News & Views: February 2019
The driving force behind Navigate is to give you, our readers, valuable insights into the dynamic markets we operate in. We trust our launch edition does that but are also aware that we don’t have a monopoly on good insight. As such, Visa will provide Navigate users with regular updates on the interesting things we are reading, watching and listening to.
Our intention is to share content you might have missed from a range of different sources, from highly respected titles to gems from less obvious sources Visa experts around Europe value.
Trends for 2019
PYMNTS.COM: PAYMENTS INNOVATION 2019: What To Take Forward And What To Leave Behind
As we hurtle towards a new decade, PYMNTS.com pauses to reflect on innovations paving the way to the future, as well as those that should be left firmly in the past. This crystal ball exercise looks at many aspects of payments, from mobile and contactless payments to governance and how incremental improvements to legacy systems will trump hyped-up innovation.
The Financial Brand: 7 Trends Disrupting The Future of Payments: From Apple Pay to Zelle
This forward-looking piece from The Financial Brand looks at the biggest trends for 2019, from the threats posed by big tech companies, to payments and the customer experience. Jordan Mckee, Research Director at 451 Research, comments that companies are actively changing the way consumers view payments – from a purely transactional function to a more experience-led journey. Data, omni-channel and open-banking also come under the spotlight in this wide-ranging piece.
Click here to see the piece Jordan Mckee wrote for Visa Navigate: East Meets West: Key Learnings from the Rapid Rise of Mobile Payments in Mainland China
Bloomberg: Experts Predict the Five Big Fintech Trends of 2019
Bloomberg wraps up a swathe of opinions from fintech industry leaders on the year to come – IPOs, consolidation and big-tech are set to shake-up the world of global payments, while the flow of capital to the sector looks set to continue.
Gartner: Top 10 Data and Analytics Technology Trends for 2019
Information Age picks through Gartner’s predictions for 2019 – from ‘augmented analytics’ to ‘augmented data’ to ‘continuous intelligence’ and ‘explainable AI’. Cutting through complexity, this piece highlights what you really need to know in the world of data and analytics for 2019.
Davos
Voanews: At Davos the Battle Lines are Drawn over Trade and Cooperation
The future of global commerce and inter-country co-operation was under high scrutiny at this year’s World Economic Forum, held in Davos, Switzerland. Associated Press highlights how the evolving global political landscape, concentrations of power and the never-ending question of Brexit were front of mind.
Financial Times: Fear of March Madness in Davos (paywall)
The Financial Times continues this theme, in a piece by Gideon Rachman, chief foreign affairs commentator, questioning how the US-China trade war and Brexit will both play out and impact the world – concluding that the potential for ‘no-deal’ in both cases may be more likely than expected.
WeForum: Privacy is a human right, we need a GDPR for the world: Microsoft CEO
Not all of the talk at Davos was focused on global tensions – Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, delivered a fascinating speech in which he gave praise to GDPR, the European regulation on data protection and privacy. This article by Ceri Parker, of the World Economic Forum, highlights Satya’s comments linking data protection and human rights, and distinct praise for facial recognition and its power for good.
Gamification
Forbes: How To Use Gamification To Reach Consumers On Mobile
Forbes features a piece by contributor Steve Olenski on gamification – he concludes that despite previous claims, it’s nowhere near over. He argues simplicity and instant gratification are key aspects of the product that businesses should keep front of mind.
BAI: Podcast: How banks can win at gamification
BAI Banking Strategies here offers an interesting podcast by John Findlay, CEO of gaming company Launchfire, on how gamification benefits businesses, and can elevate HR and people management to a new level.
Open Banking
Bloomberg: Fintech Revolution Still Not Here a Year Into ‘Open Banking’
Bloomberg’s Edward Robinson highlights how despite the EU’s best efforts to implement an era of open banking for consumers and high hopes from the industry, the landscape remains more or less the same. Adoption looks slower than expected… but will come.
Banking Tech: It’s safe to bet on open banking
Fintech Futures takes a more optimistic view on open banking, with Greg Palmer commenting that while change and all the regulatory rigmarole that goes along with it can be scary and risky for banks, it can offer a compelling mix of benefits for consumers, innovators, and regulators.
PYMNTS.COM: Corporates On Deck For Open Banking Disruption
PYMNTS.com sits in the middle of this wide-ranging debate, concluding that while open banking shows great promise for corporates, it’s not an easy solution for banks to fix and they remain a little unsure of how to solve it.
At a glance: mobile payments around the world
Financial Times: WhatsApp’s push into mobile payments (paywall)
WhatsApp payments are taking off in India – WhatsApp’s biggest market in the world. This Financial Times article by Madhumita Murgia in Mumbai highlights how tensions between the state and Facebook are brewing, as the Indian government’s reluctance to relinquish control of data processing to California is creating a fierce stand-off.
Financial Times: Chinese merchants refuse cash as mobile payments take off (paywall)
Meanwhile, in China, the rise of mobile payments continues unabated, despite the best efforts of China’s central bank to mitigate the increasing spread of Ant Financial and Tencent into retail payments. The Financial Times’ Gabriel Wildau reports on the escalating tension, noting that merchants’ appetite for cashless payments shows no sign of going away.
BBC: The battle between cash and mobile payments in Africa
Mistrust of technology, high octane bank lobbying and a huge ‘informal’ cash payments system prop up the payments landscape in Nigeria, where only 6% of consumers use mobile payments despite a high usage of mobile phones. By comparison, in Kenya, 73% of the population have a mobile payment account. This piece sheds light on the ongoing battle between cash and technology in Nigeria, Kenya and the African continent.
Banking Forum: Fintech Futures: Infographic: the Italian payment landscape
Fintech Futures features an infographic on the Italian payment landscape – did you know that Italians are adopting mobile pay and online faster than anyone else in Europe?
And one from the Archives...
Every time we produce a ‘News & Views’ we will also point you towards a piece of content that isn’t brand new, but that we have found extremely interesting and that supplements the content from Navigate.
Financial Times: ‘We don’t take cash’: is this the future of money? (paywall)
And finally – this extensive feature from the Financial Times’ Patrick Jenkins in May last year reflects on how cash is used around the world. Consumer psychology, market forces and the underworld converge in this fascinating snapshot of global payments trends, while consideration is given to the risks posed to more marginalised people and communities should cash become obsolete.
For further insights, read more of our News & Views content here.
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