A new report from Aite Group identifies ten trends that will help shape retail banking and payments in the United States and beyond in 2012.

Below the broad economic, regulatory, and political conditions so critical to the fate of the banking and payments industry, several important industry trends will develop in 2012. Many of those trends will be driven by technology innovation, and many apply to payments, a critical component of the banking industry.

While some of the trends are specific to the United States, many also apply to other parts of the world.

 

 

Very briefly, the top ten trends that Aite Group sees unfolding in 2012 in the retail banking and payments industry are:

•    Marketing checking accounts: A new approach

•    Open API: The quiet revolution in banking applications [API refers to “application program interface,” a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software applications, according to Webopedia. A good API makes it easier to develop a program. Also, programs using a common API will have similar interfaces, which make it easier for users to learn new programs.]

•    P2P: Mobile devices as a catalyst [Person-to-person payments have long been envisioned as the next frontier for payments.]

•    Post-Durbin: The rate of cash displacement slows down

•    EMV: The shift begins [EMV is shorthand for the Europay MasterCard Visa chip card standard, common in Europe and elsewhere.]

•    Digital wallets: Competing on service

•    Fraud: Coming soon to a mobile phone near you

•    Social media: Going practical

•    POS payments: Going intelligent

•    Merchant acquiring: Heading toward a new mindset

“In 2012, banks will continue to grapple with rebuilding revenue in the midst of tepid loan demand while digesting the onslaught of new regulation brought by the financial crisis,” says Gwenn Bézard, research director with Aite Group and co-author of this report.

“Banks will most likely keep their fingers crossed that the bottom does not fall out from under them in 2012. Whether it's government debt in Europe or the United States, the possibility of an implosion of the eurozone, political gridlock on both sides of the Atlantic, rising tension with Iran, or slowing growth in China, there will be no shortage of wild cards that could affect the industry in 2012.”

The full report, Top 10 Trends in Retail Banking and Payments, 2012, is available for sale from Aite Group.

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