Mercator Advisory Group Offers 2016 Outlooks on What to Expect in Payments and Banking in the Year Ahead
Boston, MA (PRWEB) December 16, 2015 -- Mercator Advisory Group has released its complimentary annual year-end series of “Outlooks” providing insights for the year ahead on trends and new themes that will have a significant impact on the payments and banking industries, consumers, and the ways companies do business in 2016 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 2016.
The 2016 Outlooks are presented by each of Mercator Advisory Group’s Advisory Services — Debit, Credit, Prepaid, Commercial and Enterprise Payments, Emerging Technologies, Banking Channels, and Global Payments — and can be downloaded without charge.
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2016 Outlook Statements by Advisory Service:
"2016 will be full of complex challenges for pay-now product experts, as the last decade has been. Indicators suggest that less effort will be wasted on legal entanglements and arbitrary requirements and more thought and effort will be focused on improving the user experience, improving payment security, and solving real payments problems." Sarah Grotta, Director, Debit Advisory Service
"The main engines of growth for credit card issuers and networks will continue to run in 2016. Consumer spending, driven by an improving economy and growing appetite for debt, will continue to increase. Regulatory impediments and legislative distractions will likely lessen as the 2016 presidential election nears (though alarming rhetoric is guaranteed to increase). Mobile wallets and the constant pressure for greater security and lower costs across all payment forms will be the primary strategic drivers for market incumbents in 2016." Alex Johnson, Senior Analyst, Credit Advisory Service
"New regulations and technology will reshape the rules for the prepaid industry in 2016, but payments providers can’t put their businesses on hold waiting for the rules to be written. Instead, Mercator recommends they (1) gather the best information available about the changes likely to affect their part of the industry and develop a sound business plan, (2) work to influence the changing environment, and (3) be flexible as new challenges and opportunities arise (companies cannot afford to be too set on a path if it leads them over a cliff). Things will change, and those who are fastest to adapt will be the ones who will flourish in the new environment." Ben Jackson, Director, Prepaid Advisory Service
"The 2016 Outlook on Emerging Technologies offers forecasts on implementation of eight technologies important for payments: biometrics, wearables, Bluetooth low energy (BLE), machine learning, broader utilization of the mobile operating system, payment APIs, tokenization, and private blockchain. Predicting how quickly technology will be adopted is challenging, requiring evaluation of likely consumer behavior, business strategy, IT investments, and evolution of complex software/hardware solutions. But we are confident that most of our forecasts will prove sufficiently correct that they can be used as a guidepost to technology investments and adaptation of existing business plans." Tim Sloane, VP, Payments Innovation, and Director, Emerging Technologies Advisory Service
"After several years of reviewing channels options, many financial institutions are moving from an ideal to a reality in rolling out omnichannel banking, which together with digital banking and analytics initiatives serve as a springboard for deeper customer engagement and delivery of an outstanding customer experience. These efforts will help counter potential disruptors that have emerged within and outside of the banking industry (payments and fintech vendors, consulting firms, systems implementers), which are enticing consumers with new and improved methods of making payments." Ed O’Brien, Director, Banking Channels Advisory Service
"2016 and beyond look very promising in opportunities for commercial cards and electronic accounts payable, but these are merely products. Among banks that provide commercial and enterprise payments services, the real points of differentiation that will determine the winners in the years ahead are the other aspects of the ecosystem—both emerging, such as mobility and big data and optimizing digital navigation, and old school, such as relationship management.” Richard A. Hall, Director, Commercial and Enterprise Payments Advisory Service
"Disruption across the payments industry is a global theme. Disruption comes in many forms. Globally, threats of disruption are coming not only from new entrants and nontraditional service providers but also from the development and reconfiguration of technologies. While some disruption will prove challenging to incumbents, it also provides an opportunity for established service providers to embrace change and develop strategies that will lead to sustainability over the long run." Tristan Hugo-Webb, Associate Director, Global Payments Advisory Service
For more information and media inquiries, please call Mercator Advisory Group's main line: (781) 419-1700, send email to media(at)mercatoradvisorygroup.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.
Karen Yetter, Mercator Advisory Group, http://www.mercatoradvisorygroup.com, +1 (781) 419-1703, [email protected]
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