One of the nation's largest credit card lenders is now rolling out a new point of sale terminal capable of processing more types of transactions, which may help ease the nation's transition to widespread use of mobile wallet technology.
JPMorgan Chase is now pushing out its new Future Proof point of sale terminal to merchants, and believes the new payment processing device will be able to provide significant benefit to consumers, merchants, lenders and payment processors alike, according to a report from the company. Not only will Future Proof accept traditional credit card purchases that make use of the magnetic strips on the back of nearly all cards issued in the U.S., but it will also accept EMV-based contactless card payments and other forms of swipe-free transactions and, perhaps most importantly, mobile wallet purchases.
"As emerging payment options gain adoption in the U.S., merchants are looking to make the customer check-out process as easy and safe as possible," said Mike Duffy, president of JPMorgan Chase payments subsidiary Chase Paymentech. "The Future Proof terminal is a one-stop solution for merchants to keep accepting today's forms of payment and prepare for new consumer payment preferences on the horizon."
Research suggests that mobile wallet technology is the wave of the future in the credit card payment industry, and could be worth a significant amount to the businesses involved in it within the next few years, the report said. In fact, one study found that these transactions could be worth as much as $79 billion annually by 2015 alone. But there will be a benefit to consumers as well: These types of transactions, like EMV-enabled credit card purchases, are typically far more secure than those that involve traditional credit cards.
Other studies on mobile wallet technology and the likelihood that consumers will be willing to accept it as their most trusted form of transaction suggest that the two largest hurdles to widespread adoption are security and the availability of necessary technology. The only way to assuage consumer concerns over this type of transaction is to give it time and allow users to see their purchases are safer. Experts have often noted that companies need to do more to roll out the kind of smartphones that come with near-field communications technologies if they want people to accept mobile wallets as reliable.
