After two unprecedented years in our recent history, the global payments industry is preparing to enter a new era in 2022.
If last year was marked by the accelerated digitalisation of the economy, 2022 will be remembered as the moment when these changes will solidify and normalise in our daily lives, and all thanks to the greater focus on the "customer experience", as Jordan McKee, Chief Analyst at 451 Research, points out:
"Payments have definitely become a strategic area for economic agents, as they foster business differentiation and promote a more satisfactory shopping experience for the customer."
As we've mentioned, the payments sector in 2022 will be a ship sailing on a sea where familiar trends, such as omnichannel or buy now, pay later strategies, and more innovative ones based on emerging technologies intersect, resulting in a system that has the potential to drastically change the world financial landscape as we know it.
"While economic agents, governments and consumers are still struggling to adapt to new realities and routines, 2022 represents a great opportunity for more practical means of payment, adjusted to the needs of the moment, to make their appearance and captivate the attention of the general public."
says Ryan Tuttle, Payments Specialist at Euromonitor International, about this expected change in the payments sector.
Modernisation of Payment Infrastructures
Faced with the change in consumer habits fostered by the pandemic, especially online shopping, many businesses have ended up facing the obsolescence of the payment methods that they were offering their customers, leading them to look for alternatives that were better suited to the needs of the moment.
According to 451 Research's "Trends in Customer Experience & Commerce" study from December last year, nearly two-thirds (67%) of merchants say that a customer experience infrastructure is the best solution for their customers. modern payments will have a highly transformative impact on your business over the next three years.
This trend puts on the table the importance of businesses updating the payment methods that they make available to their customers is underlined by another study by 451 Research ("Global Merchant & Consumer Payments Survey: Key Findings" of January 2022) in which 84% of the economic agents surveyed consider payments to be highly strategic for their business.
This modernisation in the payments sector includes, for example, the implementation and convergence of cloud-based solutions such as EMVCo Secure Remote Commerce and its "Click to Pay" tool, or the online payment solutions REDUNIQ@Payments e REDUNIQ E-Commerce from REDUNIQ, which, among other things, allows businesses to receive online payments by e-mail, SMS, WhatsApp, Multibanco reference or MB WAY, with Visa and Mastercard cards, in the case of the @Payments service. As for the REDUNIQ E-commerce solution, it allows e-commerce payments to be accepted in the online shop, with Visa and Mastercard debit and credit cards from customers all over the world, by Multibanco reference or MB WAY, with no membership costs or monthly fees.
Consolidation of Omnichannel Experiences
The continuous growth of cashless payment such as contactless will lead to economic agents continuing to focus on consolidating their omnichannel strategies (online and offline offer) in order to best accommodate the change in consumer habits and create a better digital relationship with consumers.
"We hope to see omnichannel grow beyond physical shops, the web and mobile, and enter the realms of social commerce."
begins by saying Don Apgar, Director of Commercial Services at Mercator Advisory Group, and then adds that he expects
"to see social commerce become a lucrative sales channel for all kinds of businesses as shoppers migrate to what is becoming the digital version of the shopping centres of the 1990s."
Within omnichannel transactions, the channel e-commerce is the fastest-growing segment if we consider the entire Retail sector.
According to the study "2022 Outlook: Merchant Services," by Mercator Advisory Group, the online omnichannel business in the United States is expected to grow by 81.8 billion dollars in 2022 to reach 600 billion dollars.
"The payments industry is going through a period of change fuelled by the confluence of three trends: the rapid adoption of contactless technologythe migration of payments globally to the digital space and the API (Application Programming Interface) offer, which has simplified the implementation of new technologies and platforms",
emphasises David Shipper, Strategy Consultant at the Aite-Novarica financial group.
The rise of cryptocurrencies
As the digitalisation of payments becomes a truly global phenomenon, some observers are already thinking about the future: the adoption of a global cryptocurrency. Although this is unlikely to happen in 2022, significant progress is expected this year.
"By 2022, we predict that cryptocurrency will become a must-have topic in the payments industry."
McKee told 451 Research.
Growth and consolidation of "buy now, pay later"
2022 won't be all about innovation.
As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, this year will also see the growth and consolidation of trends from last year, such as "buy now, pay later".
According to several observers, the "buy now, pay later" (BNPL) solutions that have been developed throughout 2020 and 2021 have radically changed consumer expectations and behaviour, both in the online channel and in face-to-face purchases.
"2020 and 2021 were years of extraordinary growth (double digits) in the volume of BNPL transactions."
says Ron van Wezel, Strategic Consultant at the Aite-Novarica group.
As well as emphasising that "buy now, pay later" solutions are not just a credit instrument, van Wezel sees "reducing friction in the checkout process" and consequently "improving the customer experience" as the reasons for the success of BNPL strategies with retailers.
In addition to its success with retailers, BNPL is popular with younger age groups in markets such as Australia, Europe and the USA.
More and more young consumers are turning to credit alternatives, which ultimately positions BNPL as an attractive means of payment.
According to 451 Research's "2022 Trends in Customer Experience & Commerce" study, 51% of Generation Z respondents and 42% of Millennial respondents have used BNPL at least once in the last six months.
* Article adapted from Discover® Global Network.
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