The world of payments is taking a new shape, and many are wondering whether this will rob the likes of PayPal and its counterparts. Over the last few years, several companies introduced different forms of mobile payments including Google (GOOG, Financial) (GOOGL, Financial) Wallet, Square Wallet, MasterCard (MA, Financial) PayPass and VME by Visa (V, Financial) among others.
However, these forms of mobile payments failed to gain traction in the market despite great awareness levels. So far, only eBay’s (EBAY) PayPal is the king of online payments as it continues to enjoy high levels of customer usage across the world. However, following Apple’s (AAPL, Financial) introduction of Apple Pay in September last year, analysts are now sensing that the mobile payments market could be set for a major disruption.
Many feel that this disruption could equally spell doom for traditional online payment systems. However, the introduction of Apple Pay could play a huge part in magnifying the benefits associated with online bill payments.
How Apple Pay Could Influence Online Bill Payments
Apple has a reputation of building disruptive products. When Apple introduced the iPhone, many questioned the device’s ability to penetrate a market that the Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia (NOK) had dominated for so long.
However, we all know the answer to that question now, as the iPhone maker even went ahead to launch the iPad. Now, the company has introduced a payment feature that runs across all its devices.
The technology (Near Field Communication “NFC”) employed in Apple Pay enables users to make online payments in a seamless manner. In fact, making online payments is now so easy such that people are already contemplating of a cashless future.
Furthermore, instead of carrying all your credit cards, it would be possible to store all the data in a single passbook from which you could then select a card to use for a particular transaction. This makes the payments environment much simpler for customers, increasing the rate of online payments.
There is no doubt that despite the popularity of online payments, some people still prefer using other means to make transactions. Nonetheless, the most important thing is to make sure that you have all the guidelines before selecting your online payments partner. There are several of them out there, with nearly all online stores introducing their own cards and platforms, though in collaboration with credit card vendors like MasterCard and Visa among others.
In order to make an informed choice, some online payment guides could be of great use, and aboutbillpay.com provides a useful resource for such information. Here, you can get information on several online payment platforms and credit card guidelines form several stores, including Wal-Mart (WMT, Financial) and Macy’s (M, Financial) among others.
Therefore, whether it is a monthly bill, a payment for goods and services or a hotel/flight booking, online payments systems are now capable of facilitating all these sorts of settlements in the most effective way.
With the introduction of Apple Pay, analysts now feel that the security of online payment systems could be set to improve significantly with many companies set to adopt NFC technology. Every customer wants assurance that the use of online payment systems does not threaten the security of his credit card information. This has been one of the biggest challenges in the payments market, and now the risk of exposing your credit card information is about to become slimmer than before, thanks to Apple Pay.
Conclusion
The bottom line is that Apple Pay benefits immensely from the fact that Apple is a known leader in disruptive technologies, and while the use of mobile payments came to be a few years ago, Apple’s adoption of and successful application of NFC technology in Apple Pay could lead to a huge paradigm shift in online payments.
Apple Pay is not just another feature in the new iPhone and smart watch devices, but a major revolution in the payments market, which could lead to significant developments in online payments.
