Line is Set to Enter the Mobile Payments Space with Line Pay

Line, a free messaging app, announced plans for a mobile payments service way back in October. Today, Line has 170 million monthly users and their new payments service has been branded "Line Pay" and will be released around the world very soon.

The significance of the Line Pay launch is not just surrounding the welcoming of a new competitor, Line is attempting to make their app become a complete "lifestyle platform". It will be interesting to see the adoption rate of Line Pay and whether or not it can become the all-in-one platform Line is hoping for.

As of now, Line Pay allows users to complete transactions through the app at affiliated online and brick-and-mortar stores once you have registered your credit cards. However, on the horizon there is a P2P update that will allow users to send money to other users.

At a time when messaging apps are slowing in growth, Line's entrance into the mobile payments space seems very timely.

Where do you see the future of mobile payments heading? Is Line's attempt to create a complete platform for users to seamlessly handle both conversations and payments the future? Join us in Las Vegas, February 23-25 for All Payments Expo 2015 to learn and explore the ever changing landscape of the payments space.

Have any insight to add to this story? Leave it in the comments.

Share this article with your social network, just click below to share now!

Share |

The Future of Alternative Payments

Research was conducted to figure out where exactly card-based e-commerce and alternative payments were going around the world. Whether it was trying to figure out if (when?) alternative payments will eclipse card-based e-commerce or whether new innovations would decrease or increase, the results of the study painted an interesting picture for the future. 

The research was conducted by Bain Capital and Advent projects that e-commerce transactions will grow at an annualized rate of14 percent from 2010 to 2015 rising from USD $942 billion. In addition to this, there is something that is somewhat staggering: Alternative payments are actually behind card based e-commerce. But not to worry about such numbers, alternative payments are expected to pass card based e-commerce by 2015. 

BERLIN, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 05: A patient pays a quarterly consultion fee while handing over her Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse (AOK) health insurance card on September 5, 2012 in Berlin, Germany. ( Getty Images)

The US and UK have the highest amount of e-commerce penetration rates at 77 and 60 percent respectively. In Netherlands, e-commerce growth is underpinned by an electric payment called iDEAL. iDEAL allows people to make bank transfers without entering their credit or debit information online. WorldPay estimates that there are as many as 230 alternative payments providers. 

Some believe that there can be an AP provider which can challenge the established e-commerce players. They also predict that there will be growth a 50 percent a year annually in China and Poland. Among the developed nations, Japan is expected to have a growth of 20 percent. And with the growth of other nations, prepaid may take off in ways that would turn society into more a plastic card carrying world than it ever was before. 

About the Author

Adam Wells studies English at Pace University.

Share this article with your social network, just click below to share now!

Share |

News from the Frontlines: Prepaid Cards in Times of Crisis

AT&T Inc. is distributing 10,000 prepaid cards to U.S. military supporting efforts in Japan.

Visa Expands Personal Payment to the World: Read more at Mybanktracker and Techcrunch.

Ohio State gives $25,000 for Flood Relief

Share this article with your social network, just click below to share now!

Share |

First Prepaid Cards in Japan

According to Global Atlanta, TSYS will begin to provide Japan with its first prepaid cards in July. Travel Bank Inc will provide these cards.

TSYS International President Gaylon Jowers Jr. stated this about the new cards, “Prepaid cards are a trusted alternative to travelers’ checks in many countries, and the number of issuers that are interested in prepaid cards is increasing worldwide."

Read the full article here.

Share this article with your social network, just click below to share now!

Share |