Five top trends in the world of payments

Open banking is already here but, for most people, they’ll just think of it as banking. It’s a clever and secure way for consumers to share their bank or credit-card data with trusted third parties, through an application programming interface (or API). Many consumers will use open banking to bring bank accounts together so they can be seen in one convenient place but, more and more, it’s being used to pay for goods and services.

The fact that open banking means you can move money from one account directly into another very easily and safely makes it a great way to pay.

“For example, users can select an open banking option at checkout and pay for their goods with a bank transfer from their mobile banking app,” says Tom. “The user journey is simple and intuitive and, best of all, it doesn’t require any data input from the consumer, which means no more typing in card numbers and trying to remember security codes.” 

He adds: “There have been lots of headlines in the industry news recently, as more and more payment companies join with open-banking providers to create payment solutions. This year, we should see those products land and open-banking payments gain adoption among consumers.”

Variable recurring payments (VRP) are an important part of open banking still being developed. This digital banking version of direct debits is hotly anticipated by firms that take regular payments, as well as the growing number of subscription-based services companies. 

“VRP gives consumers more control of their regular payments, while allowing businesses to set them up intelligently,” says Tom. “Expect to see testing and pilot programmes between banks and payment providers in the coming months – and no doubt more headlines, as we work towards industry-wide VRP solutions.”

Sticking with mobile technology, Deepti is also expecting more and more businesses to use mobile phones as card machines.

This is known as ‘tap to phone’, ‘tap on phone’ or ‘tap to pay’ – or, more technically, SoftPoS, which is literally ‘software-based point of sale’ (a fancy term for a till). 

It allows for people to tap their card against someone else’s phone to make a payment. And with digital wallets, it allows phone-to-phone payments simply by tapping.

“This will benefit sole traders such as window cleaners or market-stall holders who won’t need to carry any additional tech around with them,” says Deepti. 

“But it could also prove really useful in places such as restaurants or hotels, where staff need to take payments away from a desk or till point.”

In Europe, tap to phone currently only works on Android devices, but Apple made it available in the US in 2022. Meanwhile, it is expected that the EU will attempt to force Apple to open the technology up to European markets.