More and more people count on their smartphones for most of their daily activities on a global scale. The younger population drastically changes the trends and overall usage of mobile services throughout the years, including contactless and online payments.
Generations Y (Millennials) and Z were the first to grow up alongside the Internet and PC, so now they can easily operate various smart devices. Unlike their predecessors, who spent most of their life without any of these, younger generations tend to be more inclined to adapt to new technologies. This includes modern payment methods, too. With all the latest technological advancements, the future of mobile payments looks promising. From using different devices and payment accessories to implementing virtual and augmented reality to the user shopping experience, the early adopters are unsurprisingly people from the younger generations.
Stay tuned to find out how Millennials and Gen Z lead the trends in payments and what the future might bring to online banking.
The lack of POS terminals discourages young generations from shopping on-site
Leaving your physical wallet at home is more than convenient since you can pay anywhere with a single tap on your phone or watch. More than half of the younger generation actively use a digital wallet, and the trend is growing among other generations, making this payment method more and more popular. Nevertheless, many places only accept cash payments. Since total payments digitalisation won’t happen anytime soon and cash flow won’t disappear, you should always be prepared for such situations (often unpredicted).
If you’re shopping where there’s no POS terminal in sight, we’ve got you covered – you can withdraw cash at any ATM with any Visa card, issued by iCard. You can freeze it whenever you want and receive real-time notifications for each card transaction. Thanks to our Standard plan, you get a free physical debit card with no fees, making your payments more pleasant.
Online shopping takes the lead among younger users
Social media and online platforms influence not only your choice of purchases but your way of shopping, too. This is an intriguing trend that can completely change the shopping behaviour of most users in the future. It is set primarily by the younger generation – especially the influencers, who endorse different products on social media. In addition, countless online advertisements lead directly to websites, making online shopping even easier and more accessible.
On the one hand, a lot of youngsters enjoy walkabouts at the shopping centre, but saving time (and often money) is among their top priorities, which turns online shopping into a more popular and convenient method.
On the other hand, cash payments slowly decrease not only by the rising usage of digital wallets but also thanks to online payments, which are further facilitated by virtual cards. Each virtual card, issued by iCard, guarantees high security – you can freeze it at any time, set your own limits, confirm or reject payments after each real-time notification, and complete all transactions with the highest level of security – 3DS. Virtual cards don’t give access to your bank account, so you rest assured that all your payments are safe from fraud.
When generations Y and Z travel, they no longer seek to exchange money in local currencies
You’re probably fed up with queueing in front of exchange bureaus before each journey. This feeling is common among more and more young people, so they are increasingly counting entirely on their digital wallets for payments abroad. Many European countries have POS terminals almost everywhere, which reduces the need to exchange money for cash payments. As we already mentioned – this completely fits the needs of both younger generations.
With iCard, you can travel carefree. We uncover some of the benefits of using a digital wallet abroad that make your worries disappear:
- you can open up to 3 accounts in 5 different currencies and pay anywhere with ease;
- you transfer money between your accounts in accordance with the daily currency rates;
- you can order debit cards in the same 5 currencies to withdraw cash (when needed) abroad.
Thanks to the modernisation of technologies and the implementation of new payment methods, it’s safe to say that younger generations will continue to quickly adapt to the innovations in the future. It’s just a matter of time to see other changes in their ways of shopping. And maybe even whiteness their predecessors join in on the new trends.
Download iCard and take advantage of the freedom of mobile payments:
