As the "wealth password" in the field of short video, the vigorous development of domestic mobile payment was once the four major inventions of the new era among foreign friends, until the relevant videos formed aesthetic fatigue on the Internet, and those videos that made a fuss about QR code receipts and payments gradually faded out of the public vision.
However, it must not be admitted that in the field of mobile payment, skipping the era of credit card payment allows us to start a new mobile payment system in the field of mobile payment and create a new mobile payment system that is separated from the traditional bank payment system. Compared with POS machines with higher entry thresholds, the QR code payment threshold born out of smart phones is much lower, which naturally covers more consumption scenarios and wins the recognition of more consumers.
On the other side of the ocean, smartphone-based QR code payments not only pose a threat to the traditional credit card payment system, but also bring inspiration to some brands. On February 8, 2022, local time, Apple released a press release on its official website in the United States, saying that in the future, Apple will authorize enterprises to accept contactless payments through iPhone "Tap to Pay". In simple terms, authorized merchants can use special apps to turn their iPhones into "POS terminals" that can accept Apple Pay or other contactless payments.
Still can't understand? Put it this way: Apple reinvented the software version of "La Cala".
"The freedom of Ameristam is here"
Of course, simply accusing "Apple of plagiarism" is obviously incorrect, swiping through La Cala requires the use of an external swiper, while also using contact payments (swipe/insert). But Apple's tap payment does not require the help of external devices, only needs an iPhone (iPhone XS or newer model) to complete the payment. At the same time, tap payment is not a traditional contact payment, but a contactless payment channel. In other words, in addition to those that support card payment, Apple Pay or all kinds of NFC-based contactless transactions XX Pay mobile payment can be used, not only at a lower cost, but also support more payment methods.
But the question is, is it not fragrant to pay with two-dimensional codes, why should Apple go to great lengths to re-engage in a new payment system? To analyze Apple's purpose of "rebuilding the wheel", we need to analyze this problem from the perspective of users and Apple.
The first is the issue of consumption habits and consumer cognition, which is generally "the free national conditions of my great America are here." Due to the development of related industries earlier, the local market has formed a relatively mature and perfect trading system based on card trading. From pre-sales to after-sales to claims, the relevant processes have become familiar to local consumers. In this case, e-cards or contactless payments based on physical cards are clearly a payment method that adapts to local developments. Transplanting a relatively unfamiliar QR code payment system from scratch is the real "re-building wheel"
It should be noted that only QR codes are worthy of being called mobile payments, mobile-based contactless payments, and even NFC-based digital yuan "touch" transactions also belong to the category of mobile payments. The "expulsion" of contactless transactions in order to promote QR codes is obviously too narrow.
For Apple, allowing users to use the iPhone for contactless collection can be said to be a rare "one-sided win-win" - Apple wins twice. First, for the U.S. market, using the first iPhone means that nearly 42 percent of users can enjoy a "zero-cost upgrade": according to Counterpoint Research, Apple's share of the U.S. smartphone market in Q3 2021 is as high as 42%.
In other words, 42% of users in the United States can get a POS machine that can swipe their card at "0 cost". Compared with pos terminals that require additional monthly payments, the existing iPhone in hand is obviously a lower-cost option, and to a certain extent, tap payment can also promote iPhone sales.
In addition, Apple can also charge fees to the money paid by tapping in the form of handling fees or channel fees, and the handling fees of POS terminals and card organizations in the United States have made small traders complain, as long as Apple gives a competitive charging scheme, with Apple's 42% share, I believe it can also open up a new market.
Apple's push for mobile payments
Although I have just mentioned many times that "card trading is the national condition of the United States", in fact, due to various reasons, the acceptance of mobile payment technology in the United States is still not high, and cash payment is still the favorite of many Americans. First, unlike digital transactions such as mobile payments, cash transactions have a natural anonymity and concealment, and cash transactions are relatively less likely to leave evidence of transactions for those who engage in illegal and criminal acts or have tax evasion and evasion.
Secondly, we have just improved the relatively mature card trading base in the United States, such as the installation of POS machines on taxis, but in the face of high card swiping fees and equipment channel fees, many small traders will still give priority to more traditional cash transactions. For example, a common VISA/Master card charges merchants a 3% channel fee at the time of transaction, and the AmEX fee is as high as 5%.
Coupled with the cost of the POS machine itself, the strength of "pickpocketing" can be described as "a heinous crime, which has caused complaints from merchants". In response, merchants often add this part of the fee to the original selling price, or simply refuse to swipe the transaction. So in a Cardtronics survey, 96 percent of U.S. respondents thought cash was easier to use.
Apple's tap payment can play a practical role in promoting the development of mobile payment in the United States to some extent. The "0 cost" POS terminal can reduce the hardware cost and threshold of merchants when accessing mobile payment, and the mechanism of cooperation with multiple third parties also allows iPhone collection to have a competitive small market, reducing the cost of daily use of merchants. Secondly, tap payment can also enjoy the advantages of mobile payment.
It is foreseeable that the launch of tap payment in Apple will not only bring a new impact on the US mobile payment market, but also drive Google, Samsung and other enterprises with related service capabilities to promote mobile payment together to improve device share, reduce the cost of use, and open up the interval between users and merchants, which will play a positive role in promoting the mobile payment ecology in the United States.
To know that the foundation of the popularity of QR code payment is that users and merchants have devices and are willing to use, so that the existing hardware in the hands of merchants becomes a collection terminal, and then reduce the cost of use of merchants through reasonable rates, from the three perspectives of software, hardware and channels to solve the bottleneck that mobile payment in the United States is difficult to promote, which is the ultimate vision of Apple's tap payment.
summary
Of course, we who have enjoyed the two-dimensional code payment system do not actually need, or will not envy, the new payment system of the United States. To know that two-dimensional code payment has long been rooted in our lives, even digital yuan and UnionPay cloud flash payment have chosen to use two-dimensional code transactions as the main means of transaction. Compared with the convenience of Apple's tap payment, we should pay more attention to the regulatory problems of commercial enterprises after "controlling the order of financial payment".
Payments and financial services look good, but they also need to face regulation and carry out business in line with the relevant units and market order. Financial institutions and major enterprises, economies, self-employed households and individual consumers should coexist reasonably and mutually beneficially, rather than endlessly obtaining them. A healthy economy is one that will last for a long time. This is also the reason why I am more optimistic about digital yuan transactions than other means of payment.
However, the problem is that the promotion of the digital yuan at this stage is still blocked, and the regional pilot mechanism also makes it difficult for the digital yuan to be applied on a large scale. At present, the domestic brand's own XX Pay, in the final analysis, is only an exploration of contactless payment under the QR code payment system, from a technical point of view, it is only an attempt between two parallel systems, and to achieve innovation in the true sense.
Of course, some brands also integrate QR code transactions and non-contact card transactions as third parties, and from the user's level, there are indeed more choices and are indeed more convenient to use. Compared with existing mobile payment methods, it is difficult for users to directly appreciate the characteristics and convenience of digital yuan. But if we want to stabilize our right to speak in mobile payment when the next generation of payment system is born, we still have a long way to explore before the birth of the next generation payment system, enjoying QR code payment.