The Future of Payments is Inevitably Frictionless

From digital wallets to one-tap contactless card payments, consumers have come to expect a fully frictionless payment experience. As businesses are now operating in a 24/7 payments world, instantaneous and frictionless transactions have been the go-to recipe for customer success. Robust frictionless payment strategies have helped drive E-commerce volumes significantly. With consumers and merchants seeking flexibility and convenience, a recent PYMNTS report stated that nearly 40% of surveyed shoppers are interested in using a payments and credentials vault.

With the demand for frictionless payment experiences on the rise, let’s take a look at how payments and convenience are always inextricably tied and how innovative payment models set businesses up for success.

The Need-to-Know Principle

People’s attention spans have significantly shortened over the years, leading to a lesser focus on how things are happening around them. This is true in how payments are made and the amount of acknowledgment people want to give. When customers make a digital purchase, they know the value they need to pay. They do not need to be bothered once they’ve placed the order. So, the onus is on the retailer to quicken up the checkout process and, in turn, reduce the cart abandonment rates. Going contactless or incorporating BNPL payment options could help their case.

Only when there’s a problem or delay in the checkout process will the customer have the time to reflect upon their choice of a merchant or preferred payment gateway. Now, the question arises about how loyal that customer is between the merchant and the payment method preference. But that could be a tough ask because the FinTech industry is proliferating, and retailers must be proactive to wane off competition. So, to allow the customer to choose freely and avoid the risk of losing them to a competitor, retailers need to offer customers a wide range of frictionless payment options.

Use-Case Driven Feasibility

While contactless payments came to the forefront owing to hygiene factors, as more contactless-enabled cards started circulating in the economy—more people have started to enjoy the frictionless experience. Contactless POS transactions have increased by 900% since 2017.

And it’s not just the customers; even the merchants see the purpose of a contactless payment acceptance device. It is cost-effective and seamless, with no downsides of security breaches due to the encryption of sensitive data. This relieves the merchants of a lot of their burdens and allows them to focus on better customer service, especially in terms of essential services that require recurring payments. For instance, frictionless payments have changed the game for ride-hailing apps, where customers are treated to a cashless and painless process of securing and paying for a taxi ride.

Time to Bank on the Digital Interface

The hype of virtual reality is not unknown to us as we’re living on the brink of Web 3.0 and have access to innovative solutions to pay through Metaverse universes. Payment providers that crack the code on frictionless payments will reap the greatest rewards. Providing a digital and uniform interface and empowering frictionless and trustworthy payment processing will help businesses stay ahead of the curve.

The customer experience (CX) has a crucial role to play in the entire payment ecosystem becoming frictionless—the fewer the hurdles, such as redirection or registration, the better it is for CX.

As frictionless payments become the popular way to pay, they are helping drive brand loyalty and personalization.

Embrace the Invisible Future

Taking the friction out of payments will not only speed up sales, but it will also streamline business processes. The convenience, speed, and security that frictionless payments offer both customers and businesses are unbeatable.

Reach out to our team of global payment experts at Opus to learn how you can integrate frictionless payment solutions into your offerings.