Payments are all the rage at the moment. Many companies have been waking up to what banks have known for a long time.
Controlling or having a foot in the door in the payments space, is having a part of the magic carpet ride of clipping the tick every time buys something. Traditional players in the payments space, banks must be getting increasingly worried that companies such as facebook, google and paypal and encroaching on their turf.
The credit card companies such as Visa and Mastercard must be loving it, but they too are under pressure. They don’t care how the transaction is processed provided it goes through one of their servers. However even Visa and Mastercard must be getting a little nervous as alternative payments methods have been around for some time and consumers increasingly use these channels to process transactions.
Recently Banks in NZ have been signing exclusive deal with credit card brands to supply only Mastercard or Visa through their channels. This must be an indication that companies are wanting to streamline their offerings. Additionally companies such as the credit card brands must also be pushing to have exclusive deals to “tie up” transaction streams. Ultimately however what it does say is put very simply the average consumer see no difference between Visa and Mastercard. Those brands like many others have become totally commoditised.