Just recently, I shared a few digital marketing trends for 2016 which I think will be important. In that article, I didn’t have enough room to talk about another trend, that of mobile payments. This is another trend that will be on the rise in 2016.

As they sound, mobile payments are ones that you can make through your smartphone, using an application. Some well known mobile payment systems are Paypal Here, Google Wallet, ApplePay, Samsung Pay, and now LG is also releasing its own mobile payment system. You might also be familiar with other mobile payment systems like Stripe and Square Cash. While the acceptance of mobile payments continues to rise, the adoption of this form of payment in small to medium size businesses is only about 32%. For retail businesses especially, they may need to respond to customer demand to accept mobile forms of payment.

If you are considering adding mobile payment options to your small-medium size business, here are a few things to be aware of.

First- recognize that there are many services in the space, and more are coming online each day. It can get confusing to compare various terms and conditions, but be sure to do that, as service charge rates can vary, and some options may be more advantageous if you run a high card volume.

Second- make sure your point-of-sale (POS) systems are updated too. You may need to update your point-of-sale system to accept contactless payments. Ask your issuing bank for more details.

Third- make sure your invoicing system can keep up with mobile payments. This may be a good time to upgrade your online billing and invoicing systems if you’re a little bit behind the times here. Spending time and money now to upgrade can make it much easier for you to keep aware of your money.

Fourth- be aware of the required protocol for each form of mobile payment you accept. Some will require a pin number from the customer, some will require you to enter the transaction amount. Know what is required, and, also, the procedure for managing declined or failed payments.

Fifth- be aware that security is still an issue. While some have said that digital wallets are safer than physical wallets, neither is 100% secure. Mobile payment systems can still be breached.

As with anything new, it might take some time to get used to this new payment method. But if the trends and forecasting data hold true, more and more of your customers will be looking for mobile payment options in the upcoming year.