Are Credit Cards the Point of Friction?

We spoke to attendees at Money 20/20 to ask them their views on payment trends, predictions for the coming year and what the ideal payments ecosystem looks like.

Here’s an excerpt from our interaction with Denise Purtzer, VP of Business Development, for FuturePay, which provides mPOS solutions.

Trends

If we were to look back on the developments in the payments industry, Purtzer said, the focus has been mostly toward development of mobile technology, but she points out that it was really the launch of NFC-based mobile wallets that eased payments and propelled expansion and growth in the area.

2016 and Beyond

“It’d really stick with that mobile theme,”  Purtzer said. In 2016, we would see emergence of new payment methods that would steer away from traditional payment methods, meanwhile, continuing to bridge the gap in the changing technology. “There also needs to be a unification of the system and there’s no major adoption of mobile wallets per se. There’s so many choices for all the different people out there and consumers are hesitant to pick up mobile wallets at this point,” she added.

However, Purtzer pointed out, with shoppers adopting to omnichannel offerings, retailers need to move toward further taking out the friction from the checkout process and making it more secure.

Ideal Payments System

“A system that is frictionless, that is hassle-free, that gives people a way to checkout without a credit card,” Purtzer said. The ideal checkout process for any transaction needs to be more secure and hassle-free, and something the would essentially make consumers carefree, Purtzer added.

Obstacles

“Original POS is starting to change, of course. We are seeing that with chip-and-PIN. But it still revolves around credit card so giving people an option and way to checkout without credit cards is really the way it needs to go,” Purtzer said.

Denise Purtzer works as the VP of Business Development at FuturePay in Lincoln, Nebraska. Purtzer leads strategy and growth for the alternative payment platform which allows online shoppers to pay without a credit card.

For more breaking news from Money 20/20, click here.