For many, long gone are the days of cash in hand transactions and the swipe of a card as more modern technologies were made to replace them. Even as we have more widespread use of secure methods such as chip and pin, as well as more utility methods such as contactless payment – but even these are starting to feel a little old fashioned as our mobile devices make things easier than ever.
There are plenty of apps that require a method of payment for many reasons – using a service, registering for a subscription, or removing ads are amongst them, but none more so than gaming apps. We’re seeing a huge surge in mobile gaming as quarantine efforts continue, but this has been an ongoing trend for quite some time as the demographic of mobile gamers have evolved, and whilst puzzle and arcade styled games are performing extremely well, casino games are leading the way. But as these games have developed and changed, efforts needed to be made to ensure that potential customers could share unrestricted access, and this is where we see a development in payment methods.
As with many applications, a number of casinos that accept credit cards are available, but we’re also beginning to see how crypto payment methods are becoming more popular amongst these services. Offering a more anonymous alternative as a cryptocurrency has moved further into the spotlight provides another of many options available. It’s also becoming more common that we find integration between our smartphones and everyday utility apps – Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and all the others that are similar have become a part of our device, to which they can be now used in a contactless method as a credit or debit card within itself, but the integration also means that once your payment information is added, any service on your phone can access this method for yet another form of instant payment.
As mobile payments become increasingly common, the question may now be how can it be further streamlined and how will limits be lifted over time – currently one of the few restrictions that can be found with mobile instant payments are the transaction limits that may be attached – this isn’t a concern for previously mentioned gaming applications as the full card information can be attached but for contactless these limits can be quite low and restricted to a certain number of transactions per day, if some of these restrictions can be moved or lifted, it may not be long before traditional credit or debit cards are replaced entirely. Many also do worry about security here too, however, as steps are being taken to ensure that no unauthorized transaction is possible and that these methods across all platforms will continue to remain safe – this is likely a reason that many of the restrictions in place will remain, but as it stands it clear to see that mobile payments are here to stay and as more of our day to day moves to our smartphones as our bills are paid through applications and our favorite games are played on applications, newer methods for payment may not be far behind.
