In this article, we'll look at 3 payment-related trends that will grow throughout 2022.
Since March 2020, we've seen the shift of buying online vs. in-store. This preference hasn't shifted back to pre-pandemic behavior. Consumers have grown accustomed to the convenience of ordering from home and having an item delivered to their front door. Additionally, many consumers who decide to travel to a store aren't going in to browse. They're opting instead for curb side or in-store pickup.
By-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) has become a force to be reckoned with. Consumers have flocked to this largely no-interest payment option. BNPL has become a real competitor to credit card payments. Various forms of BNPL keep popping up. Some charge interest rates for consumers who prefer a longer payment term. Because BNPL has a defined end date, it doesn't allow consumers to string out their payments (and interest charges) past the final payment date.
Other technologies include the new Apple iPhone payment option, a direct competitor to companies such as Stripe. The iPhone payment option will allow merchants to accept payments with only an iPhone. No additional hardware, such as a card reader, is needed. By bumping two iPhones together, a payment transaction occurs. Of course, both parties will need an iPhone.
With the prevalence of smartphones, consumers can add just about any card to their digital wallets. This includes debit and credit cards, rewards cards (i.e., hotel and retail), airline passes, insurance cards, vaccine cards, and a lot more. Digital wallets have become a central hub not only for payment options but a lot of other cards that are important to users.
Especially for the unbanked and underbanked, digital-only banks are becoming increasingly important. A digital-only bank exists only online. It doesn't have a physical location. For some consumers, this is the only type of banking they know.