BOSTON, Nov. 19, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Mercator Advisory Group has released its complimentary annual series of "Outlooks" providing insights for the year ahead on trends and new themes that will have a significant impact on the payments industry, consumers, and the ways companies do business in 2020 and beyond. The topics addressed in these Outlooks set the foundation for Mercator Advisory Group's research agenda for the coming year and provide a framework for key points of engagement that Mercator Advisory Group will have with its clients in 2020.
The 2020 Outlooks are presented by each of Mercator Advisory Group's Advisory Services — Debit and Alternative Products, Credit, Merchant Services, Prepaid, Commercial and Enterprise Payments, and Emerging Technologies — and can be downloaded without charge.
Download Mercator Advisory Group's 2020 Payments Outlooks for free.
2020 Outlook Statements by Advisory Service:
"Investment in faster and real-time payments in the U.S. is picking up, and the impact on traditional payments can already be observed. The disruption of faster payments and real-time payments is impacting primarily check and cash transactions in these early days of adoption, but it is easy to envision a point when other traditional payment types, including debit cards, will be challenged." Sarah Grotta, Director, Debit and Alternative Products Advisory Service.
"Happy days are here again as U.S. credit card issuers reverse the downward trend in their profitability as the next decade begins. Low unemployment helped control credit loss expenses and increased credit card interest spreads improved revenue in 2019. Expect both factors to have a positive impact on the credit card industry in 2020." Brian Riley, Director, Credit Advisory Service
"The saying that Wall Street financial markets climb a wall of worry applies to the U.S. retail sector as well. Entering 2020, merchants are concerned about rising consumer debt, tariff wars, and thoughts of recession. While some of these worries may be overstated, 2019 has seen the reality of thousands of store closings and a steady stream of retail bankruptcies. But 2020 holds promise for merchants to withstand these turbulent times by finding ways to grow sales across a variety of consumer shopping channels." Raymond Pucci, Associate Director, Research Services.
"Unpredictability in the U.S. economic and political environment will likely cause segment shift in prepaid in 2020. The April 2019 changes in the Prepaid Rules by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which require prepaid general purpose reloadable (GPR) cards to have the same protections as debit cards, have resulted in modifications to prepaid program product offerings in the United States. Several other factors will affect prepaid in the coming year. Challenger banks that are currently online-only present new competition. Technological advances and economic and political factors will also influence the success of prepaid in 2020." C. Sue Brown, Director, Prepaid Advisory Service.
"Technology innovation is leading businesses to expect more information and functionality, delivered across borders in a way that enables easy and safe utilization. Continuing digital adoption will deliver better, easier, and faster global services in commercial and enterprise payments in 2020 and beyond." Steve Murphy, Director, Commercial and Enterprise Payments Advisory Service.
"It once took years for technology to alter markets and shift consumer behavior. Today those changes are happening more rapidly than ever before, and it's unlikely that many processors, networks, or financial institutions are taking the shift as seriously as they should. Identity has emerged as the central issue for payments and account opening, but with the technology evolving so quickly, there are no benchmarks available to compare offerings and so determining appropriate solutions is difficult." Tim Sloane, VP, Payments Innovation, and Director, Emerging Technologies Advisory Service.
Download Mercator Advisory Group's 2020 Payments Outlooks for free.
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About Mercator Advisory Group:
Mercator Advisory Group is the leading independent research and advisory services firm exclusively focused on the payments industry. We deliver pragmatic and timely research and advice designed to help our clients uncover the most lucrative opportunities to maximize revenue growth and contain costs. Our clients range from the world's largest payment issuers, acquirers, processors, merchants and associations to leading technology providers and investors. Mercator Advisory Group is also the publisher of the online payments and banking news and information portal PaymentsJournal.com.
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