BankThink

Apple, Visa and Mastercard Are Mobile's Best Bets for Retailers

Mobile transactions are getting faster and more efficient. As smartphones become more ubiquitous, more consumers are ready to pull out their phones to make a payment—and expect the option to do so.

But choosing a mobile payment provider isn’t so straightforward. With so many options available, it’s hard to know how to pick the best.

You could develop your own from scratch—or partner with a niche provider who specializes in your industry. But as you’ll learn, retailers will be better served by going with one of the big three providers: Apple Pay, MasterPass by MasterCard, or Visa Checkout.

Everyday, millions of consumers already use these established, large-scale mobile payment systems. They’re ready-built, tried and tested technology stacks that tick all the boxes on security, compliance, and user adoption.

In fact, a successful mobile payment integration hinges on these three elements.

Ensuring Adoption. You won’t see many sales if your payment system is frustrating, clunky, and confusing: a good user experience is absolutely key for adoption, no matter how powerful the platform. The interface must be intuitive, simple, and easy-to-use.

Large providers equip you with a user-friendly interface that’s ready to plug into. It’s regularly updated, bug tested, and optimized, so UX issues rarely occur.

What’s more, established providers support use in a range of different places and situations. Choosing one of the top three mobile payment providers guarantees support worldwide that’s robust enough to fit your specific business requirements.

Safeguarding Your Data. Cybersecurity vulnerabilities still pose risks during mobile transactions. If your provider fails to properly store and transmit sensitive data, your customer information could be stolen and misused—resulting in painful disclosures, bad publicity, and high fines.

Strong systems and regular updates make security breaches rare for large providers. Smaller providers can’t always offer this level of protection. The three major providers have things pretty locked down once you get the customer’s data to them—the weakest link lies between your business and the provider. Whatever mobile payment system you choose, take appropriate precautions to ensure the data you’re sending is fully encrypted.

Maintaining Compliance. Both governments and industries regulate mobile payments. Since compliance regulations vary between industries and can change rapidly, staying up-to-date on new regulations can be a challenge.  

Don’t make the mistake of thinking security equals compliance—even if a smaller provider has set up established secure systems, they may only roll out compliance updates sporadically. Large providers keep their systems current, deploy updates rapidly, and tend to be much more flexible and adaptable to your evolving compliance needs.

To ensure the best balance of user experience, security, and compliance, pick an established mobile payment provider.  

Each system offers unique benefits—dig into each and see which match your business requirements best. Whichever provider you choose, don’t delay too long: mobile payments are quickly becoming the new standard.

Revenues from mobile micropayments are booming. In 2015, mobile payments in the US exceeded $8.71 billion. By the end of the year, this should hit close to $30 billion.

With optimal UX, airtight security, and cutting-edge compliance, you’ll keep your business safe and your customers happy.

Chander Damodaran is principal architect for the technology office at Brillo.

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Retailers Mobile payments Technology
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