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FI execs afraid of being first - and last

February 4, 2014 by Terry Dooley — SVP & CIO, ITS, Inc

Researchers recently interviewed merchant and financial institution executives to uncover their concerns regarding the ever-evolving payments arena.

Mobile payments surfaced as a top emerging payment option about which many FI executives are experiencing some trepidation. They cited worries regarding the lack of standards and the cost of implementation as being of particular concern.

FI executives expressed a fear of waiting too long to get into the mobile payments game, alongside an equal fear of moving too quickly and settling on the wrong technology.

"They are largely focused on competitive and technology issues. How to get customers engaged with mobile payments. And, of course, the regulatory environment," said Ken Paterson, head of research operations at Mercator, during a recent online webinar.

Not surprisingly, security remains a top concern. Even so, many survey respondents expressed optimism about the effectiveness of new security measures, such as multifactor authentication and tokenization.

EMV was also named as being of significant concern for a number of those surveyed, who professed to be leery of being the first (due to the high cost of the technology) or the last (possibly making themselves a target for fraudsters) to adopt it.

Industry executives also expressed concern regarding large technology and telecommunications companies making inroads in the market, potentially coming between FIs and their customers.

Despite some feelings of uncertainty with the ever-changing payments arena, FI executives are getting away from a "wait and see" approach, and moving toward an "it's time to act" attitude.

Consider where your FI falls on this spectrum. Do you feel confident in your preparedness for what the payments industry may have in store for 2014?

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About Terry Dooley

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