For instance, Mswipe has provided an alternative to point-of-sale (POS) machines. A mobile swiper, Mswipe allows the customer to pay digitally at traditionally cash-only transactions, such as your local grocery store. It allows the seller to accept digital payments without using a POS machine provided by banks to swipe cards.  

“Dematerialisation and digitisation of plastic cards will force banks to re-invent and innovate. Ease of making payment is the new customer demand which will see a departure from traditional encrypted password-based payments to biometric security-based payments,” the report said Intraday Trading Tips

The report also claimed with banks taking a quantum leap in the digital space, some of the topmost trends to look out for in 2015 are innovative customer acquisition and engagement strategies, disruptive solutions in the payments space, and disruptive innovations from non-conventional financial players.

The e-commerce boom has also fuelled the customer’s comfort with online purchases, which is slowly filtering to the financial products space. The report said banks can use these channels to reach out to new customers including those in smaller cities Commodity Trading Tips

Vivek Belgavi, leader, financial services technology, PwC-India, said, “With non-traditional players such as Telcos, Fintech start-ups and niche payments companies disrupting the digital space, there will be an increased onus on traditional banks to augment their current capabilities with innovation in the ecosystem, potentially leveraging investments, to maintain their differentiation.”

However, the report said, increase in the volume as well as value of digital transactions has made payments susceptible to various security risks. Security breaches can damage reputations and destroy trust, thereby jeopardising the investments made in digital solutions.

In order to address these new-age risks, organisations will have to adopt a cyber-security approach, which not only addresses risks associated with the traditional IT realm, but also those that emerge from the extended business ecosystem Nifty Trading Tips