Rise in awareness of mobile wallets among users due to its flexibility, convenience, and transparency is pushing market players to take different initiatives to innovate and offer new services. They have collaborated with other players to develop a platform that would cater to different user requirements. At the same time, governments world over are collaborating with market players to speed up the usage of mobile wallets in their respective countries. This push is seeing market players deploying advanced technologies to develop novel products to cater to the fast changing needs of users, which in turn sees the mobile wallet market booming with new initiatives. According to research firm Allied Market Research, the global mobile wallet market is expected to reach $5,250 billion by the end of 2020, and will maintain its growth through 2025.
Among the many strategies adopted by market players to expand their market share, collaboration stands as key, combining expertise of multiple providers to accelerate growth. Samsung SDS and Syniverse for example announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding for the development of a mobile payment platform which facilitates regulatory-compliant and cross-region transactions. The platform is focused on enabling seamless transactions for mobile operators and enterprises in financial, logistics, travel and hospitality, media and entertainment, and retail.
In this collaboration, Samsung SDS’s Nexledger Universal platform will be combined with Syniverse’s blockchain solution Universal Commerce and Mobile Engagement platform. This platform would work with mobile operators and enable users to send money, gain loyalty points, and send money in other currencies across the globe. The motto behind developing this platform is “your phone number has become your easiest payment method.” While doing so, the companies would also be providing security, convenience, and control of distributed transactions.
Riding on the wave of collaborations, Amdocs recently joined hands with SETAR N.V. for the development of Pay.aw to provide customers access to a common wallet. This wallet can be used to carry out all types of financial services such as airtime top-up, credit purchases, peer-to-peer money transfers, and online and retail payments. Amdocs has been selected as a partner for its comprehensive experience in technology development, expertise in mobile payments, and detailed knowledge of SETAR's local business. The company provides system implementation, hardware acquisition, technical support and third-party system integration. This service aims to open up new revenue streams, drive innovation and customer loyalty.
Over the past years, governments have been taking various measures to increase the adoption of mobile wallets in their respective countries through various initiatives. Malaysian government’s e-Tunai Rakyat initiative being an example, will be implemented in the country to encourage the usage of e-wallets and it has selected GrabPay, one of the country's leading e-wallet providers, as an official partner. The government will be investing close to RM450 million to boost the initiative. This partnership comes at a time when Grab has been looking forward to gain a major market share in the Southeast Asian fintech space. Though there is a vast amount of awareness regarding mobile payments, less than 10 percent of people utilize mobile wallets. GrabPay, which is QR-code based, was launched in January 2016. Along with making the payment for Grab rides, this payment application can be utilized for food delivery, in-store purchases, and fund transfers. Grab has also partnered with Mastercard for the launch of its numberless card, which can be used with its mobile wallet.
Launch of all-in-one QR code is essential for mobile payment players as these codes enable businesses to accept payments through different ways. Paytm, one of the leading digital payment and digital wallet provider company in India, launched all-in-one QR for merchants across the country. These QR codes would enable merchants and businesses to accept payments through Rupay Cards, Paytm Wallet, and UPI-based payment apps in their bank accounts. Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the Founder and CEO of Paytm, said that these services can be availed at zero percent fee. This platform would enable businesses to accept payments through its 'Paytm for Business' app.
Mr. Sharma added that it is essential to have an all-in-one QR code for businesses as this payment QR is the only one that enables merchants to accept payments through all UPI apps, Paytm wallet and cards. Paytm also incorporated QR code into different facility items including calculators, clocks, radio, power banks, and others. Complementing the all-in-one QR code, the company also launched a new service known as 'Paytm Business Khata'. This service enables Paytm merchant partners to maintain digital ledgers of customer transactions including credit and cash. The company holds nearly 54% of the total market share in the country.
