Review by Sylvie Gibert, President of the Smart Payment Association – 26 Jan 2015
…The most globally significant announcements came with the US’ move to EMV. It had been expected for some time. Finally, it’s happened. There was, of course, the high profile launch of Apple Pay on the back of the iPhone 6 announcement…
Dear Colleagues,
As ever, we begin our first newsletter of this year with a quick look back to the events of last year.
But before we do, a word on what else you’ll find in this month’s issue.
Our main feature, by Lorenzo Gaston, Technical Director of the Smart Payment Association, focuses on the future – offering the SPA’s perspective on the “the 12 trends to watch ” in 2015 and beyond.
You’ll find a roundup of the latest news from the SPA, and details of the key industry events we are supporting and will be attending over the coming months.
Let’s now get back to 2014 – and what an interesting year! The most globally significant announcements came with the US’ move to EMV. It had been expected for some time. Finally, it’s happened.
There was, of course, the high profile launch of Apple Pay on the back of the iPhone 6 announcement.
While it’s certainly not the only major ‘prosumer’ brand on the mobile payments block, the fact that most major banks in the United States signed up in the first 100 days after launch suggests a potentially game-changing move.
Apple’s proven ability to affect user behaviour could be the kick-start consumers need to more widely adopt secure element-based mobile payments – despite the fact its proprietary and highly patented technology may not be the ideal approach.
Staying on the subject of mobile, 2014 saw important regulatory moves on e/m payments, interesting new financial inclusion rules within the Payment Account Directive and more.
Plus, with Basel rules requiring banks to hold additional capital, and a connected move towards instantaneous settlement in the retail sector, opportunities for mobile as the payment device of choice increase.
We also saw the rise of the shared economy in 2014. This was characterized by the growth of, and enthusiasm for, person-to-person payments as banks across Europe offered new ways for individuals to pay one another.
For our part, 2014 was significant in that it was the year when SPA joined PCI.
It was important, we felt, for the SPA to contribute its expertise in digital security to support the development of the next generation of specifications responding to the new security challenges raised by omni-channel retail payment systems, and new payment technologies offered by new market stakeholders.
And, of course, we launched the Associate Members Program to bring an even wider range of organizations together to participate in our work.
So let’s now look ahead to 2015 and beyond, and the “the 12 trends to watch ” in retail payments. We hope you find it an insightful and thought provoking read.
We wish you a happy and successful year.
Yours faithfully, Sylvie Gibert,
President of the SPA
