The mobile payments market continues to attract attention, with many predicting a major expansion. While numerous providers will persist in the near term, the long-term outlook points toward gradual consolidation and greater convergence.
These perspectives emerged during an expert panel at Apps World Europe, which focused on payment platforms, billing and monetisation strategies.
Dennis Jones, CEO of the fast-growing Judo Payments, argued that a proliferation of solutions will persist and may confuse consumers for a time, but that the market variety will ultimately benefit the industry. “When it comes down to it with payments, we’re not going to look back in a year and say ‘here’s one platform and it won’,” he said, suggesting that multiple options will continue to coexist before the market consolidates.
Charles Weir, CTO and founder of Penrillian, offered a slightly different view. He believes the underlying technology for these solutions will eventually standardise into a dominant approach. He also noted that many innovative startups will likely be acquired by larger companies as the industry matures.
“The different solutions will be bought up by the big players at some point in the future,” Weir said. “Big players aren’t good at innovating, but they’re good at buying into systems that are already working.”
Gunther Egerer, business development lead for digital entertainment at paysafecard.com, noted that most current startups follow similar business models and technical patterns, which limits true innovation. He argued that real progress will come from fresh ideas rather than incremental variations on the same theme.
“The next big thing is going to be something new. [The startups today] are copying one big thing and working on small details,” he observed.
The panel also emphasised the importance of meeting consumer expectations. Across the board, the experts agreed that payment solutions must prioritise simplicity and security above all else.
“The reason you see a lot of change in mobile payments is because the payments industry has only recently opened up competition,” Jones explained. “It’s putting together a lot of technology, but at the end of the day, that should be technology that nobody in this room cares about.
“It should be easy for you and easy for your customers to get paid,” he added.
Egerer echoed this sentiment: “You trust a system that’s easy working, fast working and which never disappointed you.”
Delivering that ideal is challenging. Vendors must navigate a delicate balance between usability and security, and the trade-offs are not always obvious.
“What we’ve learned is there’s a tension between the demands of security and the demands of usability that’s actually not very well understood,” Weir said.
He recommended an iterative approach: define the desired user experience, evaluate security implications, and refine the design through repeated cycles until a satisfactory balance is reached.
“There are not easy guidelines. What you end up having to do is a very iterative process. You decide what you want, and then you look back and see the implications between security, and you go backwards and forwards,” he added.
As the market matures, consolidation, clearer technical standards, and a continued focus on secure, user-friendly experiences will shape the future of mobile payments. What are your thoughts on the current state of the mobile payments space? Share your views in the comments.