NEW YORK—Could the pace of decline in digital wallets be picking up steam?
As more mobile wallets began to enter the market several years ago, analysts predicted their numbers would dwindle as more of the mainstream “pays,” such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, grabbed greater share.
Now, JPMorgan Chase has announced that starting early next year, its customers will no longer be able to use the Chase Pay app to pay with their smartphones when shopping in stores, Bloomberg reported.
“It’s an about-face for a product introduced four years ago so JPMorgan could compete with rivals such as Apple Inc. that are trying to transform how consumers pay for goods and services,” Bloomberg said.
As CUToday.info has extensively reported, the U.S. market has been slower to develop digital wallets partly because merchants have been slow to accept such payments and consumers haven’t found new options convenient enough to give up paying with cards that offer lucrative rewards.
Acceptance Missing
“All new payment types start with merchant acceptance and they weren’t getting that,” Richard Crone, chief executive officer of payments consultancy Crone Consulting LLC, told Bloomberg. “They’re not giving up on mobile payments, they’re giving up on the physical point of sale.”
JPMorgan customers still will be able to use Chase Pay on the websites and apps of retailers that accept it.