How will people pay in 2022?

At a time when, for instance, contactless payment flows have surpassed those of traditional payments in several European markets, I feel it is important to emphasise, at the beginning of 2022, the major directions for payment in retail over the coming year.

– Omnichannel payment paths. If digitisation of payment paths was underway before Covid-19, we now see retailers want to homogenise purchase paths between online sales and their physical stores. As a corollary, they need information systems that allow them to have a single customer, whether in proximity or in e-commerce. In 2022, retailers will continue to adapt payment processes to these omnichannel challenges (e.g., the possibility of being reimbursed in-store for a product purchased online).

 – The role of the smartphone in the payment process

o For a retail company, cashing a transaction directly on a smartphone is a real novelty. Previously, the market had seen the trend of Bluetooth-connected m-Pos devices, which were deployed very quickly. Thanks to the technological advances made in the last year, the smartphone has become a secure device for a merchant. Compliance issues are resolved and this service is now verified by Visa and Mastercard. Several retailers have started pilots. If retailers offer it, customers will naturally follow. At Crédit Mutuel Arkea, we are following this subject closely. 

o On the customer side, we know that the French are slow to change their payment habits (for instance, 95% of purchases are still made by credit card). However, the trend of paying using a smartphone rather than a bank card, which has been technically possible for the past 5 years, is gaining ground. At Crédit Mutuel Arkea, we have been offering customers the possibility of paying with a smartphone for the past 5 years with Paylib, Apple, Samsung and Google. After a start with an “early adopter” public in France, it is now the turn of the general public to slowly adopt this service. As a comparison, this option is already well established in Nordic countries. 

– Payment initiation. This is a brand-new product, which allows us to offer payment by QR Code or by link (Pay By Link). In 2021, we launched a QR Code payment test with a population of craftsmen and small companies. This is a B-2-B world where people pay invoices. The buyer scans a QR code, which sends them to their bank account (with a transfer initiation operated by Budget Insight), where they authorise the transfer. From a technical and functional point of view, this system is fully authenticated.  For retailers, the next step is to integrate it into the overall payment process, with a proposal adapted to each retail vertical.

Hervé Denis