The Internet is available virtually everywhere in the world at different levels of capacity. The super-fast broadband speeds of Google (News - Alert)'s Gigabit network is not offered everywhere, but eventually even these speeds will be common place, introducing a connected global economy with which service providers will be delivering online solutions to anyone. This level of e-commerce will require a billing and payment solution capable of dealing with the tens of millions of transactions that will take place daily.
A new report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc (GIA) forecasts that the proliferation of the Internet economy is driving the Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) Market, expecting the number of business-to-consumer (B2C) electronic bills to reach 21.7 billion by 2020.
The GIA report titled, " Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP): A Global Strategic Business Report" says, in addition to increased Internet usage, the growth is being driven by improved Internet security, governance, as well as protocol technologies and applications.
The technology moving Internet trade and commerce forward is a global environment in which next generation networks are being developed at a faster rate. Optical networking, carrier Ethernet, high-speed communication systems, next generation internet design, and migration to IPv6 from IPv4 are responsible for multiplying electronic commercial activity.
This activity is responsible for the decline of cash as more goods and services are purchased online. At the same time, the same the technology is being used to transfer funds between businesses and individual consumers.
The deployment of 3.5G and 4G mobile networks and smart mobile technology is going to be one of the biggest factors for the rapid rate of growth of e-payments. Faster speeds, more bandwidth, increased storage capacity, and on-demand computing powered with cloud technology is giving organization the ability to provide more financial services for their online customers.
Today almost all the services we use have an online payment option. Electricity, telephone, gas, and water bills, as well as insurance, cable TV subscriptions, mortgage, rent, and loan repayment, all made possible by credit card companies making this option available.
The report provides projections for B2C electronic bills generated across all major geographic markets, including the United States, Canada, Europe, and the rest of the world, by looking at the opportunities and challenges in the market place, as well as the major players providing the services.
The payment market is going to see more changes as wearable technology and the Internet of Things (IoT) becomes part of the ecosystem. Whether it is smartwatches, mobile wallets or biometric technology, the days of using cash are numbered.
Edited by Adam Brandt