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ADVANCED PAYMENTS REPORT 2014 – SPONSORED BY

9. The social scene

In the 2014 survey, 55% of respondents agree with the be of interest to payment initiatives that have traditionally struggled
statement that “social networks will play an important to win adoption. Consider Coin, a start-up that has come up with the
idea of making an “intelligent” card. The intelligent card will store the
role in the development of mobile payments.” This information of several payment cards and change this information

level of agreement is not a surprise when we consider on demand, efectively liberating the user from carrying around
the number of users in each major social network and several plastic cards.
the infuence that these communities can have. Due to their savvy use of social media, including creating compelling
video content, sharing information on Twitter and reaching out to
the blogosphere, they managed to beat their goal for pre-orders in
At the end of 2013, Facebook had 1.2 billion monthly active users;
less than 40 minutes after launching their campaign. The product is
this includes 870 million that log in via mobile. Meanwhile, YouTube
expected to be ready for the summer of 2014.
also boasts 1 billion monthly active users that upload and watch
millions of minutes of video every day. Twitter at “only” 200 million In the future we can expect social experiences in payments to
monthly active users has more reach and infuence than most become more common and eventually the norm. This will require
traditional media outlets. The speed with which information is companies to become savvy social media users for all new ventures.
shared within and across social networks is far superior to traditional According to the Pew Research Center, 87% of US internet users
media. Social networks are powerful because they allow information between 19 and 29 years old are actively using a social network, and
to fow in both directions, and the broadcaster and the audience can as they grow older they will become the most important customer
interact with each other and change places at any time. category for most industries. This trend can be observed in many
countries around the world.
Social media is defnitely growing in importance for many industries,
and the payments industry is not excluded from this trend. Even
companies that traditionally have not had a direct-to-consumer
97% “Brilliant Machines” social media campaign, engaging customers
presence are stepping in to engage customers via social networks.
General Electric’s Industrial Division, for example, has created its

on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. This is not a coincidence,
as most companies have realised that having a cohesive social
media campaign can bring several benefts, such as the following
mentioned in a September 2013 Forbes article:

n Improved company branding
n Improved brand awareness

n Word-of-mouth advertising
n Increased customer loyalty and trust
n Improved audience reach and infuence

But that is not all; a well coordinated social media strategy, and a
good product, can help launch initiatives and fund projects. This can

www.edgardunn.com | www.paymentscardsandmobile.com Edgar, Dunn & Company in association with Payments Cards and Mobile 21