How to get users hooked on mobile payment products

Apple Pay, Facebook Messenger Pay, Android Pay, Google Wallet…to name a few.

Wen Wang
UX Collective
Published in
8 min readMay 23, 2017

Recently, I did my first Apple Pay at Whole Foods Market. Since Apple launched the product in 2014, it was the first time I have used it.

Surprisingly, it was very easy to use. I opened my “wallet” on iPhone and put it close to the POS, then swiped my finger print. That was it!

So… why are there very few people using it?

Apple is going to allow their users to transfer money via Siri

I also tried to transfer money to my friend via Siri using Square Cash app.

Actually, the problem is not specific to Apple Pay - almost all mobile payment apps in the US have low popularity. People are not used to using mobile payment methods for their merchandise, bills, rents, or dinner in restaurants. They mostly use credit cards and sometimes cash for everything.

But things are quite different in another major market… According to a 2016 report by Citi, China is the biggest Peer-to-Peer lender in the world, and 55% of all internet users in China have made a mobile payment of some sort. In comparison, that number is 19% in the US.

image credit: NextportChina

But even in China, WeChat Pay and AliPay take up about 72% of the market share in mobile payment service, but Apple Pay only has 5% market share (in relation to its market share of about 10% in the smartphones market, this seems a little bit too small). Since the apps face largely the same users (barring any differences in targeting strategies by these different apps), it seems that the root problem lies in the product instead of the users.

image credit: Chart of the Day

So… how to get users engaged with these products?

About how to improve these products and how to hook users with them, here are some of my personal takes.

1. Don’t let your users down

People are very sensitive about products that need to be linked to their bank accounts. Being stable and letting users trust the product is the key. For example, the first time I used Siri to transfer money was very smooth, I told Siri to transfer money to my friend Mike via Cash app. It was very smooth, Siri asked me “How much”, and “Who” did I want to send it to, then it required my finger print, and the transaction was completed after that.

Unfortunately, it failed the second time, after I scanned my finger print, Siri askd me to open Cash app to process the transaction.

Fail (fun) moments I recorded

Consider other scenarios, for example, in a crowded grocery store or a cafe, people tend to choose the most familiar way to achieve their goals. No one likes to be the one person being judged by everyone else waiting behind, because s/he has troubles completing a transaction.

2.Let users feel in control

image credit: Ramakrishna V

Users love simple and smooth interactions, but they also need to feel safe and “be in control”. Giving some “friction” to users and let them interact with the product can help them understand the product and build their confidence in it.

Here’s some personal experience that makes me feel not “in control”.

One day, I went shopping at Whole Foods Market. When I was checking out, I decided to use my Apple wallet. I put my phone close to the register and scanned my finger print to pay. But while all that was going on, I felt a little insecure because I approved the transaction before I knew how much I should pay — the screen was not showing the subtotal for my purchase.

It’s understandable that Apple is trying to make the digital cards feel similar to the physical ones, and decrease processing time. The one-step payment removed the “friction” from payment process to make things smooth, but it also took away the time and opportunity for users to think before they actually pay.

3.Offline experience & Everywhere experience

There’re only 4% of merchants that accept Apple Pay in the US, and the number is even lower for other mobile payment gateways (Google Wallet, Android Pay, Samsung Pay etc etc etc). People can barely find a restaurant or a food store that accepts mobile payments, even in San Francisco! If users can use mobile payment everywhere: gas stations, restaurants, cafes, or even paying rent, then they’ll most certainly use it routinely (just like how we use our credit cards nowadays).

image credit: Isil Uzum

On the other hand, opening API for 3rd party apps can expend the market and enhance user activity without much cost. For example, Apple open-sourced Siri kit, and now Apple users can use Siri to call a Uber, or transfer money to others via the Square Cash app. Facebook is open-sourcing their chat bot which includes a payment module, and thanks to this, Facebook users can also order Domino’s Pizza through Messenger.

But relating back to the very first point, the product builder should make sure the user journey is friendly and that early adopters are shielded from bad experience as much as possible.

Here’s another real story that just happened to me this afternoon.

After I found out that I can order Domino’s pizza via Facebook’s chat bot, I tried to order something for dinner. The order process was pretty smooth, I was able to choose what I wanted with ease, and after that I clicked “CHECKOUT” and expected it to process my transaction with credit cards or through Messenger, but…..

That’s it! I placed my order without payment… so is it cash only? But it did not say anything about it. But I don’t have any cash on hand.. so what should I do next? If I must pay cash, can I cancel the order? (The pizza store is just around the corner and they accept credit cards in store!)

When I was confused and panicking, they sent me an email for my order confirmation! Okay… let’s see what it says: “Pay with Cash upon Delivery ….”

Me (right) after read the email

All of a sudden I needed to go out and find an ATM because there was no way to cancel the order or pay with my credit card, so I ran to the closest 7–11 and cashed out some money with $2 transaction fee. Then I ran back to my apartment, the delivery man who called me before was waiting for me and he seemed quite unhappy about having to wait for us. So I felt obliged to tip him more in order to compensate for his time loss (the pizza got all too expensive for me because of a design flaw).

Please don’t let your users down if you want people to use your product!

4. Be attractive, and let others sell for you

Promotion is a quick way to attract users to use the product, they may get the promotion, delete the app and leave, but there’s still a chance that some of them will stay and become continuing customers.

Cooperating with 3rd parties is very important. If you go to a fast food store in China, the cashier may ask you whether you want to checkout with Wechat Pay or AliPay, and they can give you a free drink if you do use either one of those. Because these two companies hire training managers to train cashiers on how to close out with their products, meanwhile making sure store managers also understand that there are huge benefits to allowing customers to pay with their product.

For the customers, it’s important for them to get promotion information in the easiest way. Most people would love to get the information from the app itself. Or even better, they can get the information from the business they are visiting. Think about what happens if John, the pizza boy you know pretty well, tells you that “You are getting a pizza? If you purchase with Apple Pay, you can get a free drink with the order!” What will you do? People buy things from small businesses all the time, if they realize that they can use the product everywhere, the new payment method will become their default option, because it will be both easy and common to use.

Making these new techniques attractive to small businesses is another important factor. For example, WeChat Pay allows customers to scan QR code and checkout directly, and the customers can easily recognize whether the merchant accepts WeChat Pay by the sign of a little sticker. What’s more, the only thing required of the merchant is to have the QR code sticker pasted on their register.

When people face a behavior that is not routine, then they may not find it simple. In seeking simplicity, people will often stick to their routine, like buying gas at the same station, even if it costs more money or time than other options.

— Fogg wrote

5. Gamification & Connection

Mobile payment products should not be a serious matter, making them fun to use can improve user experience and encourage users to engage. The followings are two ways that can drive products in an entertaining direction.

Gamification and communication can increase user engagement. The great example of gamification is how Wechat Pay and Alipay turn red packet as a fun feature that people go crazy about. A user can send out a red packet in a group, and people in the group can win a random part of the money by being one of the first to open it.

How to win a red packet

Similar to WeChat, instead of building a pure money transaction app, Venmo allows their users to connect and socialize by publishing each user’s transaction history. People can explore who is transferring money to people they know. It is just like another version of Facebook timeline with money literally written all over it.

image credit: Google

Mobile payment is becoming more and more common, and to help these products integrate into people’s lives is an interesting challenge.

Thanks for reading! If you like this article, please give it a ❤️ :)

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