Mobile Payments: How Speed Became A Winning Edge (and Taught Me About "The Winning Edge Concept")
Money transactions become frequent nowadays and paying electronically has become new norms now. Cards became outdated and UPI became the most favourite mode of payment in India. For those who don't have any idea about UPI, it's Unified Payment Interface created to make the transactions hassle-free.
As a user of major 3 UPI apps for almost more than 3 years and also tried 3 core banks UPI solutions, I have seen some advantages in UPI apps. The common advantages are adding multiple accounts and internal transfer between the added accounts are simple and easy.
But one of the competitive advantage I noticed is their speed. The UPI apps QR recognition speed is much faster than the core banks UPI l interfaces. One might think what difference it would make if it is just a few seconds.
Let me take an example, In a country like India, if you are standing in a queue, in a shop or in a gas station, it would usually be a long one. The time taken by each individual to complete the transaction matters here and the longer the time, the more people behind us frustrates. I have experienced it multiple times and what I noticed in those situations were, the UPI apps worked better and faster than the core banking apps. Even if we scan a part of the QR code, the apps recognise it immediately and the transactions would be smooth.
You may wonder why I have explained these experiences in detail. Just to make sure how a small competitive advantage can give enormous results. Unbeknownst to me, the speed advantage of UPI apps made me switch completely from bank apps direct UPI solutions to dedicated UPI apps for all my mobile payments. I didn't even realised it.
Recently I came across the "Winning Edge Concept" and I think it would be one of the best personal examples I encountered. A small difference in speed made me use those apps (which I have been using multiple times a day).
I have searched the internet for any articles or case study to judge my experience whether it's an isolated incident for me or common for all. But haven't seen any bench mark tests to check the QR code scan speed. So the perspective is from my personal experience. If you know any case study, please share it with me or comment the links.
There is a zen thought "Every encounter is a teacher" and I think I learned a valuable lesson from my own experience. I hope sharing my experience may teach you something and please share your thoughts or your own experience if you encounter any.
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