Traditionally, sending and receiving remittance payments has been a tedious process. With services only being available at certain times during the day, accessibility is very limited; for those living in rural areas with a lack of financial services, this process is made even more difficult. Tackling this issue, fintech specialist Tranglo has expanded its cross-border payments network.

Following the expansion, Tranglo will offer instant and direct transfers to more than 30 e-wallets. These e-wallets stay open 24/7, meaning that those who have wanted to transfer money outside of the traditional business hours now have the flexibility to do so.

The service will build upon Tranglo’s existing offering Tranglo Connect. Financial institutions and businesses can pay using its proprietary cross-border payments solution. It integrates payout and partner services with direct API connectivity.  Furthermore, with Tranglo Connect, companies can make payments to over 80 countries reliably and securely.

The new offering will be made available in:

• Bangladesh
• Cambodia
• China
• Indonesia
• Nepal
• Pakistan
• The Philippines
• Vietnam

More countries to be announced.

Perks of digital wallets

Tranglo Group CEO, Jacky Lee said: “Our data shows that cross-border transactions to e-wallets have doubled since 2021. Across the board, eWallet payouts are outpacing banking channels this year, with some corridors, like GCC to Pakistan, experiencing a surge of nearly 400 per cent in transactions.”

“It’s all about helping businesses create more value. For example, one of our biggest partners in the UAE saw an eight-fold increase in transactions to Pakistan and Indonesia after adding our eWallet payout service. The growth opportunity presented by eWallet cannot be overstated.”

Digital wallets have experienced exponential growth, especially after the pandemic. Valued at $9.55billion in 2023, the global e-wallet market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 28 per cent. Asia Pacific has the largest share by region at 32.3 per cent. By 2026, more than 60 per cent of the world’s population will use an e-wallet.

SurePay, the IBAN-name check provider, confirmation of payee (CoP) and verification of payee (VoP) to over 100 banks, has expanded its services following a strategic agreement with Swift, the messaging network, and the integration of Swift’s payment pre-validation service.

By collaborating with Swift, SurePay can now service banks on a domestic, pan-European and global scale, boosting the security of their financial transactions. SurePay’s VoP name-matching solution will operate domestically and cross-border, hoping to empower European, British and global banks to pre-validate international payments.

SurePay offers real-time verification of IBAN and beneficiary names based on live data sources to validate key payment information before initiating a transaction. It developed the service to help PSPs add a crucial layer of verification and risk mitigation to financial transactions.

Swift’s payment pre-validation service with Beneficiary Account Verification complements this capability, taking SurePay’s services to a global level.

Bridget Meijer, manager of new markets and partnerships at SurePay, explained the benefits the partnership could help it offer: “At SurePay, we’re committed to having the technology in place to protect our customers from fraud, misdirected payments, and unnecessary and costly friction.

“Swift’s strategy to enable instant and frictionless payments and SurePay’s commitment to providing the best-in-class name-matching solution make for a powerful partnership. We look forward to continuing our mission and journey globally alongside Swift.”

SurePay will leverage Swift’s extensive network of 11,500 institutions across more than 200 countries to bring the benefits of its enhanced VoP service to a broader European and global audience.

Ensuring interoperability between CoP systems

Thomas Peeters, head of Benelux, Nordics and Baltics at Swift, explained: “Simple mistakes are the cause of huge delays in cross-border payments. Swift’s payment pre-validation solution utilises local CoP/VoP responses and the pseudonymised and aggregated data from across our network to ensure beneficiary information is correct before a payment is executed.

“With Europe adopting instant payments regulation that includes a requirement to pre-validate beneficiary account information, interoperability between CoP systems is a simple way to maintain compliance and ensure the smooth and scalable flow of pan-European and cross-border payments.”

SurePay customer Rabobank is one of the PSPs that has already integrated Swift’s solution into its Confirmation of Payee system to enable foreign banks to pre-validate payment data.

Ton Versteeg, specialist payments/market infrastructures at Rabobank, also commented: “As a member of the Payment Pre-validation community, we at Rabobank understand the value we can bring as a data provider on the service.

“We’ve integrated Swift’s solution into our existing domestic Confirmation of Payee system, SurePay, to help banks beyond our borders pre-validate if their payment data is correct. Doing so greatly expands the impact that domestic systems can have in tackling fraud and reducing cross-border transaction friction and operational costs.”

Sumsub, a global full-cycle verification and compliance provider, has completed the integration of its Travel Rule solution with Binance, the crypto exchange platform, through the Global Travel Rule (GTR) Alliance.

Sumsub hopes to support Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), financial institutions, and fintech companies involved in crypto transactions in validating transaction data when working with Binance, via the integration.

The new integrated solution will look to provide access to a large ecosystem of Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) who are participants of Sumsub Travel Rule ecosystem, as well as financial institutions and fintech companies involved in crypto transactions to ensure secure transaction data validation when dealing with Binance entities which in total encompass over 183 million users.

By leveraging Sumsub’s crypto expertise and cutting-edge technologies, the companies are building interoperability to address the so-called sunrise issue, which is the biggest challenge in the crypto compliance space – namely, that the counterparties are not reachable due to the fact that not all VASPs become obliged to adhere to the Travel Rule requirements.

Steve Christie, deputy chief compliance officer at Binance, commented: “Global Travel Rule Alliance is an exciting step forward in solidifying our international compliance efforts.

“We’re particularly enthusiastic about the ability it gives us to consolidate our efforts globally, moving past the challenge of fragmented regional integrations. This move doesn’t just bring us into alignment with FATF’s global standards – it’s about proactively providing our extensive user base with the assurance that their data and transactions are secure. This alliance amplifies the trust, security, and transparency that our users can expect at Binance.”

With a focus on global interoperability, regulatory assurance, and market credibility, the partnership is a giant step towards ensuring streamlined and interconnected cryptocurrency transactions.

Ensuring interoperability in the crypto space

Founded in 2017, Binance has been among Sumsub’s clients since 2021. In March 2023, Sumsub benchmarked the crypto industry by launching its protocol-agnostic Travel Rule solution, offering a full compliance toolkit across the whole customer lifecycle.

Jacob Sever, co-founder and chief innovation officer at Sumsub, explained the importance of the development: “Integrating with Global Travel Rule Alliance is a significant milestone for us, underscoring the importance of collaboration in the crypto space. The integration of the GTR protocol with Sumsub’s Travel Rule solution is a major advancement in ensuring interoperability and addressing the sunrise issue.

“By enabling seamless interaction between members of both ecosystems, this partnership not only enhances the infrastructure of the global crypto ecosystem but also fosters trust both within and outside the industry. Looking forward, Sumsub is empowered to work toward natively integrating other protocols into its Travel Rule solution in the future.”

In October 2023, Sumsub analysed over 800,000 fraud attempts and millions of verification checks within the crypto sector between 2022 and 2023 and surveyed over 100 crypto companies. It released its findings in its ‘State of Verification and Monitoring in the Crypto Industry 2023‘ report. According to its findings, Travel Rule remains one of the two main challenges for crypto companies worldwide, the other one being more advanced fraud methods such as AI-generated deepfakes.

When SMEs look to trade abroad, they can often find themselves facing management challenges when it comes to organising and ensuring all their accounts in different regions are accurate and working as they should. Looking to alleviate this issue in the UK, WorldFirst, a one-stop digital payment and financial services platform for global businesses, has launched a new e-commerce growth solution.

Called the World Account, the new solution by the payments platform specifically focused on SMEs in international trade brings down the costs associated with making an international transfer for UK firms. Typically these costs which span compliance, FX and payment operations account for two to three per cent of the value of a transfer.

However, with the World Account this is reduced to less than 0.75 per cent, according to WorldFirst industry analysis. This helps SMEs boost their margins to sustain long-term business growth.

Untapped opportunity in cross-border e-commerce

Global trade is expected to grow by 3.3 per cent this year and retail e-commerce sales are expected to grow 8.8 per cent over the same period.

However, in the UK, the Office for National Statistics’ most recent Annual Business Survey of Exporters and Importers revealed that just over one in every 10 UK businesses (11.4 per cent) are involved in exporting. This is a number that had only risen by 0.7 per cent in the preceding three years. When polled by a UK bank, 80 per cent of businesses agreed that exporting is critical to their business’ future.

Bruce Ding, general manager of WorldFirst International Business, notes: “Against this backdrop, there’s an excellent opportunity for many more UK SMEs to tap into the opportunities of international trade. Despite the complexities involved in cross-border e-commerce, with the support of external partners like us, we’re seeing SMEs are increasingly optimistic about the opportunities presented by exporting overseas.”

In 2022, the total cross-border e-commerce market in Europe, including the United Kingdom, amounted to a turnover of €265billion (excluding travel). Of this total, €167billion, or 63 per cent, was generated by marketplaces. However, European countries are falling behind compared to those across South America and Asia, where multiple markets have seen significant growth in e-commerce sales, according to eMarketer.

Younger generations drive cross-border e-commerce

WorldFirst finds that more than 50 per cent of sellers using its cross-border e-commerce solution are Gen Z or Millennials. This suggests these generations of business leaders are more aware of global e-commerce opportunities.

Ding adds: “Consumers are increasingly buying directly through SMEs’ websites, online marketplaces and social media platforms. This means people are purchasing from businesses located across the globe without even realising they’re doing so. Younger business owners have spotted this opportunity to run their independent e-commerce stores or set up fronts on global e-marketplaces.”

However, challenges, ranging from the complexity in international payment and foreign exchange, payment fraud, and hidden service charges, still put away aspiring business owners, threat survival of start-ups and undermine durability of existing businesses.

To help solve these challenges, UK SMEs can streamline international operations by partnering with external vendors. UK business owners can open a World Account within minutes to be able to trade like a local around the world. The account supports payment collection with 14 local or cross-border accounts and pay-out in more than 40 currencies to over 130 countries and regions. WorldFirst’s extensive partnerships with key e-commerce platforms facilitate seamless cross-border transactions.

WorldFirst has a strong track record in driving growth in e-commerce for SMEs. WorldFirst is the top payment service firm by transaction volume for China-based e-commerce businesses which sell on international e-marketplaces, such as Amazon and Lazada. In January 2024, new customer acquisition by WorldFirst in South-east Asia increased 16 times and the overall transaction volume of its customers in the region grew by 90 per cent on year.

EIS, the SaaS platform provider to the insurance industry, has launched ‘ClaimSmart’, a new cloud solution designed to help insurers reduce the cost of claims, while increasing the quality of the customer experience.

EIS ClaimSmart aims to reduce the cost of claims, by addressing key inefficiencies and waste drivers, such as redundant manual work, fraudulent claims, and claims leakage. In addition, its versatile and unified digital front-end portal ensures insurers can deliver fully digital customer experiences that prioritise self-service, cut friction, and make the full life cycle more consumer-friendly and flexible.

Alec Miloslavsky, CEO of EIS, also said: “Claims platforms are in desperate need of transformation. They’re bogged down by manual tasks and ineffective processes that not only drive up costs but also degrade customer experiences. In response, we’ve developed ClaimSmart to address these challenges head-on.

“Engineered to streamline operational tasks, ClaimSmart significantly alleviates tedious administration and enhances the digital front-end experience for customers. It ensures rapid processing of legitimate claims while minimising claim leakage and the risk of fraud.

“This is a crucial expansion to our offerings, integrating ML and AI to enhance our platform’s capabilities and deliver a comprehensive end-to-end claim management solution.”

The launch of ClaimSmart represents a significant leap forward for EIS and an advancement in its expertise in data science. It lays the groundwork for a comprehensive data science (DS) suite of solutions, enhancing automation and efficiency across the insurance sector. The integration of DS methodologies is pivotal in developing algorithms that can analyse patterns, make predictions, and ultimately drive smarter, more efficient operations in the insurance industry.

‘Embracing the transformative potential of data science’

Atsushi Wada, claim department team manager at Tokio Marine, a Japan-based insurance holding company, commented: “We’re proud to be one of ClaimSmart’s first users. It’s helping to revolutionise our claims management process for both customers and employees. Inefficient and costly systems and processes have been transformed, delivering faster resolutions, increased customer satisfaction, and large-scale operational savings.”

ClaimSmart is core-agnostic, enabling it to integrate seamlessly with most policy and claims management systems. When paired with ClaimCore, EIS’s existing claims system, ClaimSmart’s combined capabilities offer a holistic solution that accelerates claim resolution and delivers a customised and seamless experience for insurers and policyholders.

ClaimSmart includes two products, ClaimPulse and ClaimGuard. ClaimPulse introduces a new level of efficiency and technological sophistication by utilising digital first notice of loss, an automated claims processing layer, and an integrated front-end digital portal.

ClaimGuard is an AI and ML solution specialising in fraud detection and risk scoring that enhances the security and integrity of the claims process, and improves over time as it processes more claims.

“With ClaimSmart, we’re embracing the transformative potential of data science to revolutionise insurance claims management. Our commitment to data fluidity, intelligence, and extensibility is crucial as we assist insurers in building their future ecosystems,” explained Miloslavsky. “As we continue to evolve our platform and collaborate with various insurtechs, our goal remains to deliver the best possible claims management outcomes, setting new standards in the industry.”

Form3, the cloud-native account-to-account platform, has launched a new authorised push payment fraud (APP fraud) prevention solution, powered by Feedzai, the anti-fraud and financial crime software provider.

The new product from Form3 and Feedzai is built using fully supervised machine learning, leveraging collaborative intelligence to understand the behaviour of both the payment sender and recipient, to determine the risk of the payment being made in real-time.

Form3’s new APP Fraud solution combines its account-to-account payment processing with Feedzai’s fraud and financial crime analytics, to create a model that identifies risk in both the individual sending the money and the person receiving the money. Understanding who is receiving the money is key to preventing fraud, as APP fraud involves impersonation that manipulates the victim into sending the money.

This new solution closes the gaps in intelligence that the fraudsters utilise to be able to use faster payments to target UK consumers and businesses. The solution’s model is then able to detect 95 per cent of fraud at market-standard false positive rates.

Mike Walters, CEO of Form3, commented: “The best way to tackle the rise of APP fraud is the use of collaborative intelligence and cutting-edge technologies that allow the real-time identification of scams within the payment message.

“By bringing together Form3’s payment processing expertise, and Feedzai’s fraud and financial crime solutions, we can tackle APP fraud so that UK banks can make faster payments safer. Feedzai is the solution provider of choice for two of the top four financial institutions in the UK, so we are partnering with a market leader to combat APP fraud.”

A £500million problem

Recognising that APP fraud losses account for nearly £500million per year, Form3 developed this new solution on the back of new regulation from the Payment Systems Regulator. This sees APP fraud victims given refunds by their bank from October 2024, with reimbursement now the responsibility of both the sending and the receiving institutions.

Pedro Barata, CPO at Feedzai, also added: “There is increasing regulation in this space, and rightly so – we’ve got to do everything in our power to protect the end consumer from APP fraud. With reimbursement becoming mandatory from October this year, it’s also in the interests of all banks to collectively ensure they prevent fraud and save huge payouts.

“By combining the expertise of Feedzai and Form3, we can drastically reduce the level of vulnerability in the payment process and give our customers the real-time intelligence that they need to stop fraudsters in their tracks.”

The partnership underscores Form3’s commitment to ‘doing well by doing good’, by employing technology to tackle the pervasive issue of fraud, which has profoundly impacted countless individuals worldwide.

The service will go live in April, with a full rollout in the UK market expected in the summer of 2024 – ahead of the implementation of the new rules in October 2024.

Qonto, the European business finance solution, has launched a new in-house financing solution, ‘Pay later’, extending its product offering and strengthening its market leadership as the most advanced business banking offer.

Leveraging its existing payment service licence, Qonto is providing short-term financing in the form of ‘Pay later’, which gives eligible customers instant access to funds of up to €10,000, directly from the Qonto app.

Once approved, the funds are instantly available on the customer’s Qonto account, via the buy now, pay later solution, paid back alongside a 1.17 per cent per month interest rate. The repayment period begins 30 days after the invoice purchase, repaid in three automatic instalments over 90 days.

This launch signposts a new milestone for the company, which has so far relied on strategic partnerships to provide financing to its customers. The launch of Pay later marks another step in Qonto’s ambition to become the business finance solution of choice for one million European SMEs and freelancers by the end of 2025.

Alexandre Prot, CEO and co-founder of Qonto, commented: “Offering our first in-house financing solution is a big milestone for Qonto – and our customers. Our goal is to offer European SMEs and freelancers everything they need to seamlessly manage their business finances, from an online business account to invoicing, bookkeeping, spend management and, of course, financing.

“There is a real need for financing among European businesses, and we’re proud to offer a comprehensive solution with Pay later and our financing platform. The launch of Pay later brings us one significant step closer to our goal of becoming the business finance solution of choice for one million European SMEs and freelancers by the end of 2025.”

The new solution is accessible from Qonto’s mobile and web apps and complements the financing platform Qonto launched in 2023 through strategic partnerships, giving customers access to a comprehensive range of financing solutions that dispense amounts up to €10million.

Improving access to finance across Europe

In 2023, Qonto launched the Qonto financing platform across all four of its markets (France, Germany, Italy and Spain). Over the past year, almost 8,000 projects have already been financed for a total amount of almost €60million.

By launching this short-term financing offer, Qonto aims to provide businesses with increased financing options that respond to the very different needs of its customers. Its new Pay later offer complements existing offers from partners (Defacto, Silvr, Karmen, Edebex, and Riverbank in France; Faicredit and Viceversa in Italy; and Defacto, Kintai and Bankable in Spain) on the financing platform.

According to the European Commission, ensuring access to finance is one of the major challenges faced by European SMEs. In 2023, 21 per cent of SMEs reported ‘problems with financing’ as a main challenge for their business.

A Qonto report on the state of European SMEs, published at the end of 2023, shows similar results: 23 per cent of surveyed SMEs felt ‘pessimistic’ or ‘very pessimistic’ about their access to financing in 2024. Qonto’s ambition is to always meet its customers’ evolving needs and demands. With the launch of Pay later, Qonto aims to address the increasing need for SME financing in France, Italy and Spain.

Viva.com, Europe’s technology bank for payments powering card acceptance in 24 markets, has launched ‘Merchant Advance’; a new credit solution looking to solve critical cashflow issues for thousands of businesses across Europe, helping them invest in growth.

Viva’s Merchant Advance looks to offer transparent capital to businesses, based on merchant acquiring data. Loan disbursement is instant, to help businesses of any size or type immediately access capital for growth.

Merchant Advance by Viva.com is currently available in Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, and Spain, with more European countries of operation following soon.

Yannis Larios, senior VP of strategy and business development at Viva.com, explained: “Having access to reliable and flexible capital is critically important for growing businesses, but for millions of European merchants, it’s a real struggle to find the right solution.

“Traditional capital providers, and even newer market entrants, have to vet businesses properly, which results in time-consuming processes before any decision is made.”

While other capital providers can force businesses into lengthy application processes, Viva’s Merchant Advance leverages the merchant’s payment history with Viva.com – enabling access to near-instant capital with no fuss.

The new credit solution boasts smart prescoring, based on advanced payments data analysis for each business; as well as fast access to capital, charged with a single explained fixed fee.

It also offers a flexible automated repayment process via a percentage of daily card sales; no late payment fees; as well as a fully digital process with no collateral or other commitments.

Supporting business growth ‘without restrictions’

Merchant Advance is the latest inclusion in Viva.com’s market-leading digital payments bundle, a collection of integrated services that combine to power all businesses across Europe. From acquiring and issuing to business accounts and tailored financing, Viva.com’s solutions help businesses grow without limits.

“Viva’s Merchant Advance changes the game, allowing our customers instant access to working capital based on smart prescoring. This allows us to offer instant, flexible and transparent capital that they can use to grow without restrictions. Merchant Advance is the latest addition to our product suite, built to solve payment issues for businesses of all shapes and sizes,” added Larios.

The new Viva credit solution will be provided through a range of leading financial partners.

Viva.com is Europe’s first technology bank for payments, powering card acceptance across 24 countries and over 985 devices. With an ECB-approved banking licence and physical presence in 24 European markets, Viva’s ‘Tap on Any Device’ for in-store payments, smart checkout for online payments, and marketplace payment solution, help European businesses of any size to accept and manage payments how they want.

Softpay, the tap-to-phone solution has become the first firm of its kind to accept BankAxept, the leading card scheme in Norway, as part of its advanced payment solutions – to ensure fast and secure transactions for both merchants and customers.

During the pilot phase, through successful partnerships with Plantasjen, Kristiansand Dyrepark among others, the integration of the Softpay technology with the payment scheme from BankAxept demonstrated high effectiveness.

BankAxept has become hugely important to the Norwegian economy, facilitating a significant portion of in-store transactions with its cost-effective and widely accepted payment system. The integration with Softpay enables merchants across Norway to access fast, secure, and versatile payment options, enhancing the customer experience.

With Softpay, merchants can use an Android device to accept BankAxept cards in-store, at pop-up locations, or for deliveries, providing mobility and reducing transaction costs.  Softpay is already used successfully by both small merchants including local hairdressers or restaurants and by enterprise and global merchants such as fashion, health and beauty, and sports retailers.

‘Merchants are going for more software-based solutions’

Halvor Kaafjeld, head of Softpay in Norway, commented: “Although we will probably see the traditional payment terminal in the market for quite some time to come, it is clear that the trend is towards merchants going for more software-based solutions where they no longer need the physical payment terminal.

“Many of the Norwegian cash register systems are already integrated with Softpay so that the user site can easily get started with running both cash register and payment applications on one and the same device.

“Not surprisingly, we experience great demand for BankAxept, which is a very cost-effective, secure and fast payment method. This is super good news for all existing customers and not least for those who are dying to get started but have been waiting for this to come into place.

“I would also like to add that all of us from Softpay who have been involved in the project are very satisfied with the project implementation. It has been a pleasure to work with both BankAxept and BITS and we look forward to a further good partnership with BankAxept.”

Softpay’s platform supports various acquirers, card schemes, and digital wallets, including Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay.

Payments are arguably the face of fintech. When you think about financial technology, it is easy to think about solutions which are making payments faster, easier and more accessible.

As our paytech monthly topic concludes we heard from the industry about the future and what new trends will impact the paytech world. We take a retrospective look and investigate which payment technologies have shaped the industry into its current iteration.

Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) has taken the payments world by storm

Different age groups are very quickly adopting BNPL explains Rich Bayer, UK country manager, Clearpay, the BNPL provider: “The growth of BNPL as a preferred payment option is one of the most significant shifts retail payments has seen in the last five years – and the trend is set to continue.

“Clearpay’s latest Oxford Economics report revealed that nearly one in three UK consumers used BNPL over the 12 months ending August 2023, with this figure rising to 41 per cent and 36 per cent respectively among Gen X and Millennials.

“This data, coupled with the fact that Boomers were the payment method’s fastest growing group of users last year, demonstrates that it’s no longer accurate to think of BNPL as a product just for Gen Z and Millennials.”

Digital wallets are usurping other payment types

For James Fry, senior vice president strategic expansion, WorldPay, the payment processor, digital wallets have been the most disruptive payment technology in the past five years. He explains that more retailers will expand their offerings to include them as time goes on.

“Without a doubt, digital wallets have had the most profound impact on payments in the past five years. According to The Global Payments Report, digital wallets have usurped other payments types for both e-commerce and at the point of sale (representing 49 per cent and 32 per cent market share respectively) showing how truly disruptive the technology has been.

“Not only that, but these payment methods also continue to be the fastest growing with forecasted rates of 12 per cent and 15 per cent CAGR for ecom and POS. As consumer preferences drive this space, I would expect more retailers to expand their offerings to enable digital wallet and contactless experiences for their customers. The message from consumers is clear: they desire the seamless and fast experiences digital wallets and contactless payments offer.”

It’s not just technology that has been setting trends, but the companies using it

Bonnie Green, solutions architect, Shieldpay, the payments solutions provider, looks towards Stripe as a trendsetter for the payments industry, identifying the fintech’s success and how others should learn from it.

“Undoubtedly, the payments industry has evolved and grown substantially over the past five years, with some extraordinary advancements in the underlying technology powering payments. A core player in this space is Stripe. Their streamlined setup, seamless integration, and user-friendly solutions have become the hallmark of its success and have set high standards for the industry.

“I think we should particularly call out Stripe’s remarkable integration capabilities and APIs. Their unique scaling strategy via the developer community with simple, easy-to-deploy coding has led to the company establishing a prolific global footprint.

“With this, it is also important to touch on the pivotal role they have played in establishing an internationalised financial infrastructure. In 2024, we will see an industry-wide focus on cross-border transactions. The early pioneers of paytech, such as Stripe, have been pivotal to setting up a strong core capability, and have set the industry up for success for a new era of global payment transformation.”

Software-driven and self-service solutions hold the crown for the biggest impact

Peter O’Halloran, VP and head of enterprise and digital commerce EMEA, Fiserv, the fintech and payments solutions provider, notes the impact in terms of accessibility and seamlessness that software-driven and self-service solutions have had the biggest impact on the payments market.

“The shift towards software-driven and self-service solutions has been the most impactful development in the past five years. Customers and merchants alike are no longer restricted to fixed tills, which can result in frustrating queues and lost sales for merchants. Being able to accept payments anywhere in-store or even at the fuel court where customers can pay at the pump, has been made possible through smart devices using softPoS solutions.

“We know that customers are also increasingly wanting to pay quickly on their own terms. Merchants investing in unattended self–service options have paved the way– with customers using vending machines, for example, able to make contactless payments from their phones.

“With convenience and flexibility enabled by these solutions, the checkout experience has been entirely redefined for merchants and consumers.”

Straight-through payments

Pat Bermingham, CEO, Adflex, the B2B digital payment processor, explains how straight-through payments have shaped the market in the last five years, look at how processes have evolved.

“In the B2B world, straight-through payments (STP) have changed the game. Five years ago, accounts payable teams would typically call suppliers to provide card numbers for payment. This wasn’t efficient, and huge delays could be incurred by businesses using this approach. However, STP has flipped the B2B payments process on its head.

“STP enables real-time commercial card payments and puts power in the hands of buyers, rather than suppliers. Buyers can automatically ‘push’ payments to suppliers, increasing security and control, speeding up payments and significantly improving supplier relationships that are crucial to better business. It also removes burdensome PCI DSS compliance from the process by automating manual processes.

“Do not underestimate the impact STP has in a B2B payment landscape worth trillions. It helps boost organisations’ ability to conduct business at scale and can support automatic transaction splitting to execute large ticket transactions.

“STP significantly enhances the ability to perform prompt payment, in line with growing regulations. Prompt payments mean a healthier cash flow, something that is vital for businesses of all sizes, but particular SMEs. As more businesses adopt STP, expect to see it further level the B2B payment playing field by reducing barriers to faster payment.”

Tap-to-Pay technology has transformed terminal accessibility

Tap-on-phone and tap-to-pay have revolutionised POS terminals, enabling greater accessibility for payments explains  George Sinanis, COO, Viva.com, European cloud-based neobank.

“The chorus has been growing from merchants seeking out more affordable and flexible alternatives to legacy POS hardware for some time now. But in the last year alone we’ve seen how Tap-on-Phone or Tap-to-Pay technology, which transforms smartphones into terminals, has truly met this need.

“The technology represents a new era of simple, convenient and flexible payment acceptance for merchants. Not to mention the financial benefits that come from reduced infrastructure investment and maintenance costs and boosted sales opportunities. Whether it’s a sole trader, Black Cab driver or a food truck owner, Tap-on-Phone has enabled smaller merchants to set up their business and simply start taking cashless payment on-site or on-the-go, anywhere their customer is.

“That said, we’re seeing from our own customers that demand isn’t limited to small merchants, with mid-sized retailers and restaurants also identifying use cases to streamline the in-store customer experience and reduce costs. Tap-on-Phone technology will continue to be a powerful tool for a range of merchants as they strive to stay competitive and deliver a premium experience to customers.”

Simplicity comes from using your phone as a payment point

Andrew Doyle, CEO, NorthRow, the AML Software-as-a-Service company, explains how different technologies have enabled a better end-user experience, looking at the rise in mobile payment and blockchain.

“The rise of mobile payments and digital wallets – this has been fuelled by the widespread adoption of smartphones and the internet. As consumers embrace the ease and quickness of tapping their cards or using mobile payment apps to make transactions, the growth in mobile payments has been driven by demands for a more practical and seamless payment experience.

“Such convenience has led to a dramatic increase in their use for both online and physical store transactions.

“Furthermore, mobile and contactless payments often incorporate advanced security features like biometric authentication (fingerprint or facial recognition) and tokenization, which substitutes sensitive data with non-sensitive equivalents. These features have made mobile payments more secure than traditional methods, reducing fraud and increasing consumer trust.

“While other payment innovations like cryptocurrencies, blockchain-based payments, and P2P payment platforms have also made notable impacts, the sheer scale of adoption and the broad influence of mobile payments and digital wallets across various sectors make them arguably the most impactful payment solution in the last five years.”

Amid a boom of new technologies, let’s not forget about the power of contactless

Andrew Burman, principal and global practice lead, transformation and automation, at Ryan, the global tax services and software provider, also identifies various technologies which have impacted the payments world.

“The payment industry has continued to undergo significant and accelerated change over the past five years.

“Contactless payment methods have become more popular, making small transactions more convenient and increasingly replacing traditional cash transactions. However, this convenience has come with an increased risk of fraud, especially as the upper limits for these transactions have increased over time. Fortunately, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have continued to evolve to help manage the risk of fraud more effectively and efficiently as the volume of transactions has increased exponentially.

“As consumers have become more mobile, it has become increasingly challenging to keep track of their locations, adding a layer of complexity to managing finance and tax implications and liabilities.”

Perks of blockchain

“Blockchain technology has also continued to develop as part of the portfolio of solutions to track payments, providing a new level of transparency across each step of the payment chain. This has resulted in more complete audit trails, on a more real-time basis, which offers greater convenience and insight for finance and tax teams. To match this, tax authorities and auditors are increasingly moving to real-time interrogation of data, meaning transactions have to be captured correctly, the first time, every time.

“Meanwhile, payment methods and models have become more diverse, with the likes of Apple Pay and PayPal increasingly being used at the point of purchase, bringing payment convenience to consumers’ fingertips. However, this increase in the number of parties involved in any transaction has also created challenges in managing and tracking payments.

“Connectivity between systems on a more real-time basis has helped manage this increased complexity, but nevertheless finance and tax teams are feeling the impact of the exponential growth in transaction numbers and are increasingly finding they have to adapt to ever-more complex and voluminous data sets to keep up with the demands and stay in front of the financial and tax-related issues.”