This week, our payment news roundup covers B2B payment trends, the increase in loyalty program fraud, advances in biometric payment technology, and more.
Why 2020 B2B Payment Practices May Have Improved
The latest data shows that 57% of B2B payments were collected late by small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in the U.S. last year. While that is a large percentage, it’s actually an improvement over 2019, when 62% of SMB B2B payments were collected late.
Late payments can affect a business’s cash flow, so businesses should make sure to send out timely payment reminders, follow up with late payers, and also consider implementing digital B2B payments.
Amazon One palm payment tool comes to Whole Foods
Amazon has expanded the use of its biometric payment methods. The company has now made their Amazon One technology available at certain Whole Foods Market stores. Amazon One allows customers to pay with their palm prints. Payments Dive explains how the technology works: "The bio-authentication tool uses computer vision technology to identify consumers based on the unique characteristics of their palms."
While biometric payment methods have not yet seen widespread use in the United States, Amazon continues to roll out various new grocery-related technologies, such as cashierless checkout using QR codes.
Deep Dive: How QSRs Can Quash Loyalty Fraud As More Consumers Go Digital
As the restaurant industry had to pivot to new ways of doing business over the past year, one area that saw increased growth was loyalty and reward programs. Recent data shows that 72% of Americans are signed up for at least one rewards program, and the global loyalty management market is also expected to increase 20% by the year 2027.
Loyalty programs have many benefits for restaurants, including providing detailed customer data and increasing customer engagement. However, the increase in loyalty program usage over the past few years has also been accompanied by an increase in rewards program fraud. New research shows that rewards program fraud doubled in 2018 and increased a further 89% in 2019.
ISVs who provide restaurant management software can help their merchants prevent fraud by including a robust suite of security solutions within their product.
52% of gas station merchants fall short of new chip card standard
The deadline for U.S. gas stations to install payment systems that accept chip cards passed this month - and a new survey showed that only 48% of gas stations expected to meet that deadline. While there isn’t a legal requirement to accept chip cards, the liability shift means that those gas stations that don’t are now responsible for the expense of any fraud that occurs at those pumps that don’t accept chip cards.
The switch to EMV chip cards began in 2012, as chip card technology is more secure and less susceptible to fraud than magnetic stripe, or "magstripe," technology.
Only half of the survey respondents who haven’t met the chip card requirement expect to meet it by year’s end, as it’s a large undertaking that, in some cases, can require the installation of completely new gas pumps. Merchants also cited decreased resources due to the pandemic as another reason for the delay.
Contactless payments to double, hit $1.6 trillion by 2024
Recently, we’ve covered contactless payments quite a lot, but they’re not going away anytime soon - in fact, they’re expected to continue their meteoric growth. New data predicts that contactless payments will reach a $665 billion transaction value in 2021. Further, the total value of contactless transactions is expected to reach $1.6 trillion by the year 2024.
While contactless payments such as digital wallets and "tap and go" payments became popular throughout recent years in several countries such as China, Australia, Canada, South Korea, and the United Kingdom, they were slower to catch on in the United States. However, over the past year, the pandemic accelerated adoption of contactless payment methods among Americans.
Global Payments Integrated can help ISVs offer contactless payments and keep up with other evolving payment trends. Contact us today for your integrated payments needs, and stay tuned for more of the latest payments industry news.