In the Asia Pacific region, 70 percent of retailers and billing organizations see security considerations as critical, with 60 percent regarding card-not-present fraud in the e-commerce industry as the most pressing issue for investment and innovation.
The five-part Global Payments Insight study, conducted by ACI Worldwide and Ovum, asked close to 500 executives representing leading banks, retailers and billing organizations across Asia-Pacific about their experiences, perceptions and expectations of payments and how payments are shaping their behaviors today.
Competition drives spending
Eighty-two percent of Asia Pacific executives stated that new competitive pressures and the burgeoning threat of FinTech are driving investments in their own payment systems.
Security is a critical issue for retailers, with the theft of customer payment details a major concern for 70 percent of the market. The growth in eCommerce has resulted in Card-Not-Present Fraud becoming the most pressing issue for 60 percent of retailers.
Immediate payments offer new opportunities
Seventy-two percent of Asia Pacific executives believe that consumers will benefit directly from Immediate Payments. Moreover, 59 percent of transaction banking executives also believe that businesses will benefit directly from improved liquidity management, lower risks and faster payments.
A strong continuing trend from last year is that payment initiators (retailers and billers) want to work directly with payment operators (banks) to cut out intermediaries in the payment value chain and simplify the payments ecosystem.
Banks are seen as the primary provider of payment services by Asia Pacific retailers. In fact, 89 percent want to work directly with banks. Other payment provider categories are increasingly gaining traction, most notably online payment providers, with 78 percent of Asia Pacific retailers willing to work with them in future.
“The payments industry is undergoing radical change that will have far-reaching consequences for banks, billers and merchants, as well as for the consumers and business customers to which they provide services,” said David Bannister, principal analyst, Financial Services Technology, Ovum. “How all of the players in the industry adjust to these changes and interact with each other will be a crucial factor in their future success.”
“For all of these organizations, the key takeaway is that competitive pressures are driving up spending in the marketplace. Spending small, incremental amounts will only lead to an erosion of market share, said Paul Thomalla, senior vice president, ACI Worldwide. “The payment initiators of the world want to work directly with payment operators. By doing so, they will be able to lower payment costs, reduce complexity and increase investments to stave off the threat of new competitors.”