The future of mobile payments in Denmark: Can Swipp consolidate a strong position in the industry?

Abstract

The aim of the thesis was to investigate and understand the drivers of a fast evolving industry with an important focus on consumer behavior and attitudes towards mobile payments. In 2013, Danske Bank launched MobilePay, which instantly became a major success. Unlike MobilePay, Swipp as a second mover has struggled to gain the same levels of success in the mobile payment industry. Even though Swipp share many similarities with MobilePay, the products is still to experience a significant amount of success. Our research is theoretically based on the industry life cycle to provide a snapshot of the industry’s level of maturity, Porters Five Forces analysis to investigate significant factors within the mobile payment industry, and generic strategies analysis with the intent to provide a competitor with factual and explicit recommendations, in our case; Swipp. Mobile payments belongs in a new industry with ties to the payment market. However, mobile payments involves many different industries, making the new industry very cross industrial. Enabled by the technology, mobile payments is argued to play, a so far, undefined part of future markets. Not necessarily limited to the retail industry where MobilePay has shown great interest but any industries characterized by a large amount of monetary transactions as the most important factor. The new and rapid development of the industry was experienced to be a factor of public available academic research. The limited theory on the topic combined with our findings also indicates that mobile payments needs to include better buying experience, lower perceived risk and simplicity for consumers, if the new payment alternative should be acknowledge at the same level as other payment methods. Three expert interviews provided the basics for two focus groups, which then led to a questionnaire distributed through Facebook, LinkedIn and the newsletter of LO Plus providing the thesis with a satisfying and comprehensive amount of primary data, only optimizing reliability of the thesis. The intention of the analysis was to provide Swipp with strategy identifying the most important factors, when trying to be a competitive competitor in the market. The most important findings were: 1) Develop a separate Swipp application, which is not located in the mobile bank application 2) Enablement of all potential consumers, by integrating credit and debit card into the application, 3) Provide an integration opportunity with loyalty programs and company specific discount schemes, 4) Providing tangible benefits, such as discounts, time savings or personalized offers in purchase situations through integration of loyalty programs, 5) Make sure to target a The First Mover segment, 6) Explore industries that has not been targeted yet, such as the clothing or the transportation industry, 7) Be a first mover in product development or be a more cost efficient follower, 8) Create a platform ensuring fast and rapid product feedback since consumer experience and satisfaction is essential in the mobile payment industry.