Payment Technology Trends

This blog explores the latest payment technology trends and how MYHSM’s services can provide a cost effective, unique infrastructure to support the growing demand in digital payments.  

The payments landscape has become increasingly digitised in recent years, but the impact of COVID-19 has accelerated that shift more so. In particular, the use of cash has plummeted dramatically, as consumers attempt to avoid any payment method that may potentially spread the virus.

Instead, consumers have increasingly adopted contactless payment methods, so much so that the limit for contactless payments increased to £45 in response. In fact, 32% of respondents to a YouGov survey claimed they will continue to use cash less often, even when life goes ‘back to normal’, and the same percentage said they’d like to see the contactless limit increase even further. It is with this in mind that we have and are continuing to see a shift in digital payment trends.

Mobile payments and mPOS

These factors, combined with a preference for speed and convenience when it comes to payments, are driving a surge in the use of mobile wallets and mobile payments. These options include Apple, Samsung and Google Pay, as well as AliPay and WeChat.

And while there are still 1.7 billion adults without access to a traditional bank account, with cash looking increasingly obsolete, these adults need a convenient method of payment; the fact remains that smartphones are the second most owned technology device after television sets.

To add to this, Business Insider predicts that there will be 27.7 million mobile point-of-sale devices in use by 2021, compared to only 3.2 million in 2014. And it’s easy to see why, as mPOS devices provide numerous benefits for retailers and consumers, including:

• An improved customer experience, with much quicker service.
• Accepting contactless and mobile payments.
• Improved security.
• Providing more flexibility and freedom from legacy in-store payment systems, so retailers can go wherever their customers are.
• Minimal setup and easy integration.

When it comes to mPOS, MYPINPAD, provide leading edge payment applications and recently became the first global company to receive PCI CPoC accreditation in addition to its iOS PCI SPoC certification. The combined capability of tap and PIN on smart mobile devices means a 100 percent software-based payments future. It enables all merchants globally to democratise payments with integrated, scalable digital customer experiences, replacing traditional POS terminals with smart mobile devices.

To support the future and acceleration of mPOS, MYHSM provides the back end infrastructure as a Cloud-based service. Rooted in the DNA of MYHSM is the aim to simplify the complex payments infrastructure and deliver this with trusted, secure services.

Biometric authentication

As well as this, biometric authentication is on the rise, with fingerprint, face and iris scans, and voice activation providing an incredibly reliable way to prevent fraud and identity theft and make mobile payments faster and more secure. In fact, industry data suggests that by 2021, we will see more than 18 billion biometric transactions happening every year.

Visa Chief Risk Officer, Ellen Richey, predicts that the growing use of this form of authentication could make the password redundant in as few as five years. According to a recent Juniper Research Study on biometrics, mobile biometrics will authenticate $2 trillion in remote and in-store payments in 2023, up from an estimated $124 billion in 2018. Juniper predicts that the fastest growth will come from biometrically verified mobile commerce transactions, which will represent 57% of all biometric transactions in 2023, up from 28% in 2018.

Taking it further, banks are now exploring smart speaker payments with the likes of Amazon Alexa, Google’s Assistant and Apple’s Siri, and biometric cards are entering the market as Infineon and Fingerprint Cards join forces to drive mass deployment.

Cloud-based Payment HSMs

The good news for businesses is cloud-based, HSM architecture can now be achieved whilst ensuring PCI DSS and PCI PIN standards are fully met. This has been a battle for businesses until now as, due to PCI PIN requirements, the public Cloud cannot directly support physical Payments HSMs. The traditional “own and operate” HSM model has required significant investment in hardware, secure facilities, and is a drain on skilled resources.

However, at MYHSM, we provide access to Utimaco Atalla AT100 and payShields 10K as a cost-effective subscription service. Our solution provides global access to a suite of fully managed, PCI PIN approved services in multiple, secure, world-class, PCI DSS certified data centres.

To find out more about the MYHSM subscription service, for Payment HSM capability without buying on-premise devices, check out our services page: https://www.myhsm.com/payment-hsm/