Business white paper Mobile payments

Transcription

1 Business white paper Mobile payments Setting standards and gaining customer loyalty

2 Business white paper Page 2 Mobile payments With the rapid development of electronic systems and technology, the adoption of smart commerce services has become increasingly popular. Will these new technologies be a huge threat to traditional banking services? How does the introduction of instant payments processes help financial institutions to protect market position? Smart commerce presents a unique opportunity for financial institutions to generate revenue from a profit pool to which they have had little access to date loyalty schemes. To some extent, a mobile payments scheme repeats the history of evolution of domestic and international payment schemes. Customers will need a payment enabler (smartphone, mobile payment application, card surrogates, access to current account, etc.) with the payment acceptance network certainly deciding about the success of this payment method adoption. In regards to mobile payments, the general rule about digital natives convenience applies: Almost everyone has a mobile device that is always with them, but not everyone has the right amount of cash when they need it.

3 Business white paper Page 3 Key differentiator The cost of the payment transaction The main decision points for consumers to select and use the proper payment process are two key items: 1. Usability (convenience) 2. Cost of transaction Usability correlates to the scenario and number of steps taken to finish the payment (money transfer) order. Cost of transaction correlates to the investment made by the issuers of financial products and acquirers of transactions. A key cost factor for the consumer is the cost of the financial product used to manage the payment transaction. If the source of money is the current account, then the financial charges are twofold: A monthly account management fee (sometimes including issuance of a certificate of account balance and a monthly account statement) A dedicated commission for the payment covered by the mobile payments platform operator (payment services provider). When a customer uses a payment card to make a purchase from a merchant, the acquiring bank pays the merchant the sales price less a merchant service charge (MSC), the fee a merchant must pay for guaranteeing the transaction. A large split of the MSC is determined by the interchange fee. Merchants pass on costs for accepting card payments to their customers in retail pricing and margins. Figure 1: Buying factors and competitiveness Business model fees and commissions (traditional model) Cards payments market stakeholders B: Customer, M: Merchant, A: Acquirer, C: Cards organization/association, I: Issuer, P: Product vendor Cards payments fees and commissions MSF: Merchant service fee, PF: Acquiring processing fee, D&AF: Charging, data processing and assessment fees, IF: Interchange fee, G: Product vendor gross margin

4 Business white paper Page 4 Traditional payment institutions and mobile payments market Technology and digitization are the defining global trends of our lifetimes. Across the world, nearly 5 billion people are using mobile phones. That is two and a half times more than the number of bank accounts, with the differences especially pronounced in emerging markets. Financial Institutions are largely threatened by the mass adoption of smart commerce services due to the risk of customer intermediation and the decline in bank relevance to the consumer. Banks will remain relevant as the service provider of secured payment solutions. Most intermediaries still require the customers to fund their purse or wallet from an account, (whether by card or cash), before they can be used for payments. Banks that allow retail customers to use their bank account as the source of funds to pay on-line via internet banking, and provide a convenient and cost effective collection service to business owners via online payments, will always be ahead of the competition. Smart commerce may be not perceived by traditional payment institutions as a threat; rather, it may be an opportunity for banks and merchants to provide a new level of convenience and simplicity for consumers. Financial institutions (issuers of financial products, acquirers of payment transactions) are looking into innovative smart commerce solutions, including mobile payment wallets that will allow customers to make direct payments using their mobile phone, and new technology that will enable customers to make cash withdrawals without using an ATM card. Smart commerce is evolving in the form of digital wallets and digital payments specifically in the mass market segments. The challenge is how to make these technologies accessible and useful for smaller businesses. Business models founded on at least two pillars (in this case customer segments), will introduce new efficiency measures and profitability matrices. In some countries, the MSC is deducted from the price paid by the customer to a merchant. However, in several countries (especially for credit card transactions), merchants can apply a payment card surcharge. This is also known as a checkout fee, which is an additional fee that a merchant adds to a consumer s bill when the customer uses a card for payment. This practice is not encouraged by International Card Associations. In most markets, e-commerce acquirers operate on an interchange plus pricing model for credit card payments. A key advantage of this pricing option is transparency, as it enables merchants to see exactly what they are paying for, right down to an individual transaction level if necessary. The downside is that this additional cost of transaction is usually born by the customer who pays an increased price for the products. Payment schemes and simplification opportunities In the existing structure, merchant services fees and commissions are calculated by the following value chain: Customer - Merchant - Acquirer - Acquiring Bank - Issuer - International Payments Operator Clearing House (7 stakeholders) The conversion of the popular four-party payment scheme into a domestic one based on current accounts allows a reduction in the number of parties benefiting from the fees and provisions related to a payment (money transfer). Current accounts or other dedicated accounts are accessible in real time for the authorization process to make a hold to the transaction value. Simplification of the payment process chain will optimize transaction costs. Introducing a change in the payment scheme, by eliminating additional parties (International Cards Operators), will allow the addition of new active business players like Loyalty Schemes Operators. Such a value-chain would facilitate the conversion of customer loyalty into a viable revenue stream for all stakeholders of the payment scheme (primarily merchants and acquirers, but also issuers limiting the use of cash-based transactions). More costs. How can mobile payments shift costs down? How could the cost structure for mobile payments transactions possibly look? New brand schemes usually take into account following costs: Fixed operational Perpetual Up-front Technical (per API or interface) The costs of the payment acceptance infrastructure are lowered by tablets substituting as mobile POS terminals and applications on customers mobile devices enabling access to their cash. Due to the introduction of domestic financial products managed by local banks, the cost of use of the source of money (which may be customer s current account) may also be lowered in comparison to third-party fees (International Card Operators). The costs of maintaining a customer s current account are also shared by other use cases of that particular account (traditional ATM cash withdrawals, inter-bank money transfers, account history printouts, account insurance policies, etc.). Therefore, the allocable cost of the current account is only a fraction of the total cost of maintaining this source of money.

5 Business white paper Page 5 Market critical mass. Can domestic mobile payments be successful and profitable? The idea of using a mobile phone to pay for goods and services is gaining critical mass, mainly in less developed countries as people move faster to smarter handsets and use them in sophisticated ways. Additional momentum is gained by new companies who are offering mobile money and instant payments initiatives (from Payment Services Providers to Third Party Services Providers as defined in EU Payment Services Directive II). Key factors for facilitating critical mass for mobile payments processes are: Adoption and active use of mobile payment applications (both stand-alone apps and inapps purchases) in mobile devices Market saturation and maximum coverage of the mobile payments acceptance network (including e-commerce, point of sales, and m-commerce sites) A convenient mobile payment process allowing customers to shift from traditional payment means like cash and credit/debit cards Market adoption of the mobile payments solutions will largely depend on the country-wide availability of the mobile wallet where customers may store their own source of money, identification cards, and Loyalty Scheme cards and other items of value. Modern mobile wallets can offer additional business value to the customers like multi-lateral valueconversion capabilities; these may include loyalty points to cash-redemption, cash to tickets, and unused tickets to cash. Why is the business adoption of mobile payments so slow to date? The slow adoption and shift is largely related to the technical and organizational complexity that many mature banking and commercial markets face. Additional obstacles are related to the habits and traditional behavior of retail customers. For example, Germany remains one of the most cash-intensive advanced economies. On average, wallets in Germany hold nearly twice as much cash (about US$123) as wallets in Australia, USA, France or the Netherlands. Approximately 80% of all German transactions are conducted in cash; in the USA it is less than 50%. How do we surpass these issues and put more energy into the adoption of mobile payments? Consumers must be incentivized to make mobile payments; once they are, they are much more likely to become converts. Other motivational factors may be built around merchants, with the lowered cost of mobile payments in comparison to the traditional use of cash or competitive electronic payments.

6 Business white paper Page 6 How to convert savings on interchanges and assessment fees into customer loyalty? Companies in the ecommerce space and traditional sellers that offer loyalty reward programs believe that such programs have a long-running, positive impact on customer satisfaction and behavior. However, if loyalty reward programs increase the frequency and usage level of relationships, customers will be increasingly exposed to the complete spectrum of the service experience. This includes unsatisfactory experiences that may cause end-users to switch to another service provider. However, customers will only switch if the competition can develop a comparative level of business value covering the customer s requirements. The mobile channel is very unique in this case. Figure 2: Buying factors and competitiveness Business model fees and commissions (mobile model) Loyalty Changed purchasing behavior Managed buying patterns Influenced consumption lifecycle Cards payments market stakeholders B: Customer, M: Merchant, A: Acquirer, C: Cards organization/association, I: Issuer, P: Product vendor, L: Loyalty scheme operator Cards payments fees and commissions MSF: Merchant service fee, PF: Acquiring processing fee, D&AF: Charging, data processing and assessment fees, IF: Interchange fee, G: Product vendor gross margin One selling point for the introduction of mobile payment programs has been the premise of more innovative reward and integrated loyalty schemes for customers using the mobile channel rather than the traditional financial network. Once a mobile payment platform attains wide brand recognition and follows high trust patterns, it may also be included as a stand-alone part of the mobile app of a third-party service providers strengthening loyalty and reward programs of those companies. The value circle will be iteratively closed. The payment type will be rewarded inside the loyalty scheme and rewards (Loyalty points) and

7 Business white paper Page 7 will be redeemed for the next purchase. Positive experience from the payment process (convenience and results irrevocability) will also influence payment habits and patterns of the customers journey through different purchasing channels. Revised business models or the reduction, and possible elimination, of existing stakeholders price mark-ups will influence the shift of business value flow through the entire model. Lowered expenses from the card-based transactions (International brands following worldwide defined rules), may be transferred to the part of the business model where the active customer loyalty processes may be remodeled or redeveloped. Spending on the loyalty and reward process could, in the long term, provide business benefits to all engaged stakeholders greater than those now related to the mature international cards acceptance business. The overall satisfaction of the client in the omni-channel environment is a critical determinant of customer retention and participation. The mobile channel is very important in this context, as it is usually treated as the most private and personal by the majority of the smartphone users. Another industry opportunity to address in the context of customer relations is proximity marketing; this is a compelling area for end-user shoppers, retailers, and brands alike. The future of mobile payments Many mobile payment solutions have been introduced but most projects have failed. Some failures were simply because of a low penetration rate due to the chicken and the egg dilemma. The payment services market has rejected SIM-based solutions presented jointly by the mobile operators and financial services companies to the local markets. This is because of the complexity of the customer enrollment process: a dedicated smartphone with an NFC module, SIM card changed at the operator s branch, separate contract for the payments signed with two legal components: 1. The financial institution and the mobile operator 2. Traditional products involved (credit cards) slowed down the adoption rate at the early stage of market evolution. Other factors influencing the customers acceptance of the mobile payment processes are the types of the mobile applications used for payments: Standalone mobile payments platforms Dedicated mobile payment apps using payments managed by those platforms Mobile banking apps with built-in mobile payments Third party apps with in-app payment functions Each use case and type of the application may address, in different ways, a specific customer need profile. For example, younger customers will use in-app payments and functions for splitting the micro-receivables in small social groups. According to market trends, more mature retail customers prefer to use mobile banking apps rather than paying on the internet (ecommerce) or purchasing goods in traditional shops at a POS or mpos terminal. Regulatory procedures, especially in the European Union, positively impact acceptance rates of the mobile payments platforms due to the revised process of authorization, as well as one-time instant settlement and clearing of the transactions. The PSD II (Payment Services Directive of EU) has facilitated more transparency and information for consumers. For example, PSD II as positively affected execution time and fees PSD by cutting execution times, strengthening refund rights, and clarifying the liability of consumers and payment institutions. A tangible benefit is that payments are now quickly and easily made throughout the EU (SEPA). Payments are usually credited to the payment receiver s account by the next day (Day +1 settlement).

8 Business white paper For more information: Tomasz Blicharz Advisory Consultant EMEA Advisory and Consulting Practice mobile: Copyright 2016 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for Hewlett Packard Enterprise products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. Hewlett Packard Enterprise shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. March 2016