Rise in mobile payments will continue

As mentioned in Trends for 2016 Black Friday 2015 saw a 70% increase in purchases made by smartphone. Statistics for 2015 will point to the increase in mobile card payments in the US and the EU but a large segment of the market still hasn’t made their first mobile payment. In 2016 mobile payments will again be the driver behind further increases in mobile payments.
Statistics will be provided when they become available from the World Payment Report.

Government Changes

Looking at Ireland it appears the plan of becoming a more cashless society looks to continue.
Government changes have been introduced from 1/1/2016 in order to encourage Irish society to migrate towards being cashless.
The standout measures are:

12c levy on ATM use (reaching a maximum of €2.50 or €5 depending on the card).
Abolition of €5 Stamp Duty on all Debit & ATM Cards
Contactless payment threshold increased to €30 from €15

While we await the figures for 2015 from the CSO an increase in card payments and a decrease in ATM cash withdrawals are predicted as was seen in 2014.

Biometric Security

Biometric scanning may still seem futuristic but the first steps towards this being introduced were taken in 2015. An as yet unnamed global payment company is working with Norwegian biometric specialists Idex to change payment card security. Idex technology allows for a robust fingerprint reader to be incorporated into a smart card. This promises a higher level of security and a more convenient authentication step for cardholders.

Cryptocurrency

Without any legislation in place it is fair to say crytocurrency is still some way off being widely adopted in Ireland. However, Cahal Milmo of the Independent reports that “About 25 start-ups using Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies” have been established on the Isle of Man.

Among the businesses accepting Bitcoin, the most famous cryptocurrency, are a cafe, chauffeur and a pub. Perhaps this points to the future where consumers will have a choice of payment currency.