在線支付仍是小衆技術
It can take a long time for new ideas to catch on in the payments world. Plastic debit and credit cards, for example, account for half of payments in the UK and US, but it has taken more than 60 years to get there. Globally, cash is still dominant.
支付領域的新想法可能需要很長時間才能得到推廣。例如，塑料借記卡和信用卡在英國和美國佔到一半的支付份額，但它們是花了60多年才做到這一點的。就全球而言，現金支付仍占主導地位。DesPite being 15 years old, online payment system PayPal only accounts for about 10 per cent of online payments, says Bob Graham, senior vice-president for banking and financial services at consulting firm Virtusa.
諮詢公司Virtusa負責銀行業和金融服務的高級副總裁鮑勃•格雷厄姆(Bob Graham)表示，儘管已有15年的歷史，但在線支付系統PayPal僅佔在線支付市場大約10%的份額。
The online payments market is still small, accounting for just 2-3 per cent of consumer transactions worldwide, says Patrick Collison, co-founder of payment service Stripe. According to some estimates, there are 366bn non-cash transactions each year.
支付服務公司Stripe聯合創始人帕特里克•科利森(Patrick Collison)表示，在線支付市場規模仍然很小，只佔到全世界消費交易的2%-3%。根據某些估算，每年非現金交易規模達3660億美元。
However, the online payments market is expected to grow, not least because consumers want easier ways to pay for goods. Businesses also want more efficient mechanisms to handle trade invoices and payments.
然而，在線支付市場有望增長，主要是因爲消費者希望以更便利的方式付款。企業也希望有更高效的機制來處理交易票據和支付事宜。Barriers for new payment systems include cost and rates of adoption. Retailers have to pay for tills and card readers and banks have to put in software to process payments. New payment systems need to reach a point where there are enough cards, tokens or apps in circulation, and enough tills, ticket barriers, or websites willing to accept them, to justify any investment.
推廣新支付系統的障礙包括成本和採用率。零售商不得不花錢購置收銀機和讀卡器，銀行不得不安裝軟件來處理支付事宜。只有當銀行卡、口令牌或應用程序足夠普及，同時還有足夠的收銀臺、檢票口或者網站願意接受它們，新的支付系統才值得投資。Despite this, there is no shortage of newcomers, such as PayM and Barclays’ Pingit in the UK, Swish in Sweden, or Apple Pay, looking for customers.
即便存在障礙，新支付系統也在不斷涌現，比如英國的PayM和巴克萊(Barclays)的Pingit，瑞典的Swish或者Apple Pay。These are likely to succeed or fail based on the experience of consumers. Unless they are secure and convenient, they will remain niche technologies.
這些在線支付技術可能成功也可能失敗，關鍵看用戶體驗。除非非常安全和便利，否則它們將依然是小衆技術。A million people signed up to Apple Pay (a mobile wallet app that lets consumers make contactless payments with their phones) in its first week of operation in October. But this is tiny compared with the plastic cards market, says Mr Graham.
今年10月，Apple Pay（一種移動錢包應用，讓消費者通過手機非接觸式支付）上線第一週就有100萬人註冊。但格雷厄姆表示，與塑料銀行卡市場相比，這種數量微不足道。John Skipper, a technology expert at PA Consulting, says payment systems have to be easy for consumers. He says a big barrier to adoption has been confusion about how systems work. Pingit was a success among Barclays’ customers because it was clear and straightforward to use. But, he adds, it failed to become widely adopted, because it was too inaccessible for non-Barclays customers.
PA Consulting的技術專家約翰•斯基珀(John Skipper)表示，支付系統必須讓消費者易於使用。他說，採用支付系統的一大障礙是人們不明白其工作原理。Pingit之所以在巴克萊的客戶中取得成功，是因爲它的使用方法簡單明瞭。但他補充稱，Pingit之所以未能推廣開，是因爲非巴克萊的客戶使用不便。Another problem for newcomers is that the variety of payment systems is deterring retailers from investing in the technology, as they wait for global standards to emerge.
新進入這一行業的企業面臨的另一個問題是，現在的支付系統五花八門，這使得零售商不願投資於這種技術，它們等待相關方制定全球標準。But perhaps the greatest change is the way consumers use smartphones to make purchases. To pay by a card on a smartphone, says Jean Lassignardie, chief marketing officer at Capgemini Financial Services, means typing in a card number and an address, which can be awkward, so a an electronic wallet or PayPal is a strong alternative.
但是最大的改變或許在於消費者使用智能手機購物的方式。英國凱捷金融服務(Capgemini Financial Services)首席營銷官吉恩•拉西格納蒂爾(Jean Lassignardie)表示，在智能手機上用銀行卡支付意味着要輸入卡號和地址，這可能有些不方便，因此電子錢包或PayPal是一種較好的替代。The services consumers are paying for on their phones are changing too, from purely digital items such as music downloads, to taxis, accommodation, or meals. As a result, digitally driven services, such as Uber, a lift-sharing company, or Airbnb, which lets people rent accommodation online, are as much about processing payments and creating trust as they are about the apps.
消費者在手機上購買的服務也在改變，從音樂下載等純粹的數字產品發展到打車、住宿或餐飲服務。因此，拼車公司Uber或者允許人們在線租房的Airbnb等數字驅動的服務不僅僅需要處理支付問題和建立信任，而且還需要相關應用。Physical retailers are also adopting digital payments. Companies such as Starbucks have persuaded consumers to pay by mobile apps by combining payments and a loyalty scheme.
實體零售商也在採用數字支付方式。星巴克(Starbucks)等公司將支付和會員項目結合起來，說服消費者使用移動應用支付。One reason electronic wallets – and other alternatives to cash and cards – have so far failed to take off is that they have not made consumers’ lives simpler or brought value to the businesses that use them.
電子錢包以及其他代替現金和銀行卡的支付方式迄今未能取得成功的一個原因是，它們沒有讓消費者的生活更加簡單，或者爲使用它們的商家帶來價值。“There is no value added in a business such as a hotel accepting additional payment [systems],”says Deborah Baxley, a consultant at Capgemini Financial Services. “But,” she adds, “it can remove a source of irritation for consumers.”
英國凱捷金融服務的顧問德博拉•巴克斯利(Deborah Baxley)表示：“酒店等接受額外支付（系統）的企業沒有增加任何價值。但是，它可以消除一個讓消費者不滿的根源。”Businesses are more likely to invest in systems that will give them greater control over the value such systems can add to their business.
企業更可能投資於那些將讓它們對此類系統所增加的價值有更大控制權的系統。“Big corporates are taking matters into their own hands [on payments],” says Christophe Uzureau, a payments expert at analysts Gartner. “There is a movement to have more control over issues such as cash management.”
諮詢公司Gartner支付專家Christophe Uzureau表示：“大企業正自己動手創建（支付業務）。現在有一種加大對現金管理等事務的控制權的趨勢。”Ultimately, online payments could allow businesses to wrest more control of the payment value chain from banks. Along the way, they stand to gather more data about customers’ habits by combining information on purchases, locations and loyalty programmes.
最終，在線支付可能讓企業能夠從銀行那裏奪得對支付價值鏈的更大控制權。在此過程中，它們會結合購買、位置和會員信息來蒐集更多有關客戶購物習慣的數據。Smart online wallets, which calculate the best bank, card or other payment scheme for a consumer using criteria such as offers, loyalty points, interest charges and exchange rates, may be the next thing, suggests Matthew Friend, managing director and head of Accenture Payment Services in North America.
Accenture Payment Services董事總經理、北美地區負責人馬修•弗蘭德(Matthew Friend)表示，在線智能錢包可能是下一個熱點。在線智能錢包從折扣、積分、利息費用和匯率等標準出發，爲客戶計算出最佳的銀行、銀行卡或其他支付方式。Nonetheless, the online payments sector will grow, if only because accepting more ways to pay will allow businesses to sell more. “Every time a website accepts new ways to pay, it drives more transactions,” Mr Friend says.
然而，就算只是因爲接受更多支付方式將會增加企業的銷售，在線支付領域也會得到發展。弗蘭德表示：“網站每次接受新的支付方式，就會推動更多的交易。”
