8 Bank, Retail and Tech Execs' Post-Apple Pay Predictions

Published April 12, 2015 11:01 PM

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Updated October 20, 2016 10:34 AM

1 Min Read

The Apple Watch is displayed after a product announcement at Flint Center in Cupertino, California, U.S., on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2014. Apple Inc. unveiled redesigned iPhones with bigger screens, overhauling its top-selling product in an event that gives the clearest sign yet of the company's product direction under Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Experts from the banking, retail and technology sectors gathered last week for SourceMedia's annual Card Forum and Expo, sharing their predictions for the payments industry's next step. Some were involved in Apple Pay from day one; others are looking past it to the next big thing.(Image: Bloomberg News)

A customer, left, holds a iPhone 6 Plus during the sales launch of the latest Apple Inc. iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones at the Apple store in Berlin, Germany, on Friday, Sept. 19, 2014. The devices generate more than half of Apple's annual $171 billion in revenue and precede a swath of other products, including new iPads and Apple Watch. Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg

Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg

Consumers Hold the Power

Bankers who have deployed Apple Pay agree that the adoption trend is the same regardless of the institution. This has led them to conclude that "the consumer is definitely driving this," rather than Apple or the bank, said U.S. Bank SVP Jason Tinurelli. (Image: Bloomberg News)

Gender Divide

Mobile is from Mars, Shoppers are from Venus? Maybe. One of the biggest hurdles to mobile wallet adoption is that the product is designed by the male-dominated tech industry, but 80% of shopping is done by women, said Margaret Weichert, principal of financial services performance improvement for EY. (Image: iStock)

An attendee demonstrates the Apple Watch after a product announcement at Flint Center in Cupertino, California, U.S., on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2014. Apple Inc. unveiled redesigned iPhones with bigger screens, overhauling its top-selling product in an event that gives the clearest sign yet of the company's product direction under Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Less Isn't More

Some banks - and even Disney World - have seen success with a payment-capable wristband that can make Near Field Communication transactions but is permanently linked to a single credit or debit card account. Royal Bank of Canada doesn't agree with this one-size-fits-all strategy, because "it violates our principle of consumer choice," said Jeremy Bornstein, RBC's head of payments innovation. The Apple Watch and other smartwatches will win out in the end, he predicts. (Image: Bloomberg News)

A smartphone sold as an Apple Inc. iPhone 4S, with its back cover removed, is arranged for a photograph in Hong Kong, China, on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014. Apple Inc.'s iOS smartphone operating system gained ground in the U.S. in the final quarter of 2013 as the share of the market served by the platforms of Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and BlackBerry Ltd. shrank. Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg

Brent Lewin/Bloomberg

Apple Pay's Still Got Problems

Apple Pay looks great from a bank's perspective, especially if that bank can convince its customer to use its card as the default payment option. But what about retailers with their own closed-loop cards? "We know that our card likely would not be the default credit card at the top of the Apple Pay wallet, Kohl's SVP Troy Carrothers said. (Image: Bloomberg News)

A shopping cart sits in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart store in Alexandria, Virginia, U.S., on Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is scheduled to release earnings data on Nov. 15. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

The Brutal Truth

Unfortunately, the most seamless experience for a consumer is to not pay at all and some people do that but we want those payments, said Kara Kazazean, director of payment services for Walmart. Thus, even Apple Pay's simplicity or EMV's security isn't enough to give the consumers what they really want: a perfectly invisible payment. (Image: Bloomberg News)

Prepaid Paves the Way

Mobile wallet technology is following the same path that prepaid cards once did, and mobile wallets appeal to the same people who uses prepaid cards today. This audience is the population to be aiming for with mobile technologies, said Courtney Kelso, vice president of business development and strategy for American Express Enterprise Growth. (Image: Shutterstock)

Relationships Trump Technology

MasterCard is betting on relationship-building tools rather than the "wow factor" of the next big gadget. It is developing products such as "In Reach," a tool that lets young adults build their financial lives in part by preparing a clean slate - it includes a website that helps users remove scandalous photos from their social media profiles before beginning a job search. MasterCard EVP Cheryl Guerin likened In Reach to Coca Cola's recent practice of printing friends' names on soda bottles; it changed nothing about the product but emphasized the relationship. (Image: iStock)

The Apple Inc. logo is seen in the window of a store in New York, U.S., on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn said he increased his stake in Apple Inc. by another $500 million, bringing his total holdings in the iPhone maker to about $3.6 billion as he reiterated calls for a bigger stock buyback. Photographer: Ron Antonelli/Bloomberg

Ron Antonelli/Bloomberg

Apple Isn't Everything

Many bankers and retailers long awaited Apple Pay, expecting it to move the market, but Frank Bisignano, chairman and CEO of First Data, warned fellow executives not to assume that their work is nearly done. "Apple Pay, to me, is not about Apple Pay," he said. "It's about the start of change." (Image: Bloomberg News)