How to Make a Reliable Mobile Wallet Application that Consumers Love?

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Consumers are becoming more and more reliant on smart devices. They have been relying on smart devices especially smartphones for their routine tasks. Whether it’s a grocery order or a flight ticket booking for the coming weekend gateway, the smartphone is the preferred option.

As a result, mobile payments or digital payments emerged. The trend of net banking, credit/debit card payments were the preferred choices for consumers to pay and the first option for service providers to accept payments. While this trend was being accepted by countries around the globe a new fad comes in the picture- called mobile wallets, which allow users to store multiple accounts/cards details securely and make payments whenever and where-ever required.

Considering what was recorded in 2015, about 39% of all mobile users had made payment through a mobile device in the US. In 2016, it was found that 32% of consumers have used a digital wallet while 78% of consumers were aware of them.

As per another study in 2017, with a set of consumers it was found that online shopping apps for eCommerce stores like Amazon or Walmart were among the most popular apps with 63 percent of usage rate among total mobile buyers.

In the past year, it has been observed that 19% of consumers used mobile for bill payment, which tops the percentage of usage among different categories. 16% were involved in making a purchase online while in-store purchase accounted for just 11% – all through mobile payment technology.

The above-stated numbers have shown a considerable surge over time and are predicted to increase in the coming years. One of the bold predictions about mobile payment is that the global mobile payment revenues will top $780 billion by the end of this year.

The increasing tendency of people to make payments through mobile devices and promotion of cashless economies worldwide are certainly few instances that mobile wallets will be used more extensively in the years to come. Here is the sneak peek of what and how mobile wallet application can be developed which is loved by the consumers.

Defining Mobile Wallet for Better Understanding

It is a broad term, which can be put together for better understanding from layman’s perspective. It’s simply an online service that allows users to store multiple cards’ details, digital currencies like bitcoin, discount coupons, loyalty card details, business/club membership cards and more for easy and secure access whenever required. Also, payments can be made through the stored data without having the physical access to the card.

These wallets can be further classified based on their capabilities, say for example a mobile wallet integrated within a retail app will allow users to store, access, use and redeem the coupons stored in the wallet while a different mobile wallet meant to store details of user’s multiple accounts and cards will not be able to redeem coupons as desired.

Hence, it’s important to take note that you prepare accordingly while discussing wallet app development plans with the mobile development agency. Functionality has a crucial role to play in serving customers and an extensive research is advised before you decide to move further.

What Payment Methods You Need to Target?

The next important thing you need to focus here is that what payment methods you as a business owner need to include in your wallet app. Technology has been kind on developers allowing them to make use of inbuilt features of the mobile devices for a sublime experience. Features like GPS, fingerprint scanner, Bluetooth, camera and cellular data can aid in establishing authentication, location tracking and real-time connectivity. Several payment modes your mobile wallet app can offer include the following,

  • Online payments
  • Peer-to-peer money transfer
  • POS (Point of Sale) payments

Out of the above three, POS payment is a major concern for the app developer to integrate as others are relatively easier. Online payments can be done via linking the wallet app to the desired online store while peer-to-peer transfer can link accounts of both beneficiary as well as transferrer.

POS payments occur at the storefront, where trading is done through mobile devices using technology and there are four ways this process can lead to completion.

  • NFC (near field communication)
  • It enables payments between an NFC-enabled smart device and a POS device via the transmitter. The information can be fetched from the mobile wallet or the cloud, wherever the cardholder has stored it. Host Card Emulation (HCE) technology is required to get data from the cloud, which is supported by Android-powered devices but there are quite a few limitations with Apple devices.

    An app for Android will be a perfect fit while you need to look out for other solutions like tokenization in the case of an iOS wallet app.

  • Bluetooth and iBeacon technology
  • This combination can serve the purpose quite nicely by allowing the transfer of necessary details stored in the mobile wallet on user’s device through Bluetooth to POS terminal via external terminal called beacon. Hence, no hassles of swapping or scanning the cards at the time of checkout as all the necessary details can be directly reflected on the clerk’s POS terminal. All this without the Internet.

  • QR codes
  • A mobile wallet app containing consumer’s account details & payment methods can be encrypted into a secure QR code, which can be simply scanned at the time of checkout.

  • Third party payment methods
  • Big names in the industry connect with stores and local merchants allowing consumers to pay at their stores via respective payment gateways. PayPal, Apple Pay and Android Pay are some of the giants operating in this domain. Also, some of the private banks have taken this route to enhance their reach and offline network.

Don’t Ignore Customer’s Wants

Although, there are numbers pointing towards the positive attitude of people adopting digital payment route, but the real adoption rate still remains in the dark. Consumers are used to certain techniques and methods for making payments at their favorite stores and now popular online stores. Asking them to switch from traditional to modern techniques isn’t a viable thing to do unless you offer something extraordinary to them in terms of benefits, discounts or loyalty reward points.

Only 18% of smartphone users use digital methods regularly for making payments, which is quite low because 52% of consumers are aware of the technology. Consumers are reluctant in taking mobile wallet route due to security concerns, lack of trust in technology, scared of getting breached by hackers and more.

It’s important to think the way your customers think.

Security Matters

Multiple layers of security are integrated into making Apple Pay, Android Pay and others secure, but still according to a recent study, it has been observed that 55% of people hold themselves back in making payment through these modern methods.

Consumers are worried of getting breached by hackers, leakage of their personal/account details and information stolen during a transaction. You, as a business owner, can take consumer’s grievances into consideration while building a mobile wallet app.

Security Standards You Need to Consider

  • Tokenization
  • The one-time unique number is assigned to the user that represents the actual credit/debit card number during the transaction. This number can only be detokenized by the respective service provider diminishing the chances of online theft to the minimum.

  • Point-to-point encryption
  • It ensures security is maintained during each transaction and interaction with a POS terminal is established in a secured fashion.

  • Mobile device identification
  • The mobile wallet gets paired to a certain smartphone, which establishes another security layer during the transaction.

Useful Tips While Building Your Next Mobile Wallet App

Hopefully, you are aware of the importance of treating the consumer as the apex entity in any app development process. Know the consumer’s demands, wants and act accordingly. Here are some of the useful tips you need to consider.

#1. Prioritize functions

A mobile wallet app is a collection of features and functions. For maximum benefit, you need to prioritize core functionalities of the app. Prime factors of the application need to be short-listed based on consumer’s demands, market’s requirements and customer expectations.

#2. Security should be the prime focus

Major concern for consumers adopting mobile payment solutions is the security of their confidential data. You need to look out for advanced security techniques to overcome this challenge, which can ensure wide adoption. Hard to decrypt techniques should be implemented in addition to standard security and safety mechanisms.

#3. Digital receipt is mandatory

After every transaction user needs to get an update about the success or the failure of the transaction. Regardless of the amount paid, the digital receipt should be generated that needs to be emailed to the respective consumer as a confirmation.

#4. Reward point system is a must

Unless a mobile wallet leverages user with benefits, the adoption rate won’t shoot up. The consumer will only tend to switch ways if an enticing piece of cake awaits at the end. The reward points should later be redeemed on selective stores or outlets.

#5. Timely reminders can steal the show

You can push timely reminders to your consumer base notifying them of exciting offers, customized coupons/deals that a wallet transaction offers. By doing this, you not only lure them with amazing offers but also make them come back to your app repeated number of times.

#6. Make wise decisions while selecting your development partner

Select a mobile app development agency wisely- only after researching the background and their competency in building mobile apps. They should be a trusted and reliable name within the industry and should provide end-to-end services, from strategy building to deployment and maintenance.

Final Words

All the things mentioned above can help you make an exceptional mobile wallet application. All you need to do is take care of the standards, protocols, market’s demand and hire a potent development partner. A critical eye is required to get things rolling but once you take off then surely there won’t be any holding back.

Vipin Jain
Konstant Infosolutions
Vipin Jain is the CEO and Co-founder of Konstant Infosolutions, a trusted mobile app development company offering feature-rich native and hybrid apps. With his business acumen, Vipin Jain has honed the company's vision, corporate structure and goals, and made it stand out among global competitors.

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