* By Leo Monte and Thiago Saldanha
Paper money exists and resists… But for how long? Analyzing the evolution of the means of payment market in recent years, it is possible to see that the segment has been going through an accelerated evolution process - with technology as an intrinsic pillar of this movement. Payment innovations are increasingly accepted by consumers, partly because of the practicality they provide, and also because of the very change of mindset that digital natives are causing in the economy.
In Brazil alone, six out of ten consumers in classes A, B and C use digital means of payment, such as their own applications - PayPal, PagSeguro and Google Pay -, bill payment channels, purchases and transactions over the Internet. In addition, 61% of people use digital media and / or digital wallets to make payments and 56% make use of some type of service provided by fintechs. These data are from a study carried out by the company IDC, on changes in the consumption habits of financial services in the face of new technologies, which analyzed exclusively Latin countries.
Digital banks, cell phone payments, wallets ... These are just the tip of the innovation iceberg. Other means of payment are emerging and many of them are already being consolidated in other parts of the world. It is extremely important that banking institutions start to update themselves and keep their eyes open to the trends below:
Facial recognition
One of the main bets for the coming years, facial recognition is already used on many smartphones as a requirement to unlock or release some functionality. But the Chinese giant Alibaba went further and developed “Smile to Pay”, where payment for the purchase is made in physical stores in China, and it happens exactly as the name says. There was a strong incentive from the country's government to spread the solution, in addition to the use of the QR Code, which is also a fever in the area.
In Brazil, there are proposals for mobile payment systems that recognize the user's face. Sem Parar, for example, is already testing in São Paulo, in the parking lots of the Iguatemi and Morumbi shopping malls, a facial recognition solution for identification in commuting and payments. But fashion should take a long time to catch here, since there is no tax incentive and there needs to be a change in the culture of the population, who still prefer to take advantage of physical money.
Invisible payments
"Not perceptible" payments are already part of our daily lives, in apps like Uber, iFood, or even in virtual stores, where consumers leave their credit cards previously registered and only need to authorize the debit when they make the purchase.
Soon, it will be possible to do the same in physical stores, without the need for human interaction, to the delight of the most timid. Amazon, for example, has physical supermarket chains in the United States, and it is already possible to make purchases without going through the cashier - everything is charged directly to the Amazon account, for those who are users of the platform.
Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain
Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies with great rise in the market. They have codes that can be converted into real value and their technology is based on encryption, so that the information is decoded only by its user. To ensure the security of this system, Blockchain was developed, a technology that creates a network of transactions in order to register and protect them against fraud.
Blockchain is considered by many experts to have greater potential than Bitcoins themselves for the means of payment, as they believe that the future of the market is not to create new currencies, but to digitize those that already exist. This paves the way for the emergence of new business models.
P2P
Peer-to-peer, or P2P, allows the transfer of values from one user to another without the need for intermediation by a banking institution. Instead of having huge and expensive structures, P2P companies are lean and agile. The big advantage is that the entire process is done 100% online.
NFC (Contactless)
Near Field Communication or Contactless is a new technology that can be used in payments, only through the approximation of cell phones to card machines. The connection and transmission takes place via radio frequency. More and more devices are already prepared for this technology, with iOS or Android systems.
Machine Learning
With Artificial Intelligence, the market creates ways to perform tasks that previously would only be possible with the support of human reasoning. Machine Learning is a field of study that belongs to AI and through it it is possible to create systems capable of learning for themselves.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning make it possible to capture a large volume of data, in addition to processing, understanding and storing it efficiently. Its use is becoming indispensable, mainly for monitoring and authorizing transactions such as credit card, for example.
There are many opportunities in this field, such as: prediction of default in term purchases, tracking consumer behavior, use of virtual assistants to serve customers in a segmented and personalized way.
Internet of Things
The Internet of Things connects several devices to a central system. In the means of payment sector, it allows the development of exclusive devices, such as wristbands, for users to carry out direct transactions on collection machines, without the need for cash or cards.
The potential of this technology is very high. Imagine if your refrigerator could be connected to your favorite market and request the purchase of missing products, automatically debiting your card? Or if your car paid for the fuel automatically?
* Leo Monte, CMO of Marketing and Innovation at Sinqia.
* Thiago Saldanha, leader of the development of Sinqia's software platforms,
Notice: The opinion presented in this article is the responsibility of its author and not of ABES - Brazilian Association of Software Companies
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