Advice for technology startups: Create a mobile payment situation
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Mobile payment refers to consumers making purchases through mobile phones, tablets and other mobile devices, replacing traditional payment methods such as physical currency or credit cards. Many people may think of Alipay and WeChat Pay, which are highly used on the other side. Using these convenient digital payment tools, paying for various expenses through mobile devices makes consumption an easy and enjoyable thing.
In 2018, the Executive Yuan of my country announced the slogan “The First Year of Mobile Payments.” President Lai Ching-te even made a bold statement, hoping that Taiwan’s mobile payment penetration rate could reach 60% in 2020 and 90% in 2025. But it is conceivable that Chinese people are still accustomed to using various methods such as cash, credit cards, Easy Cards and even ATM transfers to make purchases.
Electronic payment is popular but mobile payment is not popular yet
According to statistics from the Central Bank, each person in Taiwan has 3.91 financial cards and 2.11 credit cards. These data mean that financial payment services in Taiwan are quite popular. But many people wonder why, even if electronic payment tools are booming, the development of mobile payment in China is still lagging behind that of Japan and South Korea.
Looking deeper into the reason, it’s not that Taiwanese don’t like mobile payment, or that consumers are indifferent to such a convenient experience. It’s mainly because people’s usage habits have not yet been established, and the application scenarios are also quite limited. Unlike the other side, which has an urgent need for financial infrastructure, everything from shopping in street stores to online learning can be consumed through mobile payment.
Social Capital partner Arjun Sethi once pointed out that a successful consumer product needs to go through a three-stage process, namely Want, Need and Utility. If we examine the development of mobile payment by this standard, it is not difficult to understand that although people are looking forward to innovative ways to solve payment problems, because various payment tools are actually very common in Taiwan, they have not yet reached the stage where they are needed.
Finding the entry point for payment may be a business opportunity
If we compare it with people’s usage habits, the people on the other side of the Taiwan Strait can no longer live without Alipay or WeChat Pay, but people in Taiwan still have many choices of payment tools, so they are far from being unable to leave this function. If you want to strengthen the promotion of mobile payment, you might as well start from the motivation of need, that is, start by increasing application scenarios.
For example, Shell has cooperated with Jaguar, a well-known car manufacturer, to launch a car screen payment service, allowing cars to also have payment functions. In the future, car owners will no longer need to get out of the car to pay. They only need to tap lightly on the touch screen in the car to pay for gas.
In addition, the rapid rise of knowledge payment services in China in recent years has also driven the development of mobile payment. According to data from 2017, content paid services including image and text sharing, online Q&A, audio-visual content, and one-on-one consultation have 188 million users in mainland China alone. This group of people can pay quickly through mobile payments to obtain valuable content, which may form a solid supply chain in the future.
Consumption pain points are everywhere in daily life
In addition to trying to increase application scenarios, you may also want to start thinking from the pain points of consumers, so that mobile payment can truly enter everyone’s daily life. Just like the three stages mentioned by Arjun Sethi, from wanting to needing, and then gradually progressing to the realm of basic functions.
Zhu Xiaohu, managing director of Jinshajiang Venture Capital Fund, once said that what the business world ultimately needs to test is data related to implementation scenarios, number of users, daily active people, and retention numbers. Just imagine, when mobile payment applications completely enter our daily lives, there will naturally be no question of whether to use them or not.
For example, friends who often travel to the UK for tourism or business may apply for a Revolut Card. This card is actually a prepaid card that supports the MasterCard system. It has attracted high attention because it mainly helps consumers save bank fees and exchange differences. Although Revolut Card is just a general digital financial card and does not belong to the category of mobile payment, relevant players can still learn from its advantages and find a focus.
As the saying goes, “Rome was not built in a day.” If you want to establish an organically growing mobile payment ecosystem, it is not enough to attract or convince consumers. It naturally requires the cooperation of industry, government, and academia. To accelerate the popularity of mobile payment in Taiwan, in addition to the government’s advocacy and efforts in terms of policies and regulations, the cooperation of related industries is also crucial, including technological breakthroughs, innovations, and the promotion of various business logics. Only in this way can we attract consumers and create a sound payment ecosystem. ★ This article was originally published in the July 2018 issue of “English Island”
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