Are new payment methods a threat to debit and credit cards?

The decease of credit and debit cards isn’t impending, but they are beginning to lose their demand in a world of digital payments where transactions are now rapidly done by smartphones using scan codes, apps and pay wave.

With swift increase in digital payments using mobile phones, merchants, banks, plastic card companies, phone operators and everybody in between are competing for top position.

Many consumers still prefer to do payments using their credit/debit cards. But transformation is coming, and failure to adapt the same can be a huge problem. For banks, the main question is if they want to lead this transformation or permit rivals to take the digital payments business away from them.

Payments via credit and debit cards brings up to quarter of banks' revenues, this is not an unimportant question. Digital Payments are a highly competitive field. Amazon, PayPal, Paytm, BHIM, MasterCard, and Visa, among others, have all developed mobile payment platforms.

PayPal has become one of the most trusted payment method in a half dozen countries. Many outlets have launched their own apps and payment can be done via them. It is safe to say that in app payments, UPI, scan code are becoming popular due to speed and accessibility of transaction.

Of course, credit/debit cards will continue to have a presence in the near future that's why the card companies are now focusing on connecting with digital wallets and social media. But it’s high time they rediscover themselves by evolving ways of paying for goods and services that don’t depend on physical or digital cards.

Customers want their mobile phones to improve and simplify their lives. They prefer mode of payment that is immediate and convenient. Using credit/debit cards online, on the other hand, is gruelling. It involves a difficult process of entering 16-digit numbers, CVV number, start and end dates, and passwords.

Banks are ahead of their new mobile payments competitors as they own the accounts where customers save or withdraw their money. With the help of UPI it has been made possible that consumers can pay directly wherever they want from the account.

Customers trust banks more when it comes to handling personal data as compared to wallets and apps. That’s another critical advantage. For banks, it’s clear that apps/wallets will not produce the fees they presently derive from credit/debit transactions. But they face a superior risk, losing their customers, if they get side-lined in the payments business by other modes.

GoQLES also provides cashless transaction i.e. online payment of fees. It offers many advantages to both consumers and institution. Consumers are not required to stand in queue to pay fee and can keep track of their transaction. GoQLES help institutes by giving them access to fees management software.