Alternative Payment Systems in the U.S., 2nd Edition
07 Jun 2011 • by Natalie Aster
New York - There has been a gold rush into alternative payments from prospectors seeking to dig up the next PayPal. But as with past gold rushes, there have been many claims with few successes. Despite history’s lessons, with every new “gold rush” come new hopes of striking a rich consumer vein. It is all enough to make one’s head spin trying to parse out the various payment types and business models.
In addition, the alternative payments landscape is morphing, particularly in the eyes of consumers. It is no longer just the underlying mechanism that is important—equally important is the consumer perception of the payment. What’s more, mobile payments (a subset of alternative payments), are quickly becoming a viable platform ready to explode with merchant and consumer adoption forever changing the payments landscape.
The report “Alternative Payment Systems in the U.S., 2nd Edition” by Packaged Facts presents an in depth examination of the U.S. alternative payments business. The report presents the size and growth of the market and puts it in context to both the business-to-consumer (B2C) ecommerce market and the total “consumer” payments market including card payments and electronic payments (online bill payment). Special regard is given to the activity of top players and the varied upstarts, particularly in mobile payments, hoping to steal share and further alter the old school payments paradigm. Major key competitors are profiled, along with a focused analysis of consumer payment demographics and preferences.
Report Details:
Alternative Payment Systems in the U.S., 2nd Edition
Published: June 2011
Pages: 194
Price: US$ 3,750.00
Report Sample Abstract
Endless Alternative Payment Schemes
For about a decade now, there has been a gold rush into alternative payments from prospectors seeking to dig up the next PayPal. But as with past gold rushes, there have been many claims with few successes. The vast majority of success stories came not from the alternative payment prospectors, but from the businesses that supported them, such as the hardware suppliers.
Despite history’s lessons, with every new “gold rush” come new hopes of striking a rich consumer vein. Entrepreneurs such as ACH alternative MyeCheck Inc. have invented new payment systems, while others such as eLayaway have reinvented old ones. Still others, such as Revolution Money LLC with its P2P service and PIN-based credit card, have sought to do both. It all is enough to make one’s head spin trying to parse out the various payment types and business models. Packaged Facts categorizes the various schemes into four loosely defined, and often overlapping, types.
Peer-to-Peer and Direct Payments
Most of the payment forms currently available in both the online and offline worlds are designed for consumers to pay businesses, but not for individuals to pay other individuals. For example, one can use a credit card to buy groceries, but it is not a practical way to return a $10 loan to a friend, to pay a babysitter after an evening out, or to buy a lamp at a yard sale.
Individual, informal transactions such as these have long been the realm of cash or, less commonly, check. Peer-to-peer (P2P) payment platforms are seeking to pounce on this wideopen market.
P2P and direct payment schemes are usually based on the automated clearinghouse (ACH) network—the birthplace of alternative payments. Nearly all payments through PayPal are settled in this way, as are direct competitors such as Mazooma, RialtoPay, Secure Vault Payments, and Authorize.net’s eCheck.net. Many mobile payment players also use the ACH system, though they are discussed separately below. Even eWallet players such as Amazon
Payments, which rely primarily on credit cards, may use ACH to settle direct from checking account payments. An exception includes troubled MyeCheck Inc., which uses its own proprietary system.
More information can be found in the report “Alternative Payment Systems in the U.S., 2nd Edition” by Packaged Facts.
To order the report or ask for sample pages contact [email protected]
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