IoT Swinging its Magic Wand in the Payments World How IoT is helping smoothening payments creases and assisting businesses & consumers with a hassle-free payments experience

IoT can be of great assistance in refurbishing how businesses operate. The technology is assisting payments to get streamlined as these online transactions can be electronically monitored and managed. The data-driven decision making helps to make an informed decision in the time-saving timeframe.

Payments – Key Element in Businesses

The touch of the Internet of Things or IoT is making devices smart. The technology has the potential to disrupt the FinTech industry and its incorporation in the finance industry is making the sector tech-savvy. Internet of Payments in its simplest definition refers to a culmination of transactions and IoT that creates a payment system in which all connected devices take part. Payments infrastructure and IoT can unravel and spike each other's potential a lot in association with one another.

Dilip Modi, the Chairman of Spice Money, a tech-enabled Hyper Local Payments Network opines, "Retail banking especially can be reimagined to accelerate financial transactions, aid in identity management, usage-based insurance to track vehicle maintenance and performance, healthcare or real-estate insurance. Through a widespread and integrated IoT infrastructure, customers can expect a uniform and efficient experience while conducting financial transactions."

ToneTag, a Bangalore based Fintech and Retail Solutions company, which made headlines for using crypted sound waves to make offline, proximity-based contactless payments on any device, believes in the strength of IoT in the payments domain. Its co-founder Vivek Kumar Singh says, "The Internet of things (IOT) can be a game-changer for India as it has democratized the usage of technology. ToneTag as a technology company has believed in enabling people to use the technology across all segments irrespective of social strata or infrastructural dependencies."

Securing financial transactions is very crucial when it comes to payments and highlighting that security aspect Singh further mentions, "While the fintech industry across the globe is using the IOT for collecting data and do large scale financial transaction, it is important that proper security is maintained while dealing with the highly classified personal financial data."

Initiatives like the Visa Ready Program for the Internet of Things have been brought forth to assist IoT device manufacturers with secure payments into their connected devices. This is helping devices from a watch to a car to initiate payments.

Where the Market is Headed?

Reports suggest that by 2020, the number of IoT connected devices will exceed 20.4 billion and will supposedly generate revenue of more than $3 trillion. However, the IoT can only realize its full potential by allowing devices to transact with one another.

Dilip Modi, the Chairman of Spice Money believes that the market size of IoT in the banking and financial services sector is estimated to grow from $249.4 million that was recorded in 2018 to $ 2,030.1 million by 2023, at a CAGR of 52.1 per cent.

"IoT is expected to bring in a $25 billion growth in the finance sector by the year 2020 while transforming the customer experience, payments, transactional security, trade-remittances and many other domains. Through instant data collection and processing achieved by IOT, fintech service providers can offer personalized customer service, aid in decision-making and enhance security," he says.