Let’s summarise a few of the top stories chronological order:
1. Ant Group announced their imminent IPO
Plans for a dual-listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong will value the company behind Alipay and Alibaba as one of the largest publicly-listed companies in the world. The timing of this isn’t accidental. The business knows that mobile payments are on the rapid up due to current events and that keen investors will be keen to capitalise on this.
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
2. Revolut to launch QR code payments
This isn’t a public announcement that’s garnered any media attention but the controversial company has posted this on their website: Search popular merchants or charities, or simply scan QR IBANs for hassle-free transfers (coming soon).
Revolut currently doesn’t have any specific functionality targeted at helping businesses to offer pre-order or take remote payments from customers. But this wording indicates that they’re taking notice of the rapid uptick mobile payments is experiencing right now and working at incorporating some of the functionality that makes successful mobile payment apps so attractive.
3. Starbucks is adding payment options to its loyalty app
The Starbucks rewards app is one of the most famous examples of a successful brand loyalty scheme. Customers enjoy personalised rewards and discounts and Starbucks gets access to valuable business insights and customer data to inform marketing decisions and grow as a company.
We have talked before about how any business can enjoy the same benefits using a mobile payments app like Settle. Now Starbucks is making it even easier for their customers to use the app, adding payment functionality that allows their customers to directly draw money from their cards or accounts rather than solely relying on pre-topup.
There’s also been payments news from eBay, 7-Eleven and a lot of analysis from industry experts and commentators on what the future of mobile payments holds. When we look back, we’ll undoubtedly class the otherwise terrible year that was 2020 as one of the most crucial in accelerating the use of non-contact digital payments.
