The future of instant payments
We live in a world where we expect everything to be immediate. Amazon is testing drone deliveries, thanks to Deliveroo we can order food for home from our favorite restaurant and we enjoy marathons of our favorite series on Netflix. This trend that mixes impatience and instantaneity is also clearly seen in the fintech sector.
Thanks to contactless payments, we go shopping and pay with a single touch of a card or through our smartphone with Apple or Samsung Pay. And is that the móvil has impacted the payments industry more than any other device, so much so that we are much more worried about losing our phone than our wallet.
At Azimo we are seeing more and more people moving away from traditional money transfer services, as consumers want the ability to send money anytime, anywhere. This makes a lot of sense, as today's society is short on time and is not willing to waste it waiting in line at the bank, filling out hundreds of forms or waiting for their money to arrive on the other side of the world.
Of course, we will see many more advances in the technological world in the near future, as mobile devices gain market share. In the next ten years, financial services will be a fundamental part of mobile operating systems, so much so that not being able to control our finances through the phone will be as archaic as black-and-white television is today.
Personally, I think we will see a lot more integrations between companies and a greater appetite by consumers for delay-free, frictionless money management.
IMPLEMENT THE SYSTEM
It is critical that companies offer convenient and instant payment methods for consumers. Companies ecommerce are doing everything they can to make sure their payment options are as digitally native and hassle-free as possible.
We are digital natives and expect the financial systems we use to be digital too, that we can access them from anywhere and through any device with minimal effort. Most things are instantly accessible and there is no reason why we have to wait to cash a check or several days for the money to reach the recipient's bank account.
The solution, although it may not seem like it, is simple: it is to integrate payments into the daily activities that consumers carry out, making money management as natural as brushing your teeth before going to bed. The integration of companies with tools such as Facebook Messenger or Siri is radically changing the way people manage and send money.
The gap is getting bigger and bigger between users and traditional financial services companies, which are driving themselves to failure. If consumers' demands are not being met by their current providers, they will switch to those that do. We have seen this with Uber, Spotify, Deliveroo and many more to come. We are at a tremendously exciting time. The race has already begun.