Can today’s office workers have their lunch and enjoy it too?
The past few weeks have seen several players around the globe invest in payments-as-a-service (PaaS) solutions as a way to improve efficiency and expedite the pace of business in several markets. Among the markets that stand to benefit from efficiencies these solutions offer are restaurants that face high volumes of customers during the weekday lunch break. Beyond offering restaurants a new way to meet customer demands, other companies are introducing new options for companies to do business by investing in tools like mobile payment technology in an effort to offer consumers in local markets new avenues to pay for goods and services.
The March Payments-as-a-Service Tracker™ showcases the various ways companies and institutions are implementing new PaaS solutions to improve the pace of business.
News from the Payments-as-a-Service landscape
Recent moves by several companies in the PaaS space worked to expand new payment options and broaden financial inclusion in various global markets.
It was a busy month for telecom provider Samsung, which made several notable developments across Asian markets. In South Korea, the company recently began allowing local consumers to pay for goods from local online shopping malls using its mobile payment service, Samsung Pay. The company also officially launched Samsung Pay in India where the government’s decision to demonetize is generating an increased demand to make mobile payment technology more accessible.
In addition to providing consumers in global markets a new way to pay for goods and services, these developments are also working to expand global financial inclusion. For example, PayPal recently acquired bill processing company TIO Networks to broaden the reach of its own bill payment solution Xoom to an estimated 2 billion customers. And in Europe, a partnership between Swiss WIR Bank and SIX Payment Services aims to deliver new payment methods and efficiencies to the nation’s small and medium-sized businesses.
Speaking of efficiency, could a subscription-based meal plan simultaneously help restaurants effectively meet the rush of the lunchtime crowds and allow office workers to enjoy their lunch breaks again? For the latest Tracker, PYMNTS’ Karen Webster spoke with Mary Biggins, co-founder of MealPal, about how the company’s subscription-based platform is serving up a new way for food establishments and customers to make the most out of lunch.
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To download the March edition of the PYMNTS.com Payments as a Service Tracker™, click the button below …
About The Tracker
The PYMNTS.com Payments as a Service Tracker™ is designed to give an overview of the trends and activities of merchant platforms that not only enable payment processing of new and old technologies but also integrate with other features to improve the merchant’s experience, including customer engagement, security, omnichannel retail, analytics, inventory management, software and hardware managemen, and more.