It’s been a great year for mobile payments, mPOS, and Miura Systems. Over the past year we’ve seen exciting new payment technologies energise the market, while businesses across the globe begin to wake up to the benefits of flexible mPOS platforms to cut queues, drive profits and improve the customer experience. It’s also been an award-winning year for Miura Systems – placed in the top five of the inaugural Sunday Times BT Business SME Export Track 100.
Sitting on the crest of this new wave in payment industry innovation, we think 2016 will be even bigger and better.
A stellar year
The past 12 months have seen smartphone-based payments take off thanks largely to the “Apple effect”. After a subdued launch in the US in autumn 2014, Apple Pay burst onto the UK market in July this year, supported by Miura Systems mPOS devices including the M010. The signs already look good. Deloitte claims a third of young people are interested in mobile payments. The consultancy claimed the trend would take off quicker in the UK than across the pond because of our familiarity with chip and PIN and contactless, the “significant installed base” of retail outlets supporting mobile and large volume of NFC-enabled handsets. That volume expanded globally from 444 million last year to 756m in 2015.
A quarter of UK consumers already think Apple Pay is a useful feature, according to uSwitch. And for businesses it offers a fast, simple and secure way of taking payments which puts the customer front and centre.
It’s not just been Apple Pay lighting up the industry. Contactless continues to snowball as users and businesses jump on board. This year the raising of the transaction limit to £30 provided an extra incentive – covering most users’ average spend in supermarkets, pubs, cinemas, dry cleaners and the like. It’s no surprise that £2.5bn was spent in the first half of 2015 via contactless, already more than the £2.3bn which accounted for the whole of 2014, according to the UK Cards Association.
A bright 2016
Things are also looking good for 2016. Analyst Juniper issued a report predicting the number of mobile wallets using contactless technology will hit 200 million globally by next year, driven in part by Apple Pay. Visa Europe is saying mobile payment sales will reach a whopping £1.2bn per week by 2020 – so we can expect to see continued growth next year.
The mPOS industry also saw some stunning growth in 2015 as companies across the UK and beyond realise it’s for more than just small businesses micro-merchants. And we can see more of the same coming in 2016. Analyst 451 Research claims that the global installed base for mPOS will grow from 13.3 million units today to a massive 54 million by 2019 – a CAGR of 32% over the period.
Miura Systems was one of the first payments companies to spot the potential in mobile, so we’re delighted to be validated by research like this. In fact, 2015 was another stellar year for us – now officially rated one of the fastest growing UK SMEs in terms of overseas sales, with customers in over 40 countries worldwide. Partnership deals with leading US-based POS Portal and UK-based European distributor Westcoast Payment Systems will help us reach new heights in 2016.
We look forward to helping businesses all over the world drive profits and connect with their customers in exciting new ways over the coming year with the power of Miura mPOS.
