Are You On Board With the Future of Payment Systems?

P-to-P payments currently log in about $13 billion in transactions annually. This figure is set to grow by over five times in the next three years to $68 billion. To put that figure into perspective, friends paying for other friends will amount to the 2014 annual revenues of Comcast, the world's largest cable and broadcasting company.

Benefits of Going Cashless and Cardless
The data and trends discussed above indicate a rapid invasion of never-before seen payment mechanisms. These mechanisms don't just make the process of payments easier for consumers, but also improve payment security and user privacy. Some of these new payment methods actually help business owners learn more about users' buying behavior, which can then be applied to improve user experience and grow conversions.

Data shows that paying for a meal at a restaurant takes over 10 minutes per table. If the number of guests at the table number over six, the time taken goes up by 90 seconds per head. The benefit of alternative payments like the ones discussed above is that they save a huge amount of time for both the user and business owner. This time saved on processing payments can be used by retailers to focus more on taking care of the customer and improving their user experience.

Another benefit according to an MIT study is that consumers tend to spend more when they avoid paying by cash and use alternate payment modes like card or mobile instead.

With all those benefits racking up, it's time that you caught up with the times and moved on to the latest in payment technology.

Rohan Ayyar dons multiple roles in SEO and analytics at E2M, a digital marketing firm. Follow him on Twitter at @searchrook.