Payments are Changing, Across the World
 | Payments are changing, in every country of the world. Consumers (and businesses) have more options flexibility and growing security. |
The Digital Wallet
Consumers are embracing the digital wallet. This is more than just carrying funds; you can store your credit cards there and a variety of other services. Wallets are catching on faster in some countries than others. The US has been slower, as credit cards are so well established, and there is so much legacy infrastructure in place. In other parts of the world, wallets are taking off.
The Unbanked
There are over one billion people in the world who have no bank account, no credit cards, and for many not even a government ID of any kind. They are called the unbanked; there is considerable need among the unbaned for ways of managing money, of being paid, and of paying bills. Many companies are jumping into this growing market; one of the best is PayTM, which has over 400 million users now in India - and is growing internationally as well.
CryptoCurrency Wallets
CryptoCurrency cannot be directly spent at the cash register; it is incompatible. So the digital wallets for CryptoCurrency have other methods, typically a real-tie conversion of the digital currency to cash, just enough to cover the transaction. While this works, its not clear if the model will scale. However, we have a patent that would enable spending CryptoCurrency directly at the cash register - with no wallet cash-conversion needed - and our model becomes more efficient ,as the network gets larger.
Payment Apps
In the USA, direct payment via apps is more common than a full digital wallet. The most popular payment app is the Starbucks app, and it works very smoothly. Starbucks has done a good job; they ought to license out their wallet model to other companies, or even better make their own standalone payment app, and let other companies simply use it - creating a payment network. This could have a lot of advertising potential, as well as a convenient (and painless) way to collect demographics.
The Future of Payments
it is reasonable to assume there will be more digital wallets created, and probably many more payment apps. Already we are seeing improved security in international payments, which should continue to get better - and faster. In the long term the industry needs better tools to help people manage their spending, help people plan for the future, handle taxes when due, consolidation of the digital wallets as one standard emerges, and decide on the future of CryptoCurrency.
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