PAYMENT SOLUTIONS
“ Voice-activated commerce has applications that go beyond the petrosphere and into retail , groceries , and so many other verticals ”
PETER O ' HALLORAN VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER OF GLOBAL DIGITAL COMMERCE , FISERV
normal . In the digital age convenience is a difficult thing to give up as a consumer , and often one form of it can ultimately inform expectations across every aspect of life . “ People have come to expect next day delivery services , click and collect , and access to a wide geography of markets ,” says O ’ Halloran . “ A lot of these things existed before COVID , but now they ’ ve been pushed into the limelight .” Fiserv is taking this trend into exciting new directions ; its
partnership with Amazon and ExxonMobil in 2020 is allowing Alexa-enabled vehicles to pay for fuel with a simple voice-activated command , ‘ Alexa , pay for gas .’ The device will then confirm the station ’ s location , identify the nearest pump number , and then activate the pump for use . Afterwards , all the customer needs to do is select their fuel type , fill up and drive away .
estimated to reach $ 10trn by 2025 , an 83 % rise on 2020 ’ s figure . Further consumer integration with platforms like Google Pay and Apple Pay could see digital payments transcend their current position of relative ‘ novelty ’ as the same ease and convenience is brought to household essentials , such as bill payments .
Fundamentally , companies like Mastercard regard this shift away from physical cash as fundamentally a good thing , not just in terms of inclusivity but also societal wellbeing . “ In cities with a high circulation of cash , residents and visitors are more vulnerable to crime or simply losing their hard-earned money . In countries like Sweden , lower crime rates have been linked to the reduction of cash .” While not dismissing the utility of physical cash at this time , O ’ Halloran believes that cybersecurity will be an important topic for increasingly digital cities , and highlights EU initiatives that are making sense of this new world . “ In 2015 , the European Union set out
PSD2 ( payment services directive ) to create strong customer authentication regulations and promote more cross-border ecommerce in Europe . We know that there has been an uptick in cyber attacks since COVID happened ; if it was adopted worldwide , PSD2 could help reduce that fraud , encourage more customers to do business , and make our cities more seamless and secure .”