Page 26 - GS180502

Views

Increase appeal, utility commended the company for inte-
grating third-party apps like Acorns
Will Hernandez, Editor at Mobile Payments Today, said mobile wallet providers into its user experience. Acorns,
need to improve product appeal and utility. "Apple Pay and Samsung Pay do a mobile investing app, similar to
one thing well, which is paying," he said. "But Samsung Pay just announced a Bank of America's Keep the Change,
cash back option for Samsung rewards, similar to what you'd get with a credit rounds up consumer purchases and
card issuer reward system. I give them credit for making the Samsung Pay wal- deposits change in an investment ac-
let more attractive." count, he said.

Alipay and WeChat do more than process payments, Hernandez noted. Con- Where's the remote?
sumers use the apps to buy things, transfer money, book travel and rideshar-
ing services, order from restaurants, and schedule doctor visits. He suggested More companies are entering the
PayPal may be the closest equivalent to Alipay in the United States. Hernandez mobile wallet space, creating a sur-
plus of payment options for consum-
ers. Merchants who try to steer cus-
tomers to their preferred payment
methods are quickly learning it's
all about the consumer. Loyalty and
cash discount programs may entice
some buyers, but consumers expect
their preferred currencies and pay-
ment methods to be easily accessible
at the POS and on their connected
devices.

Wells Fargo created a mobile wallet
app with an array of payment choic-
es on its home screen. Avid Modjta-
bai, Senior Executive Vice President
of Payments, Virtual Solutions and
Innovation at Wells Fargo & Co., said
Pay with Wells Fargo is designed to
help customers simplify and control
their financial lives. "The enhance-
ments we are making in mobile are
an example of how Wells Fargo is in-
novating based on customer needs
and feedback about how they want
to manage their money," she stated.

Pay with Wells Fargo users can se-
lect Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Visa
Checkout, Apple Pay, Wells Fargo
Wallet for Android and online
bill payment from the app's home
screen. Aggregating payment meth-
ods adds convenience, security and
simplicity, Modjtabai said. But will
consumers be able to choose? Or
will they, like Bruce Springsteen's
song, switch 'round and 'round 'til
half-past dawn, finding "fifty-seven
channels and nothin' on?"

Dale S. Laszig, Senior Staff Writer at The
Green Sheet and Managing Director at DSL
Direct LLC, is a payments industry journalist
and content provider. She can be reached at
dale@dsldirectllc.com and on Twitter at @
DSLdirect..

26