Take advantage of new payment methods to increase sales

Advances in digital technology have made cell phones indispensable for us. Beyond its use to make phone calls, smart phones give us access to games, social media, websites, and applications that make our life easier, such as Internet banking. The latest trend is using cell phones as your wallet, also known as mobile wallets. The mobile wallet payment method is a technology that allows consumers to carry their credit cards on their smartphones, virtually. Consumers need to download a specific application that stores information of their credit card. When they want to make a payment, they only need to open the application and use the mobile to pay with a tap. As a merchant, mobile wallets may help increase your sales since they provide customers an additional payment method with no additional transaction fees. Banco Popular now offers its customers two mobile wallet services: Samsung Pay and Android Pay. Both allow customers to use their Visa and MasterCard credit cards with each of these applications (or “apps”). Apple Pay, another mobile wallet app for iOS devices, is not yet available for banks in Puerto Rico. Samsung Pay works with certain smartphone models of this brand, while Android Pay works with phones that use the Android operating system. In both cases, customers must download an application and subscribe to a mobile wallet. The clients then receive a virtual credit card number or token that replaces the actual credit card number when making purchases. The Samsung Pay mobile wallet is compatible with existing terminals and is accepted virtually everywhere customers can swipe their cards because it uses two types of technology: NFC (Near Field Communication) and MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission). Android Pay, on the other hand, is only compatible with NFC technology. Contact your service provider to request the equipment required for this technology. This payment method is secure because it substitutes the credit card number with a unique token that is assigned to the mobile wallet. The token uses an encrypted number for each transaction instead of the data of the customers' credit cards. They also require a fingerprint or PIN number to authorize customer purchases in stores. Get ready to accept these new payment methods and increase your sales! Click here for more information. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement or guarantee of accuracy or applicability for any particular purpose. Neither Popular nor any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, or related companies shall be liable for any special, direct, or indirect harm stemming from the information contained in this article. Should you require further information or guidance on the subject of this article, you should always seek the advice of a competent professional of your choice.