Report: 2013 will see plenty of disruption in payments
A new report from Forrester Research looks at the disruptive trends that are going to shape and transform payments in the next year. The report from Senior Analyst Denée Carrington looks at three such trends that are attracting the most notice these days and, no surprise, mobile technology is driving them.
According to the report, emerging payment methods based on fee structures lower than those offered by today's big payment providers, will change merchant expectations and disrupt the payment space. Additionally, digital wallets that remove friction and provide "contextual features" to the transaction will also transform payments.
Alternative financial services like Bluebird from American Express and Walmart, or Chase's Liquid product, will also change the payment space, the report said.
Calling a 2013 "a pivotal year" in consumer payments, Carrington said the year will be marked by an increase in digital disruption by nimble, tech savvy competitors. "While it may be a few years before we see the full force of this disruption, in 2013 we will see the early impact take shape within the consumer payments marketplace," Carrington said in a blog post.
Carrington said there's a role for merchants and consumers in this disruptive process as well. "[M]erchants and consumers will wield their tremendous influence in picking winners and losers as the array of alternative payment options become more abundant, more accessible and begin to deliver greater value to the commerce experience," she said.
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