If there is any certainty in today’s digital-payments arena, it’s that change is sweeping through the business at an ever-increasing pace.
Just look at how the business has evolved over the past 30 years or so. In the 1980s, we were talking about the migration of debit cards from ATMs to the point of sale. Years later, we began to see the first glimmers of chip cards, online banking, and e-commerce. A short time later came mobile payments, the U.S. EMV rollout, Bitcoin, and buy buttons. And, barely on the heels of these developments, we’re starting to see the emergence of wearable payments as part of the celebrated Internet of Things.
A faster rate of change makes it harder for those who have to buy, deploy, and manage technology to keep abreast. Yet investing wisely is more crucial than ever, since one wrong bet or one botched deployment can cost millions.
Here at Digital Transactions, we like to think we make your decisions a little easier. Our goal is to produce journalism that keeps you informed not only about current developments but also those that are emerging and could have an impact. That’s a big part of the reason why we produce this Buyers’ Guide. We feel so strongly about the importance of the information in this Guide that each year we devote the entirety of our August issue to it.
You see, the Guide serves as a handy supplement to the information and analysis we’re bringing you all year in the other 11 issues of Digital Transactions. After all, this business is driven not just by technology, but by the firms that develop and market that technology. And here in one place you can find the information you need to stay in touch with those firms and so stay in touch with the pulse of change.
If you read in Digital Transactions or Digital Transactions News about a company introducing, testing, or marketing a solution that looks just right for your bank, store, or processing operation, but you’re not sure, there’s no better way to make certain than to call or email the company to find out. This Guide gives you the universe of those providers and the keys you need to get further information.
As always, please don’t hesitate to stay in touch with us. My email address is below my signature at the bottom of this column. You can reach our publisher, Bob Jenisch, any time at bob@digitaltransactions.net. We’d both like to hear from you when you have a question, suggestion, complaint—or a correction to anything in this Guide or any other issue of the magazine.
—John Stewart, Editor, john@digitaltransactions.net