Blockchain could reduce fees for retailers

The study from Juniper Research, a FinTech and payments analyst, claims retailers who implement blockchain will benefit from increased standardisation for payment processing and a substantially lower risk of error, including double spend.

As a result, processes will be more secure and less costly. “This in turn would allow money transfer companies to become more competitive, reduce fees to end users and thereby experience high usage volumes,” the report states.

The study suggests that with retailers increasingly offering localised payment mechanisms and friction at checkout reduced by stored credentials, migration from offline to online is likely to accelerate.

Money transfer is expected to be a key growth area, bolstered by the rapid expansion and adoption of social payments. Consumer spend on digital commerce is forecast to reach $14.7 trillion (£10.9 trillion) by 2022, up 60% on last year’s figure of $9.2 trillion (£6.9 trillion).