Mercator Advisory Group Delivers the Final Chapter in a Series of Outlooks on Payments and Banking for 2014

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Mercator Advisory Group

Jan 23, 2014, 13:35 ET

Boston, MA (PRWEB) January 23, 2014 -- Will 2014 be the year that fundamental change begins in payments, or is the industry just tinkering with the user interfaces on the fringe while addressing regulatory and other issues? This is the fundamental question posed in this free 2014 Outlook written by Ken Paterson, head of research for Mercator Advisory Group.

“A great deal of innovation can occur on the fringe without changing the underlying delivery systems. But legacy systems become unstable and outdated, standards change, data needs advance, and growing volumes must be supported. This is where the next level of change gets difficult,” Paterson states. “This does not even take into account the shadow of moving regulatory issues.”

The Outlook for the 2014 Payments Landscape also introduces five macro themes that expand across Mercator Advisory Group’s services and will be key elements of the firm’s research in 2014 and beyond.

The five macro themes are:

  • Mobile payments/digital wallet evolution: paths to consolidation
  • EMV implementation: effects on payments stakeholders
  • Emerging applications of analytics and big data: one-to-one marketing, fraud management, profitability management, and credit decisioning
  • New realities for payment networks: pricing regulation, new settlement networks, real-time clearing and settlement, national payment networks, and value-added services
  • New customer experience at merchants: e-commerce/m-commerce, embedded payments, geolocation, rewards/offers/loyalty delivery, and POS delivery

The Outlook for the 2014 Payments Landscape Viewpoint is the last in a series of Viewpoints by Mercator Advisory Group that provide insights into trends and new themes on the horizon that will have a significant impact on the payments and banking industry, consumers, and the ways companies do business in 2014 and beyond. The subjects of 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 2014.

The Outlooks for 2014 are presented by each of Mercator Advisory Group’s Advisory Services — Debit, Credit, Prepaid, Commercial and Enterprise Payments, Emerging Technologies, Banking Channels, and International — and can be downloaded without charge.

For more information and media inquiries, please call Mercator Advisory Group's main line: (781) 419-1700.

For free industry news, opinions, research, company information and more visit us at http://www.PaymentsJournal.com.

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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 and banking industries. 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.

Brent Watters, Mercator Advisory Group, http://www.mercatoradvisorygroup.com, (781) 419-1700, [email protected]