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Payment systems | Insight
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Google Wallet (so far only available
in the US) has also entered the market,
enabling payments via email and an app.
Funds need to be put into the Wallet
from a linked bank account or credit card.
Meanwhile, Samsung has launched its
mobile wallet, Samsung Pay, in Spain – its
first European destination after its launch
in Korea and the US last year.
My final example is M-Pesa. This online banking system,
which exclusively uses smartphone technology, was launched in
2007 in Kenya, inspired by the realisation that people were using
mobile phone airtime as a proxy for money transfer.
M-Pesa is a very simple system for depositing and
withdrawing money, making payments and transfers with low
charges. Some 17 million people in Kenya are signed up. So far,
attempts to replicate this in markets such as South Africa and
India have had mixed success. But it seems that it is only a matter
of time.
Meanwhile traditional banks seem to be just watching this
competitive erosion rather than counter-attacking. Charles
Handy, a professor at London Business School, used the boiling
Metro Bank gets it right
See Tony Grundy on how Metro
Bank’s innovative business model
has led it to become a UK household
name bit.ly/Grundy-Metro
frog metaphor to illustrate what happens
to organisations who choose to ignore
weak signals in the wider, competitive
environment: if you throw a frog into
boiling water it jumps out; if you put it
in warm water and gradually heat the
water up, it will do nothing and boil
to death. By the time the banks have
realised the danger, it will be too late and
they are ‘cooked’. But rather than fixate on the threats, they need
to see the opportunities that have been created and tailgate on
a fertile market. ■
Dr Tony Grundy is an independent consultant and trainer, and
lectures at Henley Business School
For more information:
tonygrundy.com
For previous Tony Grundy articles on strategy and
management theories, visit accaglobal.com/abcpd
Take one
As an assurance partner at EY in Singapore, Gajendran Vyapuri FCCA relishes the global
mobility that his role and the ACCA Qualification afford him
Gajendran Vyapuri has been in EY’s
assurance practice for 20 years.
In this time he has travelled
extensively, flying over dense jungle to visit
far-flung mines and working with people from
diverse backgrounds and cultures. Team work and
‘connecting with people’ is at the heart of what he
does: ‘Together, we can do wonders,’ he says.
And his advice to others? Don’t worry about the
small things that don’t actually make a difference.
Find out more about Gajendran Vyapuri’s
journey and his expectations for the
future in a fast-moving, digital economy
at bit.ly/ACCABigInterview
07/2016 Accounting and Business