According to leading consumer survey reports, there is more interest in digital payment than ever before. This aspect of the global financial industry continues to grow at a rapid pace due to several factors. These range from technological advancements to the wider adoption of emerging options as well as the growing prevalence of digital commerce.
Today, about 80% of the US population, for example, has access to some form of digital payment and actively uses it. service. This is relatively easy to see given the impressive increase in omnichannel support by new and existing payment platforms. It turns out that’s just the beginning.
We are only three months away in 2022, and thanks to the dynamic nature of the sector, we can probably expect more changes during the year. All of this is mainly due to the rise of some digital payment trends. Although their impacts may be subtle, they certainly play a huge role in shaping the future of global finance.
Some of the more notable digital payment trends you should pay attention to this year include:
The increase in the use of mobile wallets
Millions of people in the United States use a variety of mobile wallets for just about every digital transaction they make. It’s not surprising at all. In addition to offering unparalleled levels of convenience, mobile wallets are now widely accepted. It’s possible to use PayPal, Venmo, and other mobile wallets to make purchases, renew subscriptions, and even send money to friends and family.
For online gamers, many people are using Cash App as a deposit method at their favorite online casinos. Some of the mobile wallets are derived from traditional payment options, making them easy to use regardless of location and time. Moreover, they continue to attract more customers by adding other incentives. Many of them offer things like rewards and cash back.
The mobile market has proven to be a very lucrative market for just about any business. That said, continued capitalization in this massive market is still expected to be a big deal in 2022. As a result, more merchants, online gaming operators, and other online service providers will double down on their mobile-optimized offerings.
More crypto in the mainstream
Crypto has already caused a stir in 2022 thanks to the advertisements that some companies in the sector ran during the Super Bowl. Being one of the most notable annual events, the Super Bowl brought the gospel of crypto to even more people. It not only offered insight into what the industry is all about, but it also introduced new audiences to some of the top companies in this industry.
While the widespread adoption of crypto has accelerated in recent years, efforts to achieve it have been stifled by several factors. Volatility is a great example of why many people are still skeptical about the future of crypto. It was also primarily a reserve for the tech-savvy demographic.
Some of these issues are still relevant, but we are very optimistic that crypto will grow in popularity in 2022. It is becoming both a viable store of value and a feature-rich medium of exchange. Many brands have jumped on the crypto bandwagon over the past year, and we expect the same to happen over the course of the year.
Contactless payments and biometric authentication
Digital payment is generally always intended to give traditional physical payment methods a hard time. However, due to the persistence of physical point-of-sale (POS) systems, it is becoming increasingly clear that they are here to stay. Contactless payment has seen a resurgence in popularity over the past two years. This is mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fortunately, most contactless payment technologies are already integrated into modern mobile devices. This further adds to the growing use of mobile point of sale (mPOS) systems. So far, it’s doing very well. More traders will likely go in this direction.
Another critical change that should also be paid attention to is the replacement of codes, passwords and PINs with biometrics. Surprisingly, while biometric authentication systems have been used on consumer computing devices, they have been very slow to arrive in the financial sector. Different companies take different approaches to this. Some prefer facial recognition, while others go the fingerprint route. Others have even tried iris scans.
The use of biometrics in a digital payment is likely to see a huge boost in 2022. Modern mobile devices, which are the most popular digital payment devices, are already more than capable of handling these tasks.
Summary: Trends in Digital Payments
The future of digital finance and payments is digital. While fiat currencies and physical payments are still an integral part of our lives, they are likely to gradually disappear. Some things will, of course, need to be refined and optimized as we move forward, but we’ve definitely gotten off to a good start on the journey into our digitally-dominated future.