Can you put a definition on 'Alternative Payments'?

Jeremy posted a very inspiring writing on alternative payments, questioning himself how Alternative Payments have evolved and whether there is a proper definition for it.

As I promised to try to give him (and all of you) this definition I started thinking about it. Alternative payments...

What is alternative? According to the Cambridge Dictionary the adjective "alternative"  describes things that are considered to be unusual and which often have a small but enthusiastic group of people who support them. What do you think of in the world of payments when you hear this definition of "alternative"?

And what do you think of? Yes you... the reader from the States. And what about you? Uhu... indeed, I am asking you, Mr. Japanese Business Man...

Do you all see where I am going to? I guess you can make a general definition of the term 'Alternative Payments' but I don't think you can just collect payment methods under this general term. Why not? Because it is different depending on the payments culture of the region and the population you are living in.

Mobile Payments for example are still to become popular in Belgium, but in Japan it is common business. To me that means you can bring Mobile Payments under in the collection of alternative payments in Belgium, but you cannot do that in Japan, because everyone uses it already.

Same goes for authentication methods. In Belgium it is all about PIN-codes, while in South Africa biometrics can be used at many ATMs already (which is not-done in Belgium at the moment). This means it is alternative in Belgium (or even not-done ;)), but is isn't in South Africa.

When I googled 'alternative payments' I found an interesting article talking about the same topic, called 'Alternative Payments: More Ways to Close the Sale'. They still talk about checks, ACH, credit cards and debit cards as the primary means of payments for customers. And that is correct for (I guess) the American Market he is talking about. You could say the European as well. They give merchants alternatives for their customers to make payments.

Examples are: PayPall, Bill Me Later, Revolution Card and TrialPay for example. To them online payments are part of alternative payments. Of course I don't know the stats on the usage of all these payment channels, but I guess online payments are becoming less and less alternative.

Same goes for Mobile Payments in Africa. Africans who do not have a bank account can use mobile phone to share money and to do business. This results is a payment method that is alternative in Europe and United States for example, but it is a proper mainstream payment method for at least some regions in Africa thanks to M-PESA.

So I don't think you can say Alternative Payments are payments by credit card, debit cards, direct debit and credit transfer, because it misses one crucial dimension: a context or place where the payment takes place.

Definition of 'Alternative Payments' to me is simple, thanks to the Cambridge Dictionary: It is a payment method that is considered to be unusual and which has a small but enthousiastic group os people who support them."

For all of those who were expecting a list of alternative payments methods I am sorry to disseapoint you, but this definition also offer opportunities. Why? Because an Alternative Payment method could be marketed mainstream in one region before launching it as an alternative in another region, but without child deseases ;)