Digvijay Singh holds B.Tech & M.Tech in Computer Science & Engineering from IIT Mumbai. He has Worked with Societe Generale, Hong Kong as an algo trader and worked with Deutsche bank across global locations for more than 6 years. He has co-founded an analytical start-up (Pingal Technologies) which won various awards and grants in multiple incubations and events.
Technology has enabled people to adapt to a digital lifestyle and various Fintechs are leveraging on these tech advancements to offer alternate modes of digital payments to customer. Advancements in area of digital payment have been happening at lightning speed. Technology and innovation is at the core of this revolution and we have only just begun to scratch the surface of what is possible and likely to occur in the next few years.
Advancements in the field of distributed ledgers, cryptocurrencies, automated payment APIs, smart POS, mobile wallets, NFC based contactless payment devices are creating a seamless payment system. Banks, brands, and Consumers have encouraged payment technology used in all channels right from U.P.I., Peer 2 Peer, Digital Wallet, mPOS, and voice payment. Today payment platforms are not only mode to do transaction, but has also assisted merchants to increase their revenues by introducing smarter campaigns and offerings – like zero cost E.M.I., Flexible E.M.I., B.N.P.L. (Buy-now-pay-later), cashback etc. Following are few emerging technologies that will affect payment in coming times:
Central Bank Digital Currencies: Various central banks including RBI are exploring the idea to digital currency based on distributed ledger technology. These are stable, sovereign reserves backed digital currencies, which are less volatile as compared to private counterpart (like Bitcoin, Ethereum etc.) and more widely accepted as a mode of payment. These digital currency can open a whole new world of innovation in payment and settlement via direct transfer (peer-2-peer) without any third party intermediary.
API based payments (or Integrated Payment systems): Companies like Stripe are leveraging the opportunity to provide APIs for embedding payments services to businesses. This has resulted in overall growth of the payment industry by enhancing partnership between businesses. A consumer wants to complete a payment task as easy and securely as possible.
Open platforms: Open platforms will change how consumer interacts with payment service providers. These providers must leverage technology to deliver a true omni-channel portfolio of digitally enabled products and services where networks and terminals, embedded payments, merchants, brands, acquirers etc. work seamlessly together
QR code-based payments: Payments via QR code will continue to prove its flexibility. Dynamic QR code based on POS machine, QR on invoice are some modes which offer better flexibility, convenience and means of reconciliation better than static QR.
Wearable payment devices: Wearable payment are emerging as a secure method for consumers to purchase products or services by using advanced technology integrated into their smartwatches, smart rings, and wristbands. The global Wearable Payments Devices Market size is expected to reach $42.9 billion by 2026, rising at a market growth of 27.2% CAGR during the forecast period. The tap-and-go payment method provides retailers and vendors with more secure and error-free payment methods and considering the same RBI has enhanced limits for contactless card payments from ₹2,000 to ₹5,000.
Smart routing of transaction: Smart routing ensures that a connected platform processes a transaction in case the primary server/network is down. Switch between 2G/3G/4G/5G or switch between primary, secondary, or tertiary network/server. Seamless connectivity for payment processing without any glitch and higher success rate.
Big Data and AI: Tech advances in Data Warehouse/Data Lakes along with advanced AI based analytics has enabled companies to anticipate customer demands and build predictive models for new products and services. Advanced analytics can assist in various pre and post transaction functions like offering customized experience, fraud detection, friction less and quick settlement etc.
Predictive maintenance: Using self-healing technology of automatic detection and healing of complex payment systems can ensure maximum uptime of different POS devices. The technology pro-actively tracks millions of transactions every day to identify & resolve issues that are hard for humans to detect.