Payments is so hot right now

There was (as is often the case with such industry gatherings) a huge amount of hot air generated at Money 20/20 Europe, which took place in Copenhagen this week. Twitter was awash with people raving about how various new fangled offerings are going to rewrite the payments rulebook. Virtual reality headsets are the next big thing. Biometrics is a must have. Social has changed everything, blockchain technologies rock, etc etc.

Cash continues to make a splash

Look away now, banks, card schemes and all the other proponents of a cashless society. It seems that notes and coins are not going away just yet. LINK cash withdrawals from UK ATMs in 2015 amounted to a record £128 billion. The total number of cash withdrawals only grew slightly in 2015 (by 0.8%) with the value of these increasing by 2%. The amount cash machine users took out also went up – with the average value rising from £61.25 in 2014 to £61.93 in 2015.

2015 in review: the year that fintech hit form

What a difference 12 months can make. Industry conversations at 2014’s Mobey Day (Mobey Forum’s annual open conference for all mobile money stakeholders) told of an industry undergoing major disruption. Just 12 months later toward the end of 2015, the industry vibe had changed almost beyond recognition, particularly in the mobile payments arena.  Consternation, hesitancy and all-out frustration had given way to optimism. Last year’s disruptions have become this year’s tools of liberation, enabling banks, finally, to make progress.