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Chase Pay Mobile Payment Solution Shows No Innovation

Jp Buntinx · @http://twitter.com/jdebunt | Oct 28, 2015 | 12:26

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More and more mobile payment solutions are making their way into the hands of customers all over the world. While there is growing demand for mobile payment solutions, not all of these projects are received with tons of enthusiasm. Chase’s mobile solution serves as a digital wallet that requires customers to scan a QR code. By the look of things, someone has been paying close attention to Bitcoin.

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Chase Pay Takes Page Out of Bitcoin’s Book

Most new mobile payment solutions offer something the world has not seen before, whether it is magnetic or contactless payment options. In the case of Chase Pay, however, it looks like there has been little to no innovation, and just a copy/paste job of what makes Bitcoin payments so popular.

Chase Pay will not be available to use everywhere in the United States, as only select stores will be participating in the early stage. Payments are made by opening up the Chase Pay app, choosing which banking card to use – which then generates a QR code – that can be scanned by the cashier. Most people will agree this seems to be a payment solution taking three steps back from how Chase customers pay for goods right now;

On a positive note, Chase Pay will be available to customers of MCX locations. MCX is a consortium of merchants and banks, led by Walmart. However, MCX is currently working on their own mobile payment solution, called CurrentC. Assuming this latter app ever launches, Chase Pay will be integrated without having to use the Chase app altogether.

Despite the clumsy user experience and limited usability, Chase Pay could be a powerful tool to introduce mobile payments to everyday consumers. A less-than-friendly user experience will put off most consumers, though, so it remains to be seen whether or not Chase Pay will ever become a mainstream contender.

To make matters even less interesting, Chase has not announced an official launch date, other than “mid-2016”. Industry experts still have plenty of time to rethinking this idea, as the application will not bring anything of interest to the table. Either the Chase App will have to be revamped completely, or it might be better to scrap this plan completely.

Integrating QR codes is an interesting take on mobile payments, although it is not new technology. Mobile Bitcoin payments have been using QR codes to great success for many years now. Even though the concept of QR codes is not too popular just yet, it all depends on how it is integrated. Mobile Bitcoin wallets have taken the right approach to doing so.

Banks Show Little Innovation Once Again

While the effort by Chase is commendable in a way, the bank shows little innovation as far as mobile payments are concerned. When companies like Apple and Samsung can create a far more popular and widespread mobile payment solution, something’s wrong. It should be up to traditional financial institutions to create innovative solutions, yet they have no idea where to start.

Even major banks like Chase will have trouble penetrating the mobile payments market, as their app takes too long to develop, and will only be usable in very select locations. Neither of these factors is beneficial to Chase customers, who want quick and convenient payment methods wherever they go.

What are your thoughts on Chase Pay so far? How would you improve this mobile payment solution? Let us know in the comments below!

Source: Chase Pay

Images courtesy of Chase, Chase Pay, Torbenrick