The day I leave my wallet at home is still a long way away
Apple Pay has been available in the UK for around 8 months now and it fast became entrenched in the way I would go about my daily life. Getting the bus, grabbing lunch and even an evening drink was just a fingerprint and a tap away; that is after my bank finally came to support it. On the eve of Android Pay launching in the UK, it's clear to see that the downfall of mobile payments might be something that has stunted many technological advancements – the fear of change.
Barclays has yet again been the only bank to not commit to the launch of a mobile payment option like its contemporaries, instead focusing on its own options to pay with an app (limited to Android, sorry Apple fans). The bank has also held out on supporting Apple Pay so far, although announcing that they will roll out support "soon'. But this level of fragmentation can either cause one of two issues; either the banks will lose customers or the push for this new way of paying will flunk.
Sadly, I fear that it is the latter that will occur. Not having the support of the industry that they are trying to change will only stop these new payment options/ And it's not just Apple and Android Pay, PayPal will have a much harder time justifying its place within this market, as well as other startups like Mondo who are trying to create a new, fresh take on a bank. The financial sector is possibly one of the longest and largest in the world, and as innovators try and step up to improve more and more areas of our lives, it's the pushbacks from those who believe they know best.
The same can be said for the payment options themselves. As more and more options grow to try and replace the wallet, the market becomes murky; not one competitor is coming on top. Overcoming this is difficult, but the trend seems to be slowly moving towards the OS'es to be the ones in charge of the payment options. Apple, of course, has a good track record in privacy, and the numbers of Apple Pay are doing nothing but encouraging more adoption. But the need to have a simple, coherent approach to the new wave of payments is crucial, otherwise,we will still be living in the 'dark ages' with bits of plastic and a leather wallet to hold them all in.