Release Details

By Tom Colven, Strategic Insights Manager, Alliance Data

In honor of the latest addition to the Star Wars movie franchise being released in theaters soon, and of course, with today being the unofficial Star Wars Day for pun lovers everywhere (May the Fourth be with you…),  I thought it would be fun to take some of the most memorable quotes from the original movie, Star Wars IV: A New Hope, and connect them to likely trends we will see in the mobile marketing and payments industry in 2015, a galaxy not so far far away, where Alliance Data’s presence continues to grow.

“You don’t need to see his identification … These aren’t the droids you’re looking for”

When it comes to the mobile wallet, apps built on the iOS platform will see more usage and spending compared to their Android counterparts. According to a report from IBM’s Digital Analytics, iOS users averaged $126.50 per order on their mobile phones on Black Friday in 2014, vs. $98.04 by Android users.  Additionally, iOS sales were 21.9% of total online sales that day compared to those from Androids, which only accounted for 5.8%.

While this news favors iOS-based mobile wallets like Apple Pay, Alliance Data’s Mobile Virtual Card is compatible on either platform. The Mobile Virtual Card allows customers to apply for the store-brand credit card, shop, and pay all on the app, offering more services than just a simple transaction.

“These blast points — too accurate for sandpeople. Only imperial stormtroopers are so precise.”

Precision and accuracy are two necessities not just at the point-of-sale, but also for loyalty metrics to help a consumer target in on a potential purchase on their smartphone, which is key for the future of mobile commerce development.  As mobile payments technologies become more advanced and the market becomes crowded with competitors, paying becomes only one piece of the pie for success.  Accessing loyalty points through the app or using beacon technology to give consumers targeted offers based on the store they are located in, are ways that will help get the consumer to point-of-sale more frequently, both on their phone and in-store. However, without precise transaction data and an inability to combine that with rewards or offers will make attracting the consumer difficult. Alliance Data’s Mobile Virtual Card can gather this data for the retailer and allow its users to collect or redeem rewards without using the physical card.

“The Force is strong with this one.”

The capabilities of the mobile wallet as both a payment and marketing tool are only going to expand, which means more opportunities to grow consumer spend.  Look out for these three mobile payment trends that aren’t too far out in the galaxy:

• Mobile wallet campaigns will expand to more retailers. Push notifications, NFC, and beacon technology will become common marketing tactics for stores.  Alliance Data will continue to use many of these tactics for new and existing retailer clients.
• Mobile wallets that continuously build a more secure and convenient checkout experience will succeed. We have already seen this play out so far with Apple Pay. Apple Pay uses NFC contactless technology to send payment information, which can only be accessed after using Touch ID or the user’s passcode.  All payment information exchanged between the user and the merchant is encrypted.  2015 will continue to bring advanced encryption capabilities in some of the most popular mobile payment technology platforms – NFC, Bluetooth Low Energy, and QR Codes. The more convenient and secure the technology, the more willing a customer is to trust and use the mobile wallet.
• Mobile offerings will reach the entire customer lifecycle, not just at point-of-sale. As I mentioned earlier, this is already being done today by integrating loyalty rewards with the mobile app, but there will likely be further acquisitions and partnerships by the major mobile wallet providers – Apple Pay, Google Wallet, MCX, and others –to add services in order to get the consumer into the store or onto the website, as well as retention methods after their purchase.

You could say the force is with Alliance Data as all of these trends are business practices already in place. As the wise Yoda once said, “Do or do not. There is no try.”

MAY THE (MOBILE) FORCE BE WITH YOU!

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