Cashless payments are becoming a major industry in the UK, as businesses seek to deal with the changing shopping habits of increasingly mobile consumers. But how should you go about adopting mobile payments, and what advantages can it bring to your company? CBR spoke to Klas Back, GM of international & payment strategy at Braintree, which has helped already helped support the likes of Uber and Airbnb, to find out more.
What are some of the main advantages of an SME accepting mobile payments? Why should customers abandon paying with cash?
Given the enormous shift in consumer behaviour that is currently taking place, the question is not so much should customers abandon paying with cash, but rather why is it happening and how are we adapting to this change? The millennial generation, which has grown up with cutting edge technology, is beginning to earn and take control of its own funds, and this generation expects a payments solution that meets its demands.
One of the greatest changes in consumer trends in recent years has been the growth of e-commerce and m-commerce; shopping habits are moving to mobile devices connected to the web, and with that, the demand for cashless payments have increased. Furthermore, as many millennials have a heightened understanding of the ease and security of cashless payments, they often consider this to be an easier and more risk-averse approach than carrying physical money. As such, growing merchants should leverage technology to connect more seamlessly with their customers.
One key advantage for SMEs accepting mobile payments is the sheer audience volume that they can reach in doing so, and the ultimate growth opportunities this represents. It is important that businesses consider this new generation, which has a greater reliance on mobile devices, and tailor their offerings to accommodate these demands. Moreover, mobile payments done right represent an efficient way to create better experiences and new opportunities between the SME’s and their customers. Therefore providing the opportunity to grow the business in new ways while delighting their customers.
What are some of the differences between a large business and an SME in implementing Braintree’s technology?
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Essentially, there is very little difference between large businesses and SMEs in terms of implementing Braintree’s technology, as we have developed a solution that all businesses can use, regardless of size.
However, the key difficulty for SMEs is that they often need to be able to grow at a rapid rate to suit demand and at an affordable cost, otherwise they risk losing out on opportunities. It is in this way that Braintree differentiates itself, as it represents a flexible solution that is able to scale to fit these growing, unprecedented demands and includes all the tools and features businesses need – fraud tools, recurring billing, Account Updater, etc.
Braintree provides these tools in an elegant, easy to use format that does not require the expertise around payments to accomplish sophisticated result. Moreover, Braintree has no monthly fees and, once merchants embrace our technology, they only pay for what they use, with minimum transaction processing fees, which many of the SMEs we work with find to be a great advantage at the early stages of developing their businesses.
It is thanks to this offering that we have been able to help rapid-growth SMEs, such as Uber and Airbnb to take their ideas and scale them quickly to meet the rising demand of the consumer.
Have you any particular examples of when your technology really helped a business expand?
Braintree has helped thousands of businesses expand in recent years, and has seen great success with companies that rely heavily on mobile purchases including Uber, Airbnb, Hailo, Hotel Tonight among countless others. We work with tens of thousands of business – from small startups to established businesses – and have helped many of them grow and scale locally, nationally and internationally.
Payment technology has been integral to the success of these enterprises, as their businesses in many cases are centred on consumer apps, and the payment process can make or break an experience. As such, Braintree helped businesses like these by delivering a full-stack payment solution that integrates seamlessly into the payment process, to not only remove the stress of app development, but also simultaneously ease and enhance the customer experience – leading to increased sales and customer loyalty.
What do businesses need to do to encourage more use of alternative payment technologies amongst their customers?
The most important thing for businesses is to provide payment technologies that are secure and easy to use. Simplicity is integral to the experience, and businesses must ensure that their solution is the most efficient way of paying for the service they offer.
What is Braintree doing to boost interest and adoption of new payment technologies?
As mobile is becoming the primary computing device, a mobile optimized app or website is no longer a nice to have but a necessity. Braintree bet big on mobile from day one. We started with the premise that mobile would quickly become the primary computing device for consumers, enabling seamless, context-driven experiences. So we built a flexible payments platform with the goal of igniting mobile innovation by giving developers a place to build new commerce experiences. We knew that if we created a slick, seamless payment experience – one that helped consumers and businesses more easily connect – businesses would be able to build new experiences.
Braintree works with businesses to deliver a simple and secure payment solution to consumers. Together with PayPal, we help companies tailor this customer experience, by giving them access to cutting edge features – like the one touch checkout option on apps like Hailo, or the ability to pay for parking at Westfield London via the PayPal app – to ensure they are delivering the solutions that the modern consumer demands.
We’ve democratized access to payments by providing all businesses – from small to large – access to sophisticated payment tools. Braintree also provides dedicated and helpful customer service, in an industry that traditionally lacked customer service. As such, we have an incredibly knowledgeable team that is able to offer ongoing insight and support to companies, to ensure that they are keeping up with the latest technologies and offering the most effective solutions for their businesses.
How do you think the UK compares to the rest of the world in adopting new payment technologies – can we do a better job?
The UK is growing at an incredible rate in terms of adopting new payment technologies; for instance, contactless in-store payments are becoming increasingly prevalent on the high-street, with over 40.7 million cards in issue with contactless functionality, according to recent research by the UK Cards Association.
At Braintree, we know that innovation happens everywhere and it’s our goal to provide a payment platform on which developers can build and innovate, regardless where they are based. Braintree enables businesses in over 40 countries accept payments in more than 130 currencies. So Braintree not only supports businesses around the globe, but helps them scale and accept payments globally.
How do you see the worldwide payments market evolving in the next few years?
We have already seen immense transformation in the worldwide payments market, as technology continues to improve the efficiency, security and ease in which we transfer cash. However, there is still great opportunity for growth.
In particular, recent trends indicate that payment processes are going to become more integral to the basic business model, as consumers start to expect great experiences. As such, we envisage that people will come to expect context-driven experiences, where apps will know enough about you to serve you exactly what you are looking for as opposed to inputting the information as you would on a laptop or desktop.
