Celent Takes a Look at 2019 in Mobile Payments Tools

It’s easy to forget, sometimes, that before there was an Apple Pay, there was the great pair of Visa and Mastercard. Even now, they’re a big part of the landscape, and often work with e-wallet systems to make those mobile payments tools work. Now, Celent recently sent us word about its predictions for payment cards coming up in 2019.

Celent split its predictions into three sections: Now, Tomorrow, and Longer Term. The big challenge for Now was to reinvent the payment card for the “digital world,” which has long been something of a challenge. We all know about “card not present” fraud, and addressing that will be vital going forward.

This is actually easier than one might expect; Celent notes that many digital-only applications are turning to companion cards as well. PayPal recently did this with its Access card, and other platforms are discovering that that physical card can actually enhance the user experience.

Tomorrow, meanwhile, required that payment cards “solve for digital payments.” Right now, brick-and-mortar shopping is king, but with online and mobile gaining ground, payment cards will have to work to accommodate that growth accordingly.

As technology changes in the mobile commerce space, cards can’t remain the same. After all, some stores are starting to leave the point-of-sale (POS) model, and payment platforms have to be ready to accommodate this. A lack of a standardized experience can likewise present a challenge.

Finally, Longer Term required payment cards to cement their place in the consumer payment market by asserting maximum relevance. With banks losing the immediate access to customers and retail payment increasingly turning to direct account debiting, that’s going to put the onus on payment card issuers to remain relevant.

It’s clear that payment cards will have a lot of issues coming up. Between changes to the payment landscape and changes that will inevitable make users question why they needed payment cards at all, the payment card market has to be prepared to address the entire front.

Failing to do so would render their entire industry obsolete. Only time will tell if the payment card industry can hold up its end of things. There may be a lot to do, but there’s even more at stake.