Go on...top up my finger

Nice reality check Liz.

While I do think that the interwebs are already "big", when it comes to "babys with iPads" this is indicative of environmental influences that will influence this future generation's behavior and instinctive decisions. For example, my 13 year old daughter grew up around computers and has never lived a life without the internet. Her instincts for how she gathers information is framed by that. She's not instinctively going to use a cheque or reach for an Encyclopeadia off the shelf, for example. Part of that is her instincts are different, part of it is there are better options - like your finger.

My 4 year old son thinks every screen should be a touch screen, because that is what he's grown up with. He's certainly going to grow up thinking about communication with his peers very differently from you and I. His instinct will not be to grab a phone off the wall to make a phone call, or write a letter to his grandmother, or maybe even use a mouse.

Payment modality has been changing constantly for thousands of years, it shouldn't surprise us that it continues to change. What surprises me is that despite the enormous influences on our behavior that is disrupting the world around us, that many want to believe so badly that we aren't changing, or defending the status quo as if that is more pure or better because it is a recent historical traditional use.

This isn't about stuff - it's about human nature when it comes to interactions. When day-to-day behavior is fundamentally changing, that is something that rightly will be discussed and debated over whether it is good, bad or mobile.

But I appreciate that it is sometimes frustrating.

On the end of the finger is a mobile supercomputer.

We do ourselves no favours by calling it a phone.

And nobody wants to make a payment. It's something they have to do (so they begrudge paying for it). The perfect payment is so frictionless as to 'just vanish'.

They want to do something that the supercomputer can make much easier - buy a good, pay an invoice, collect fees and subs. That's worth paying for.

One day we'll have a biometrically-enabled NFC PSD PCI compliant micro computer in the form of a large crystal which can be worn on the finger, which makes payments 'just vanish'. HMQ has one, but hers is based on old carbon-based technology.

or even go one better than vanish and make it 'a payment experience that users enjoy'.

Neil, I know there's no one here my us payment geeks. But I think it is safe to say that no one in the history of the world has ever, or will ever utter the phrase 'wow, now that really was a 'payment experience' I enjoyed.' :-)

Liz,

I've heard people describe their first Uber, Moven and Starbucks experience in just that way...sorry to be the contrarian.

But I get your point. It's not about the payment - I've actually been saying that for quite a while:

https://www.finextra.com/blogs/fullblog.aspx?blogid=5389  

BK

Don't just take my word for it:

http://mikefaley.com/post/30681043689/why-uber-is-awesome

Payment geeks don't count - we're the nerds of the geek world. Our customers are just too lame for Comic-Com.

I heard a mother of 5 in Starbucks proclaiming how easy it was to pay with the Starbucks app - does that count?

The first lady thru' the first chip-and-pin checkout in the UK (an IBM project) was a lady well into state pension age. A throng of journos blocked her route, and in great anticipation, asked 'so how did you find it?'. 'I may be old, but I'm not stupid' came the answer.

and as to people enjoying a payments experience, and graphene coated buckyballs, we really need an icon for tongue-in-cheek. Though maybe not for that latter one, I've been thinking about that a bit. Finextra can you help?

Liz,

Is this what you really are trying to say?

https://www.finextra.com/blogs/fullblog.aspx?blogid=8333

BK