To date, Apple Pay, Google Pay and other mobile wallet uptake has been hampered by limited merchant acceptance, slow rollout of NFC-enabled POS terminals and the economic structure — Apple, for instance, tends to take a bigger slice of income than many banks would like. Most wallets also lack support for private label cards.
In the coming years, chances are a current player or a new platform will address these issues. That said, this won’t mean the end for plastic cards, or the uberization of card issuers. Unless tech firms are prepared to become bank holding companies — which seems unlikely — they’ll need to work with banks and lenders out of necessity.
Collective Action: Up close
The future will be determined by those who are willing to reinvest, adapt and turn future threats into opportunities.