Pay with a swipe. Accept transfers with one click. Different payment solutions are already part of consumers’ lives. They improve the shopping experience, facilitate interactions, and many managers see them as a priority.
But it was not always so. Over the past few years, and especially since the beginning of the pandemic, the payment solutions adopted by a company have been gaining relevance. Today, the value of digital payments is clear to leaders. But what exactly are digital payments?
A new frontier for payment solutions
Digital payments are the transfer of value from one account to another using a digital device. This broad definition includes, for example, transfers from a smartphone or smartwatch, verified at a POS (Point of Sale) or on a computer. It includes payments made with bank transfers and credit or debit cards.
For some years now, retailers have been adhering to these forms of digital payments. The Amazon Go concept, of cashless supermarkets, is just one example. The trend towards digital payments is here to stay and has several advantages for both consumers and merchants.
The benefits of redefining payment solutions
Consumer demand for the immediate, which is a consequence of mobile, is changing the way we look for products and how we buy them. This transformation has led to the growth of innovative payment solutions, which many associate with the “new normal”.
Marketplaces are another important factor in the growth of digital payments. A Marketplace is nothing more than an online mall, in which the consumer navigates between offers from several brands, in a single location. The rise in popularity of digital marketplaces requires merchants to rethink their business models, distribution channels, and payment strategy.
All merchants and companies face constant digital disruption, which leads them to invest in frictionless payment solutions, with specialized partners such as easypay.
The pandemic has further sped up the importance of digital payments. When the word confinement entered our lives, we saw a tremendous change in logistics, sales channels, and in the way consumers purchase goods. This requires companies to reevaluate their operating model and their payment solutions.
“The challenge during the pandemic was to continue to respond to the needs of customers. For that, we had to find a secure digital payment solution.”
– Margarida Rodrigues, Customer Payments Manager at Sonae
Smartphones, watches, bracelets replaced the traditional POS and physical cash. As customer experience improves with one retailer, clients expect the same from everyone.
What the future holds for payment solutions
On the digital payments side, innovation has been exponential. Real-time transfers, digital wallets, QR Codes, NFCs. These changes challenge current structures and how retail payments are processed. The priority is to improve the user experience and make customers want to come back.
Digital payment solutions are more important than ever, allowing companies to respond to consumer demands. This is the new paradigm that will continue to develop over the next few years. Statistics on the use of digital payments in other countries are revealing: in China, for example, 74% of the population makes at least one transfer per day with their smartphone. 92% also state that digital payments are their preferred method of carrying out transactions.
In Portugal or China, the challenge for merchants is similar. Create solutions that increase usability, that are more user friendly and more accessible.
easypay is your digital payments partner
This is where easypay, as a Payment Institution, offers a competitive advantage. Flexible, agile, fast and technology-based, we are able to offer innovative solutions for specific needs. In this way, we contribute to the growth of our customers’ sales.
Understanding the challenges of our customers and solving them with technology moves us and makes us grow.
In this case study, Margarida Rodrigues, Customer Payments Manager at Sonae, explains how easypay helped one of the largest national retailers to develop a new payment solutions. The solution found came to disrupt the status quo in traditional commerce, creating a digital shopping center, which Hugo Ferreira, CEO, also highlights with enthusiasm. See the video.
easypay develops innovative payment solutions. Get in touch with our team to find out what we can do for your business. Start today to accept the preferred payment methods of the Portuguese.