THE NEW ECONOMY : FOUR TRENDS ACCELERATING PAYMENTS TECH
Customers will switch their allegiance to companies at the cutting edge . Here ’ s what you need to know to compete
WRITTEN BY : ELISE LEISE
Clearly , cash no longer holds the same cachet . About 50 % of Gen Z consumers have recommended a store , restaurant , or merchant based entirely on the fact that it was easy to pay . Fifty-eight percent told Discover that they wouldn ’ t return to a store after a bad payment experience . And according to Business Insider , the pandemic has accelerated the payments industry by two to three years . Now , customers , especially those concerned about their health , want safe , smooth , and secure payment options — and businesses who don ’ t offer it will be quickly ditched .
‘ The pandemic accelerated a lot of trends ’, said Forrester analyst Lily Varon . Contactless payments are now driven by consumers , not businesses . Consumers recommend and share information as if it ’ s currency . Companies can transfer funds in seconds , use AI to spot patterns in data , and customise their offers to individual people . If you want to keep up , in short , the following shifts in payments tech are worth considering . technologymagazine . com 95