Community

Unless a new payment experience offers significant benefits over paying by card, it is unlikely to achieve mass adoption.  Wilson has given some reasons that are applicable in Zimbabwe, but not in UK / W. Europe.  The level of user participation in a payment should be as low as possible, commensurate with the value of the payment and the level of risk.

So as a consumer I take out my phone, open the app, place it near the POS, wait for it to transmit the transaction, enter the PIN, put my phone next to the POS again ... it doesn't sound like a seamless customer journey. I wonder what are the benefits compared with cards, and for whom?

Singapore's FAST payments service uses ISO20022 for real-time request-response processing.  It provides much more flexibility, and is a lot simpler to integrate with modern software stacks, than the cards-based ISO8583 used in the UK.

Technology matters.  Advances in technology can deliver huge benefits to customers - far more than just the "bells and whistles" mentioned in the article.  Take the example of video formats and look at the bigger picture - VHS v Betamax was indeed a sterile contest, but the move from 8mm filmstock to magnetic media was massive.  Similarly with the move from magnetic to optical (Blu-Ray), and now from optical to digital delivery.  The early adopters of new technology during a paradigm shift can reap huge competitive benefits, to the point of displacing the previous market leaders.   Standards are important once a technology is established, but by that point there is no competitive advantage associated with the technology.  Clay Christensen explained briliantly in "The Innovator's Dilemma" why innovative technology disrupts, and often destroys, "successful companies carrying out sound business practices in established markets".  No wonder they resist innovations in technology.

As well as the technical hurdles mentioned in the previous comment, there is the issue of the customer experience.  While an interaction that involves the customer receiving an SMS and sending a reply to confirm the transaction might be acceptable for internet transactions, it would be intolerable for POS transactions in the physical world.  Imagine standing at a busy checkout waiting for an SMS to arrive!  Since this would only happen for potentially fraudulent transactions it would also be unpredictable and confusing for the consumer.