John Stewart January 17, 2022 https://www.digitaltransactions.net/trends-like-open-banking-and-bnpl-will-sustain-e-commerces-hot-streak-a-report-says/
Open banking, single-click checkout wallets, and the hot buy now, pay later trend will all help drive e-commerce volume worldwide in the coming five years, predicts Juniper Research in a report released Monday. This momentum is likely to push online sales long after the short-term impetus from the pandemic subsides, Juniper says.
E-commerce volume totaled $4.9 trillion globally in 2021, a figure the United Kingdom-based research firm forecasts will reach $7.5 trillion in 2026, when China will control a 37% share. Wider availability of multiple e-commerce channels, including mobile devices, will propel the overall growth worldwide, Juniper says. But along with the boom in e-commerce will come a corresponding growth in fraud via identity theft, account takeovers, and fraudulent chargebacks, the report warns. China, for example, will account for more than 40% of fraud losses worldwide in 2025, at more than $12 billion, Juniper forecasts.
Open banking is a trend by which fintechs can verify balances in consumers’ accounts and transfer funds to pay for online purchases. As standards bodies work to promulgate standards for this business, e-commerce payment providers “should … partner with specialists in … specific emerging payment areas to keep pace with changing merchant expectations around acceptance types,” the research firm says in its release, referring to digital wallets and crypto as well as open banking.
Open banking has taken on a higher profile in the global payments market with efforts by both of the global card networks to acquire firms that specialize in this area. Visa Inc. has acquired Tink AB, while Mastercard Inc. bought Aiia and Finicity Corp.
Physical goods will continue to dominate e-commerce spending, the report says, accounting for 82% of payment value by 2026. To tap into the trend, Juniper advises, payments providers should support buy now, pay later plans, which allow consumers to split purchases into four equal installments paid over a six-week period at no interest. BNPL is becoming more controversial, however, as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has launched an investigation of the option and as reports emerge that consumers with multiple accounts are more likely to miss a payment.
While still a big trend, e-commerce sales in the U.S. market cooled significantly last year as the pandemic effect lost some of its force. Third-quarter sales in 2021 reached $214.6 billion, up 6.6% year-over-year, according to the Census Bureau, which tracks retail sales. That follows an 8.9% rise in the second quarter and three straight quarters with increases of 32% or more. Fourth-quarter 2021 results are not yet available.
The Future of the Point of Sale Is Here: Visa Pioneers Cloud-based Payment Acceptance
Visa Acceptance Cloud creates more seamless, affordable point of sale opportunities for small businesses, retailers, fintechs, and the businesses that support them
January 13, 2022 09:15 AM Eastern Standard Time
SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today Visa (NYSE: V) announced a new platform, Visa Acceptance Cloud (VAC), set to revolutionize the way businesses accept payments from their customers. Following the success of the company’s popular “Tap to Phone” solution, VAC will let acquirers, payment service providers, point of sale (POS) manufacturers, and Internet of Things (IoT) players move payment processing software from being embedded in each hardware device to being universally accessible in the cloud.
“NOBAL‘s intelligent mirror in partnership with VAC from Visa provides payment experiences on our mirror without the expense and expertise required for embedded hardware modules, helping us push the future of retail in new ways.”Tweet this
Already live across six geographies, VAC will help innovators transform almost any device into a cloud-connected payment terminal, while providing seamless, cloud-based software updates, robust analytics, and network services from Visa. Since VAC runs on Visa’s data centers, it also offers leading data security capabilities.
“Cloud acceptance is the future of payments,” said Mary Kay Bowman, senior vice president and global head of payment and platform products, Visa. “Cloud-connected POS lets sellers accept payments across a range of devices quickly, simply, and safely, whether at an unattended kiosk in a hotel, a mirror in a high-end retail store or virtual in-home gym, or a smart phone in the hands of a small seller with a roadside newsstand.”
In January 2020, Visa first showcased the power of “Tap to Phone,” an industry-first solution that transforms current generation Android smartphones and tablets into contactless point of sale terminals. Tap to Phone was Visa’s first offering that let sellers accept payments on the devices they already own, just by downloading an app. As of December 2021, there were more than 300,000 devices across 54 countries using Tap to Phone.
Expanding beyond phones, Visa Acceptance Cloud enables any POS or connected device to seamlessly accept payments and to incorporate a range of added services, including buy now, pay later, fraud management, Rapid Seller Onboarding, and advanced data analytics. The ongoing pilots in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia cater to a variety of use cases, including retailers and restaurants in Australia through Visa’s work with U.S.-based fintech, Bleu, NOBAL Technologies’ smart mirror and public trains in Brazil.
“Bleu is working with Visa to bring seamless payments to businesses across Australia for the very first time,” said Sesie Bonsi, President & CEO, Bleu. “While the average business owner can spend as much as $1,000 on POS devices, plus countless hours and more money on time consuming certification processes, moving to Visa Acceptance Cloud removes the barriers of traditional hardware and burdens of device-bound kernel certifications, making it easier for the independent business that we serve to deliver touchless payment options to their customers through any connected device.”
“Retailers are looking to enhance their in-store customer experience to meet the speed and convenience of the online and in-store checkout experiences,” says Bill Roberts, CEO, NOBAL Technologies. “NOBAL‘s intelligent mirror in partnership with VAC from Visa provides payment experiences on our mirror without the expense and expertise required for embedded hardware modules, helping us push the future of retail in new ways.”
“VAC is a universal platform that helps open up acceptance for all – by freeing our leading technology partners to innovate. On one end of the spectrum, cloud acceptance helps drive inclusion for more small sellers who want to offer digital payments. On the other end, Visa Acceptance Cloud enables advanced shopping and buying experiences that will be central to the future of retail for businesses of all shapes and sizes,” continued Bowman. “Moving acceptance to the cloud opens up the possibility of so much innovation from the entire payments ecosystem. This is only the beginning.”
Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating more than 215 billion payments transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories each year. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at Visa.com.
M-commerce. As smartphones and tablets take over our lives brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce sites are gearing up for the upcoming surge in shoppers to provide the ‘omni channel’ experience. Today shoppers use their smartphone and tablet devices to research their purchases, read reviews and ask about items others have purchased on social networking sites. This holiday season will see a rise in spending over previous years and mobile commerce alone is expected to rise to $17 Trillion by 2017. So what are retailers doing to upgrade their customers experience? One avenue is mobile point of sale that let’s a company extend it’s sales force with global reach. Tablets are mainly used, although smartphones will work as well, and access to the company’s entire inventory can be accessed anywhere on the planet. To close the sale, electronic payments can be processed at the point of sale with a credit card swipe reader. For larger companies with a local presence, new services are allowing that omni channel shopping experience with in store pickups, returns and exchanges.
Walmart for example now ships 10 percent of its orders from the store to the door. In store pickup is big this holiday season as well. Walmart and Target are set to facilitate in store pickups for e-commerce shoppers allowing them to bypass long checkout lines and take advantage of last minute sales. Much of this is in response to e-commerce giant Amazon. Amazon has many distribution centers but even with those, they can only ship in advance of Christmas. In store pickup can facilitate Christmas eve purchases that online e-commerce purchases cannot.
Much has to be done for smaller merchants to rise to that level of delivery. Software is needed to combine in store inventory with that of online inventory available. Stores also need equipment and space to give packing employees room to work orders. Sales staff need training to help shoppers place orders and even merchandising is typically brought in house where brick and mortar stores and e-commerce buying has been separate.
Technology can be scary, so can change. When you combine the two most people run. Technology can be extremely helpful in growing your business. From Omni Commerce merchant accounts, where you can combine all your processing into one merchant account, to social media marketing where you can reach a larger audience, and even expanding to online sales without a website. Having the right team to help you navigate and keep you up to date on all these new trends is crucial. Here are some tips to help you learn these new techniques and stay ahead to the trend.
Be Proactive, Notify Customers of Issues
Streaming data can be analyzed from multiple sources in real-time, to enable proactive customer service. This could include data from the website, such as a customer’s clicks, as well as mobile app clicks and shipment information. Specialized tools called complex event processing systems are often used to correlate all the data in real-time, analyze it based on the rules defined in the tool and take actions to notify the customer, another application, or someone internal to the business. Retailers can use these systems to reduce call volumes and resolve issues resulting in happier shoppers and higher revenue.
Create Service-level Targets
For the retailer’s customer service to be stellar, targets need to be defined for all key operations such as wait times, same customer calling within a specific period of time and time for one call. These targets can also define service level agreements, where appropriate. These targets should be linked with automated alerts that get triggered when they are not met and used to notify the appropriate staff to resolve. This will help maintain the desired service levels. Most customer service solutions, have a feature to create automated alerts, though not every retailer enables this feature. It is not that difficult if a step-by-step approach is used: (1) Define the appropriate targets and (2) create alerts to resolve the issues quickly.
360 Degree View of Customers
The concept of obtaining visibility to all the customer interactions and taking action based on that has been around for several years, but still it has not been widely adopted. The goal is not only to align customer interactions in different systems like campaigns, recommendations and social networks, but also to correlate this data to determine the next best action to serve the customer. If a retailer knows these activities about a customer, the benefits such as product recommendations are huge. For small retailers, this can be accomplished by first integrating the different systems in their environment and gradually building the correlations to get a full view of the customer.
Empower Reps to Resolve Issues
The customer should not be transferred from one rep to the next to resolve the issue. The reps need to be empowered to resolve the issue. This typically requires providing access to the reps to different parts of the system. The reps need to have the power to refund money up to a certain limit, give away free products or services or issue a one-time savings, such as free shipping or 25 percent off on the next order.
Enhanced Search
Customer service representatives usually search a customer’s history before working on the issue. In most cases, the search is limited to past interactions with service reps. It is important however, to search through all customer communication, including audio files for phone calls, chat interactions and any email communications. Without this enhanced search, the reps are getting an incomplete view of the issue, leaving the customer frustrated. Speech recognition tools enable voice files to be searched or they can be tagged with the relevant keywords manually when the rep is working on the issue over the phone. Software solutions are available for searching through audio files and some come bundled with customer-relationship and ticketing solutions.
Facilitate Feedback
Great customer service can only be improved if it incorporates improvements based on shopper feedback. It is therefore important to make it as easy as possible to gather feedback positive and negative from customers and visitors. If a retailer uses a support ticket system, then the customer should be able to provide feedback on the ticket, just like they would review a product after purchase.
Improve Speed of Response
Most of us have heard a customer service representative say that his systems are running slow, resulting in increased wait time. If this problem is so common, why are retailers not taking action to fix it? It requires an investment for sure. But the money saved by serving more customers in the same amount of time or increased revenue because the customers get answers faster, could make it worthwhile. The easiest technical option to improve the speed of response is to move data that is accessed most frequently, such as customer profile information, product catalog and return policies into an in-memory system to reduce the data access time. Additionally, if a rep has to assemble information from multiple systems (i.e., billing, fulfillment, order data) before answering a customer’s question, consider assembling and loading that information into the in-memory system to make processing of queries faster.
Keep Reps Aware of Updates
Retailers should always ensure that customer service personnel knows about important changes to the business, such as site design updates, new features, new products, and new campaigns, as well as temporary issues, such as shipping delays. The reps need to see the release notes and understand what is being changed in the environment before they start receiving questions from shoppers.
Monitor Social Networks
A negative post on a social network can do serious damage to a retailer’s brand. Consumers know that. Hence customer service teams cannot ignore social networks. They must maintain a live feed dashboard that shows the sentiments on different social networks and what is trending. Based on this, action needs to be taken. Retailers can track this using sentiment analysis that is available in several products.
Up-to-date Knowledge Base
Many retailers track customer queries by creating tickets. These tickets are sometimes handled manually bad, sometimes in an Excel spreadsheet still bad and sometimes in an online ticketing system good. The objective is not only to resolve the customer issue, but also to avoid spending time responding to the same issue later. This can be achieved if the resolutions are updated in the online ticketing system and made available to the customer in a knowledge base. Customers scan search for the issue and if they do not find the resolution they can contact customer service.
When you are first setting up a retail or an eCommerce endeavor, few decisions will be of as much importance as the payment provider that you choose. Your payment provider will handle each and every card transaction your online company makes, and if it doesn’t function properly, or if it has a lot of hidden fees, such as old legacy systems with long term contracts, you can be setting your business up to fail before you ever get started.
So, we are going to explain to you what you should be looking for when you reach this crucial decision in the setup phase of your business, and we will help you find a payment provider that meets your needs perfectly and sets you up to succeed in the business world.
As a general rule of thumb, there are three main factors that you really need to consider when you go to choose who you will be working with: The people involved in the transaction, the fees associated with each transaction, and how the transaction is handled behind the scenes. There are some smaller tidbits that can make a specific provider a better or worse choice, but those three factors will allow you to narrow your search down to a select few of top competitors that will truly help your company succeed.
The Parties Involved
Besides your bank and the customer’s bank, there are three different factors that go into every single one of your transactions, and a payment provider works with all three of them. There’s you, your customer, and the technology acting as a bridge between the two of you. We’ll go into more detail about all that, now.
The Customer
With this part of the transaction, we are really talking about the “issuing bank”. That’s your customer’s bank, and they handle lending the customer the money to make a purchase on your site, and they issue the card that the customer uses to make that purchase. This is your customer’s main form of interaction with the transaction process, and it’s one of the most important factors since it’s what starts the transaction in the first place. However, you have no control over this factor, and you can simply ensure that the technology, which we’ll talk about soon, makes their part of the transaction as smooth as possible.
The Merchant
This is you and your part in the transaction. You function as the merchant that the customer is engaging with, and in order to do that, you need a merchant bank to partner with and work as your company’s bank. A merchant bank functions differently than the bank you use in your day to day life. Instead of issuing you funds in advance for credit purchases and managing your checking and savings accounts, a merchant bank takes in your customers’ payments for you, and then puts those payments into a special merchant account that is a lot like a business’s checking account. Without a merchant bank, you won’t be able to succeed in the long-term with eCommerce.
The Technology Solution
Your technology, and the company handling it, is what makes a transaction possible in the first place, and there are two parts to this imperative factor: The payment processor and the payment gateway.
Processor
The payment processor is what actually handles the transaction. It moves the money between the different parties and delivers it to the banks and accounts involved. If your processor is subpar, your customer’s transaction experience will be, too. You need an up-to-date payment processor that functions smoothly and without any hassle placed on you or your customer to ensure that each customer enjoys a seamless transaction.
Gateway
The payment gateway is essentially what sends the transaction information to the payment processor. It links to your site’s shopping cart feature, and when a customer buys something, it connects to the payment processor and begins the transaction. In order to ensure that your transactions are smooth and effortless, this technological asset needs to be competent and able to easily satisfy your customers without being apparent.
How the Transaction Process Happens
The transaction process is fairly complicated, but it all takes place in a matter of seconds. In fact, it’s usually seemingly instantaneous.
Once a purchase is made, the payment gateway encrypts the transaction data to protect your customer and your business, and then it asks the customer’s bank if it will advance the funds for the customer’s purchase. If yes, the payment will be sent to your merchant account, and if not, the transaction will be denied and ended until a resolution can be found.
Once that step is completed, the funds typically end up being accessible by you the second your merchant bank acquires them and places them in your account, but you may be forced to keep a certain amount in the account to make sure you can cover any returns that pop up.
This part is not instantaneous. It can take a couple days to complete this part of the process.
Transaction Fees
This is easily the factor that you’ll want to pay attention to the most, because a lot of merchant service providers are downright misleading when they quote your rates, and you need to get a firm understanding of how a company sets up its fees to know what to actually expect from your bill.
Most often, companies will quote something like 1.8% rates to interest you and appeal to your more frugal side, but then they’ll apply all sorts of hidden fees that raise that rate as high as 11% without notifying you properly. As you can imagine, that can make your bill a bit more than what you thought it would be.
There are three rate models that are most often used:
Flat-Rate
You’re given a specific amount to pay, and whether that covers your total fees or not, that’s what you pay. You could be overpaying tremendously if you accept a quite a few low cost cards vs. the higher cost cards. The processor is banking on your acceptance of these lower cards to ensure all costs are covered.
Interchange Plus Pricing
This takes the interchange fee you pay and adds a small fixed rate on top of it. It’s not as consistent as a flat-rate fee because of the sheer amount of interchange fees out there and the number of different credit cards with all of the various reward and incentive programs.
Tiered Pricing
This is when the provider creates a few tiers of fees and charges you based on the tier your fees are in rather than each individual fee. The only bad thing about this is that the provider decides which fees go into which tier.
Other Important Things to Consider
Does your processor provide Data Security/PCI protection? What about financial breach protection, in the event you are breached?
Any business or other entity that stores, processes or transmits cardholder data must ensure that their processes meet the Payment Card Industry / Data Security Standard (PCI/DSS). Failure to do so can result in heavy fines being levied.
Understanding PCI/DSS
The PCI/DSS is a global standard defining acceptable practice for any entity involved in the storage, transmission or processing of cardholder data.
In recognition of the sensitive, confidential and valuable nature of this data the standard imposes strict regulations which must be met in full. The full requirements are detailed but are covered by 12 broad requirements. These are grouped into 6 broad control objectives as follows:
1. Build and Maintain a Secure Network and Systems – Install and maintain a firewall configuration to protect data – Do not use vendor-supplied defaults for system passwords and other security parameters
2. Protect Cardholder Data – Protect stored data (use encryption) – Encrypt transmission of cardholder data and sensitive information across public networks
3. Maintain a Vulnerability Management Program – Use and regularly update anti-virus software – Develop and maintain secure systems and applications
4. Implement Strong Access Control Measures -Restrict access to data by business need-to-know -Assign a unique ID to each person with computer access -Restrict physical access to cardholder data
5. Regularly Monitor and Test Networks -Track and monitor all access to network resources and cardholder data -Regularly test security systems and processes
6. Maintain an Information Security Policy -Maintain a policy that addresses Information Security
Any entity handling card transactions must meet the standard and be able to demonstrate (certify) that it does so. The level of certification is flexible and depends on how transactions are processed and in what volume.
A Summary of Benefits
Achieving full compliance with PCI/DSS standards is more than an obligation. It delivers genuine benefits to businesses:
– Lessen the risk of fraudulent transactions
– Prevent security breaches
-Lessen the impact should a breach occur
– Reduce your business’ exposure to risk and liability
– Provide peace of mind for your customers
– Avoid the negative PR associated with data loss
Why are These Requirements in Place?
Card transactions have grown enormously in recent years as cards become the number 1 preferred form of payment. Since no physical money is handled or exchanged as part of these transactions they are dependent on the transfer of data.
That data therefore becomes sensitive and valuable and must be protected. Failure to protect this data can lead to fraud and theft. These crimes often impact both the card holder and the merchant directly. They can also damage or even destroy the reputation of businesses or organizations involved in hacks or data breaches.
More widely card fraud has the long-term detrimental effect of eroding consumer confidence and trust – both in the individual companies affected and in the card payment industry more widely.
Millions of consumers and organizations worldwide are choosing to pay by card. And millions of businesses, professionals, traders and organizations are accepting and handling these payments. Instead of allowing an ad-hoc approach where each business sets its own level of security the PCI / DSS was imposed. This ensures a uniformly high level of data security throughout the worldwide card payment industry.
Keep your Data Secure – Don’t get caught without PCI Data Breach Protection
An opportunity for you to join one of the greats. We are actively seeking account executives that want to build a recurring income of unlimited potential. Work from anywhere (including remote) in both U.S. and Canadian territories. We offer generous commissions that pay out each month for the life of the account. We offer wholesale pricing on terminals, software, equipment and supplies giving you the ability for additional revenue opportunities. We want to be your partners for success.
Why us? National Transaction Corp (NTC) is a leading, Florida based, merchant account provider proudly supporting clients in both the US and Canada. With over 23 years of experience in the electronic payment environment, dedicated 24/7 live in-house customer and ISO/Agent support, On Site Technology teams, competitive compensation plans, multiple banks and processors to choose from, and flexible merchant pricing options, we have what it takes to help you build long term residual portfolios.
Even before the Coronavirus pandemic, the world of payment acceptance was rapidly changing. Since the pandemic, businesses were sent into a tailspin, trying to adjust. Our ability to underwrite Omni-Commerce accounts, saved many of our ISO and Agent Partners from having to start over when their customers converted to E-commerce based solutions.
Specializing in High Risk Travel, and partnered with one of the largest travel associations, we have serviced thousands of travel merchant accounts. We know how to navigate high risk and large volume merchants through underwriting challenges with huge success. Most of the times, we can even prevent or eliminate the need for reserves, keeping more cash flow in the hands of your merchants.
Because we want you to succeed, we have a dedicated team to help assist you with the sales process if needed. We will be available to you should you need us.
The chargeback process was introduced more than four decades ago as a consumer-protection mechanism. It was meant to inspire consumer confidence in payment cards, which were still a novel concept at the time. Fast-forward to today, though, and these forced payment reversals have evolved into a significant problem for online merchants.
Chargeback abuse—commonly known as friendly fraud—is a major source of loss. In fact, chargeback issuances resulting from friendly fraud were expected to reach $50 billion annually in 2020, according to Mercator Advisory Group.
Even then, this figure is a low estimate. It doesn’t account for current trends in a post-Covid environment, where we’ve seen a dramatic increase in friendly fraud. These attacks were already up by the end of March, and there’s no sign that they’re going to slow down.
Covid-19 might look like the source of the problem on a superficial level. If we dig deeper, though, we see four underlying factors behind the preexisting upward trend in chargeback filings:
More fraudsters view the CNP environment as the “channel of least resistance;”
Inconsistency in technologies and regulations across different markets;
The rise of mobile banking;
The response by card networks like Visa and Mastercard.
These four factors carry diverse ramifications for the market. For instance, roughly $118 billion in e-commerce transactions are declined each year, according to Javelin Strategy & Research. Most of these rejected purchases are false positives, meaning the merchant unnecessarily rejected the purchase in hopes of avoiding a chargeback.
Clearly, there’s a growing disconnect between merchants, financial institutions, and card networks regarding how best to address this situation. We can see this reflected in the fact that the rate of chargeback issuances in North America is expected to significantly outpace those in the European market. This is attributed to factors like strong customer authentication protocols required by the Revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2), and more widespread use of 3-D Secure technology.
The pressure is on for industry players to find more comprehensive solutions for chargebacks. These solutions must be data-driven and adaptable, though. Otherwise, the growing disconnect between cardholders, merchants, financial institutions, and card networks will exacerbate existing problems in the market, leading to further losses.
The good news is that, in the meantime, there are strategies merchants can employ to address these concerns. For instance, even though friendly fraud operates by concealing itself behind false chargeback reason codes, it’s still helpful to have a clear understanding of what each reason code means in context.
Merchants can’t avoid friendly fraud in the same way they can detect criminal attacks or eliminate merchant errors. However, they can minimize friendly fraud risk by adopting key best practices, including:
Notifying customers to remind them about recurring payments;
Keeping organized and well-documented transaction records;
Using delivery confirmation when shipping physical goods;
Providing easy access to round-the-clock, live customer service;
Providing a quick response to any refund or cancellation requests.
Also, if a merchant identifies a chargeback as friendly fraud, it’s important to engage that dispute through the representment process. This is a complex, time-consuming process, which is why many merchants opt to outsource their chargeback management. It’s still possible to conduct the process with in-house management. However, it will require strong evidence to support the merchant’s case, such as:
A legible sales receipt
A tracking number
Any emails or transcripts of communications you’ve had with the customer
Delivery confirmation information
A record of in-store pickup
Photographic evidence (when available)
This evidence needs to be contextualized with a chargeback rebuttal letter, explaining why the original transaction was valid. Also, merchants are on a tight schedule. In most cases, they have only a few days to provide a response to their acquirer.
Chargeback management can be a difficult and confusing process. But, with the problem of chargeback abuse only set to grow over time, it’s something merchants can’t afford to take for granted.
—Monica Eaton Cardone is the chief operating office and cofounder of Chargebacks911, Clearwater, Fla.
There are few moments like now where American consumers are collectively open to the idea of new payment methods – especially contactless ones such as mobile wallets. This is good news for businesses since mobile wallets offer a safer payment alternative to credit cards and drastically reduce customer wait times at checkout.
Mobile wallets (such as Apple Pay and PayPal) use authentication, monitoring and data encryption to secure and transmit personal information, and the level of security associated with them has payment card issuers backing their use. This is certainly helping drive consumer adoption, as does convenience.
In fact, global mobile wallet transaction value is estimated to reach nearly $14 trillion by 20201 – and that is a pre-COVID-19 estimate. New estimates are higher and point to further rapid adoption given the current need for touch-free payment options. According to a recently published Visa Back to Business report,* 70 percent of consumers surveyed in June 2020 have used a new shopping or payment method for the first time this year.
A rapid shift has begun and the numbers tell the storySo what is holding back business adoption of mobile wallets? Until recently, it just wasn’t a priority for many small- and medium-size businesses to enable it or educate their employees on its use. The lack of preferential demand didn’t make it a pressing topic. But that is changing. Consider this:
According to Forbes,2 by 2026, digital natives will be 59 percent of the consumers in the U.S. market.
Of this, 45 percent will be specifically Millennials and Gen Z, representing the largest purchasing power.
As Gen Z move into becoming the largest generation cohort, their purchasing power will be $143 billion.
But it’s not just what lies ahead that SMBs should be focused on now.
According to Visa’s Back to Business report, shoppers are now putting COVID-19 safety measures at the top of their shopping lists and they will reward stores that do the same. In fact, if all other factors were equal (price, selection, location), nearly 63 percent of consumers surveyed would switch to a new store that installed contactless payment options, such as mobile wallets.3
What does this mean for you? Now is the time to connect with customers to make sure they are fully contactless capable and have the technology in place to accept many of the most popular mobile wallets.
1Payments Industry Intelligence, “The rise of digital and mobile wallet: Global usage statistics from 2018,” November 25, 2018. 2Forbes, January 2020 3Visa Back to Business report 2020
It started off as a favor, “Can I bring my puppy, Baxter to work today?” And in the days that followed, everyone kept asking, where is Baxter? So he started making an appearance at the office a few days a week. Now, I can’t leave home without him. He knows the morning routine and as soon as he hears the car keys, he is waiting at the door. When we get to the office, he makes a bee line into every office to see who is here. He greets you as if he has never seen you before, so excited and happy, it can’t help but put a smile on your face. I mean seriously, do you get greeted by anyone in your office with such positive energy? The difference in the office atmosphere when Baxter is here, is incredible. The moral is much higher, the motivation of the sales team has increased and the boss is much calmer. But beware when you enter, he we might look cute and sweet but he will surely greet you at the door with a loud excited vocal bark and crazy twitching tail. And be cautious of where you step as the office floor is now covered in toys and treats. We are not sure who has more fun, the employees playing catch on breaks, or Baxter chasing the balls or toy squirrels up and down the halls. When things are busy, he knows to lay low, but when it’s time for Lunch, you better watch out, he will be glued by your side. When tension in the office gets high, Baxter will zero in on you and demand your attention, as if he knows petting him, will soothe the mood and ease the tension. It is a win win for us all. He might not be a “Certified Therapy Pet”, but in our office, he most certainly deserves the title of “Therapy Pet”.
We care about our clients and are happy to hear from them, we were able to sit down with one of them and hear their story. Let’s get some Monday motivation and meet KashPatel from Baryia Travel.
Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview, it is an honor. Since we know you are taking time away from your busy schedule let’s get started. Tell us about yourself and your business.
I founded Baryia Travel in 1991 and have been designing luxury travel packages for individuals to small groups! We specialize in South Pacific (Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Fiji, Cook Island and Hawaii), Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, and the Indian Ocean Islands), and Luxury Cruises (ocean and River). I am a Premium Aussie, Kiwi, Kenya and Fundi (South Africa) Specialist and certified by respective countries Tourism Commissions! I have also completed certification offered by Silver Seas, Uniworld River Cruises, among the major cruise lines. Our expertise include romance (honeymoons, destination weddings, etc.) adventure, and sports (golf, tennis, etc.) travel.
Thank you so much for sharing. Tell us, has the journey been smooth or have there been some bumps along the way?
The journey has been anything but smooth, but we are still going strong now for about 27 years! Couple years after starting the business, airlines stopped paying commissions to travel agencies, but we survived and since then have learned various lessons as we march forward! Although many bumps in the road, it has been a very pleasant and enjoyable journey!
Please tell us more about BaryiaTravel.
Our motto is “Making your dream vacations a reality”. We accomplice this by making sure we understand what they want and design to meet their needs and desire and paying attention to every detail! By working with local tour operators in various countries we make sure they get the best experience!
Wow, that is very interesting, thanks for sharing. What made you decide to open up this business? What are you most passionate about it?
I have been passionate about travel and born and raised in Africa I wanted people to experience this very different continent! One of my first trip after starting my business was Australia and I fell in love with the island continent and since then I have visited South Pacific about 25 times to learn what they have to offer!
Thank you so much for answering all of our questions, before we let you go, is there any tips of advice you would give to other entrepreneurs like yourself?
Listening to customers’ needs and providing superior customer service with attention to details! Provide them off the beaten path experiences!
Share with us how customers can find you.
kash@baryiatravel.com
617-527-4799
We work by appointment only but have flexible hours and can also come to you for a meeting!
It was a wonderful opportunity to meet and talk with Kash Patel, be sure to contact them for your luxury travel needs!
