Big Tech and banks are vying for the same consumer
From posting on social media to calling an Uber, mobile devices are becoming the command center for guiding day-to-day activities. Financial institutions want to get in on the action as well, according to an industry insider.
“You’re starting to see it now, for example, with SAP Ariba tying up a series of lenders into their ecosystem for things like supply chain financing,” Mphasis Senior Vice President and Global Head of Payments Andres Ricaurte told Yahoo Finance’s The Final Round.
Consumer Habits
Apps like Venmo have gained traction among consumers, helping push the mobile and contactless payments movement. Venmo parent company PayPal reported that they had 40 million users in their last earnings report. The competing Square-owned Cash App reported having 15 million monthly active users as of last December.
Tech giant Apple is the latest to throw its hat into the contactless payments market tying in the launch of the new Apple Card. Among its features to entice users is the ability to use this anywhere Apple Pay, Apple’s contactless payments system, is accepted. iPhone owners can apply for the card using the wallet app.
What’s Next
“What we’re seeing this week, but over the last several years, is technology setting a very different bar for what the customer experience needs to be,” Ricaurte said. “For the most part today, consumers…have bank accounts and the question is how do you blend those bank accounts into these mobile devices that have been predominantly driven historically by the big tech players.”
Devin Southard is a Producer for Yahoo Finance.
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