Mobile Payments Explosion

Global mobile payments are making an impact

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Earlier this year, I was walking around the exhibition halls of Money 20/20 Europe in Amsterdam. I noticed one clear growth area in payments - what can be called global connectors. These are companies such as dLocal and PayU.

The technology that global connectors offer is a straightforward way to connect to hundreds of payment methods.

Why does this matter? Offering Visa, Mastercard, and American Express as payment options can be enough in parts of Europe and the US. However, outside of these areas, more comprehensive payment options are needed to service customers and grow.

PayU show 60+ payment methods on their homepage

Most payment systems outside of the mainstream card networks are mobile-based. In most cases, to pay, they require a QR code to be scanned. They can sit in an e-wallet app or integrate directly into a banking app. (If you’re unfamiliar with QR codes, this guide is worth a read.)

The emergence of affordable smartphones from companies like Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo has been a game changer for mobile payments. Today, more than 4.3 billion people own a smartphone, yet ten years ago, this number was less than 1.5 billion. This growth in smartphone adoption has allowed mobile payments to flourish.

We’ve seen an explosion in mobile payments worldwide.

Mobile payments, excluding Apple Pay and Google Pay, have mainly taken off in emerging markets. Photo by Pixabay - Source

In many ways, the term financial inclusion is used too often. Yet mobile payments are an example of financial inclusion in action. Previously, cashless payments meant having a formal bank account and a credit or debit card; today, just a smartphone is needed.

Some mobile payment mechanisms are well known.

• WeChat and Alipay from China led China to almost skip card payments at a POS entirely and go straight to mobile QR code payments!

• India’s UPI (Unified Payment Interface) currently processes more than 14.5 billion transactions a month!

• Pix in Brazil has grown since its inception three years ago to almost 42 billion payments in 2023!

Nevertheless, many successful mobile payment systems are relatively unknown outside of their home area. Let’s take a look at four mobile payment systems worth knowing. The first one is from Europe, Switzerland, and the rest are in Asia.

TWINT - Switzerland🇨🇭

TWINT (it’s usually capitalised) is hardly spoken about outside of Switzerland, yet in Switzerland, it’s very popular. Somewhat uniquely, there isn’t one Twint app - rather, almost every bank in Switzerland has its own version of the Twint app.

For the few banks that don’t have their own Twint app, users can download a Twint-branded app. This Twint-branded app must then be topped up like a prepaid account.

During the payment process, funds can be drawn from a bank account or taken from a linked credit card. (Most users prefer to pay directly from their bank account.)

A Selection Of TWINT Apps (UBS, ZKB, Migros Bank)

Twint can be used for payments at retail stores, e-commerce, and person-to-person payments:

Twint is accepted as a payment method by 77% of bricks and mortar shops and 76% of online shops in Switzerland. And the payment system now has “well over five million” active users. 

In addition to payments, the Twint app(s) can store loyalty cards, including for more than 35 of Switzerland's largest retailers. Twint can also be used to pay for car parking, buy insurance in-app, and split payments with friends and family.

TWINT markets itself by directly offering discount when using TWINT with popular apps such as JUST EAT

Twint’s popularity is especially with young people, who often don’t have a credit card, but with Twint, they can easily pay with their mobile phone. It looks like it’ll go from strength to strength as more functionality gets added. Twint is going to play a vital role as a cashless alternative to card payments in Switzerland.