Journal du Net, France: Cognizant’s Vice President of Banking and Financial Services in France Says Banks Need to be Frontrunners in Contactless Payments

“Banks now need to ensure they stay ahead of the new competition by, for example, updating cards to include transport tickets or wireless coupons or loyalty points,” says Alexis Collinet. “It is also very important that banks increase collaboration with third parties and set strategies for a successful implementation of contactless payments. One thing is for sure: banks cannot avoid it.” Excerpts:

“Here are some steps that could help banks stand out in the cashless payment sector.

Drive an aggressive NFC payments strategy: Organizations like PayPal, Google and Apple have been very proactive and passionate supporters of NFC payment solutions. The leading solutions are moving toward marginalizing banks.

Establish a robust risk management framework to address privacy and security concerns: Privacy advocates are particularly concerned about this technology; it is feared that having this much information available “in the open air” will lead inevitably to problems.

Increase collaboration synergies among the parties involved: NFC-based payments rely a lot on the collaboration between banks, mobile carriers, card networks and merchants. Unless all the stakeholders are aligned, it is difficult to provide the customers with a seamless customer experience in NFC solutions.

In France, there is robust adoption of NFC payments; however, not all bank cards and smartphones are equipped with NFC technology.”

Click here to read the article in French.