News

Mercator offers 2015 payments, banking outlooks for free download

The research and consulting firm offers insights into trends and themes that will shape the payments and banking industries in the coming year.

December 26, 2014

Mercator Advisory Group has released a series of viewpoints that provide insights into trends and new themes on the horizon that will have a significant impact on the payments and banking industry, consumers, and the ways companies do business in 2015 and beyond, according to a company news release.

The 2015 outlooks are presented by each of the firm's advisory services — debit, credit, prepaid, commercial and enterprise payments, emerging technologies, banking channels, and international payments — and can be downloaded without charge.

Summary of 2015 outlook statements by service

Ron Mazursky, director of debit advisory service:

Astute debit issuers will focus on adding value propositions that provide cardholders with safety and security combined with enhancements that promote growth in card usage.

Michael Misasi, senior analyst for credit advisory service:

The U.S. credit card industry picked up steam in 2014. Consumer credit spending improved, but growth remains strongest in the small business and commercial card product segments. We anticipate another strong year of growth in 2015 ...

Ben Jackson, director of prepaid advisory service:

The coming year will require prepaid providers to bring teams together from regulatory compliance to technology to build a winning strategy ... 2015 will be a year when everyone needs to make sure that they have the right people and the right partners so that they can execute the right plans.

Nikhil Joseph, Analyst, Emerging Technologies Advisory Service:

The transition to EMV, Apple Pay, and the median age of millennials inching higher (27 next year) will finally jumpstart mobile payments at the point of sale. Migration to EMV is motivating savvy merchants to reimagine the whole retail experience using BLE, NFC, QR codes, real-time analytics, and native apps ...

Ed O’Brien, director of banking channels advisory service:

Projects that were important but unfunded or underfunded are moving forward thanks in part to the reallocation of budgets from legal and compliance efforts nearing completion ...

Richard Hall, director of commercial and enterprise payments advisory service:

As corporates seek more efficiency through actionable transaction data, players need to focus on execution to deliver solutions effectively. This is a crucial time for all players in the space, and the perception of corporate payments being far behind consumer payments should not hinder their finally thinking about innovation.

Tristan Hugo-Webb, associate director of international payments advisory service:

Looking to 2015, a few themes are truly global in the payment industry around the world. One is consumers' continued shift from cash and checks to electronic payment instruments like debit, credit, and prepaid cards. A related theme is their increasing preference for making transactions online and via mobile phone.

Download 2015 Payments and Banking Outlooks.