How will mobile payments look in 2015?

Last year brought along exciting developments to the world of mobile payments with the introduction of Apple Pay and one touch purchases moving consumers’ behaviour to mobile. However, considering there are now more mobile devices than people in the world the shift to mobile payments has been relatively stagnant. There is a long way to go before it becomes the mainstream purchase method, which bears the question how will mobile payments advance over 2015?

Password-less authentication is going to be even bigger this year which will be a key driver for mobile shopping in 2015. Paying with fewer passwords has big potential as we assume people will choose a more convenient experience. Everyone knows how easy it is to forget a password when you have multiple accounts, which affects the path to purchase having to go through the effort of re-setting. This year will see more companies preparing to make authentication easier and more secure. Apple has opened up Touch ID to third-party apps and Alipay users can now pay with their fingerprint on a Huawei. Therefore, 2015 will see simpler and password-less authentication become common place to advance the use of mobile payments.

Another exciting future prospect is a device created by LoopPay, a mobile payments start up, that lets you load your credit cards onto an accessory like a dongle or smartphone case and pay by tapping against a standard card reader. The exciting part is the technology can be embedded into a smartphone. It has been rumoured LoopPay will be integrated into a smartphone by the end of 2015. This would be a big deal as its offers other handsets their own answer to Apple Pay and would not be restricted to NFC payment pads as works on standard credit card readers.

Mobile wallets look set to take off as roadblocks of the past such as a lack of confidence in security are being tackled by big brands. Alternative payments will shape the future of retail and 2015 could be the year we change the way we buy.

This article was written by Katherine Hall, Mobile Executive at Fetch.