With UK proximity mobile and peer-to-peer payments stagnating, providers in the market will be forced to focus on ways to resolve pain points, engage top user demographics, and facilitate growth around the margins.

With more than 6 in 10 smartphone users adopting mobile peer-to-peer payments in the US across multiple apps, providers are looking to widen their addressable base, mitigate pain points, and drive engagement.

By 2026, nearly 30% of US consumers’ average retail spending (excluding food and beverage sales and ticketing) will be made using proximity mobile payments, as providers look to build on the pandemic-driven adoption of the technology.

Increasing digitization among the 32 million US small businesses is changing the competitive landscape and forcing banks, acquirers, and fintechs to invest in next-generation features. These features range from payments and value-added services to outreach.

Payments Ecosystem: This year will reveal how providers must adapt to lasting pandemic-driven digitization across payments channels, ranging from in-store retail to B2B ecommerce.

Payments Ecosystem: Diminishing analog payment use—as well as the battle for share between entrenched electronic payment methods and emerging challengers—will intensify the battle for customer spending this year.

Payments Ecosystem: POS hardware, POS software, and gateway providers are working to become one-stop shops for merchants. Offering simple, robust access to front- and back-end solutions across industries lets them better serve merchants demanding integrated solutions.

The expansion of Zelle’s bank-backed platform as well as the launch of Chuck may spell trouble for Venmo.

They now have to report users’ business payments that exceed $600 annually, which might push them to add payment-adjacent tax services.

Amazon is adding Venmo as a payment method to reach younger shoppers: The partnership marks progress in PayPal’s efforts to monetize the mobile app and may pave the way for similar deals.

Amazon customers will be able to checkout with Venmo in 2022, which should drive the app’s revenues.

The top 10 P2P payment apps worldwide

Co-brand card issuers and brand partners have an opportunity to reimagine their offerings in the pandemic’s wake. Leaning on newfound digitization and shifting spending habits can help providers tailor their offerings in ways that widen their net, grow volume, and appeal to the maximum number of customers.

The peer-to-peer payments firm kiboshed its global public feed and made its app more user-friendly—helping it become more attractive and push traffic to newer products, like Venmo Card.

The PayPal-owned P2P payments player will soon introduce new fees and privacy updates that should bring it one step closer to profitability and might make its platform more trustworthy.

Digital account opening is on the rise after a pandemic slump.

Mobile proximity and peer-to-peer (P2P) payments have hit the mainstream, thanks to a pandemic-driven upswing in digital payments that is set to last. This trend is leading providers to diversify their offerings and compete for share of the market.

PayPal outpaces Venmo