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PaymentsJournal
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Payments Content, Expert Insights and Timely News
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Tap-to-Pay Gives Small Merchants a Big Advantage
Yesterday00:11:38Tap to summarizeA decade ago, accepting card payments at a farmers market, food truck, or pop-up shop often meant investing in bulky hardware, worrying about battery life, and paying for ongoing technical support. Today, a small business owner can accept secure, contactless payments with nothing more than a smartphone. Tap-to-pay is doing more than speeding up checkout for consumers—it’s lowering the barriers to commerce for micro merchant, giving them access to affordable payment technology, customer insights, and enterprise-level security once reserved for much larger businesses. In a PaymentsJournal Podcast, Sara Craven, General Manager at Visa’s Authorize.net, and Don Apgar, Director of Merchant Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research, explored what micro merchants can gain from tap-to-pay. Despite the ease and convenience, these transactions are protected against fraud just as effectively as traditional card payments. Making It Easier on Customers Merchants used to be able to get away with accepting only certain payment methods. Today, consumers expect to pay however they want. They want to be able to tap their device—whether it’s Apple Pay, Google Pay, or a credit or debit card—anytime, anywhere. Tap-to-pay allows even the smallest businesses to accept nearly every type of payment. More importantly, it helps bring more consumers through the door, which can translate into higher revenue. “I was at a lacrosse tournament with my 14-year-old,” said Craven. “They had these long lines for folks who just wanted to buy a taco and they were only accepting cash. I sat there thinking, if they had tap-to-pay, with the ability to quickly move consumers through their lines and not have to worry about the change or the dollar bills, it could have been game changing.” Apgar added: “My personal use case is leaving the Kroger the other day and the Girl Scouts had the cookie stand set up out front. I only had $20 in my pocket, so I could only buy four boxes. It was really a heartbreak. Had they had they accepted cards, I certainly would have bought many more than I needed.” Simple Yet Comprehensive There’s no need for merchants to purchase dongles or dedicated hardware to set up tap-to-pay. They simply download an app or sign up online, and they’re ready to start accepting payments. From there, merchants can integrate payments into their broader customer experience. A farmers market vendor, for example, can not only accept payments but also record orders directly on their device, track customer information, and analyze purchase history. From an omnichannel perspective, this gives merchants a centralized view of their operations, including customer activity and overall business performance. “If we can’t get to the farmers market one week, tap-to-pay still shows my order both from when I purchased in person and also when I purchased online,” said Craven. “It creates a really nice, connected ecosystem for merchants.” The early days of wireless payment terminals were marked by bulky hardware that resembled old cellular phones. These devices required reliable cell signals, and battery life was often a major limitation. For merchants operating in places without easy access to electricity—such as farmers markets—keeping terminals powered throughout the day was a challenge. It has also historically been difficult for acquirers and PSPs to efficiently serve micro merchants. Deploying and programing payment terminals is expensive, and ongoing tech support adds even more cost. Tap-to-pay removes much of that burden by eliminating the need for dedicated hardware altogether. “We’ve got tons of partners who leverage on Authorize.net,” said Craven. “They’re reselling or offering our service to merchants as a streamlined approach to our products. They can also get their merchants onboarded without having to send them devices. It’s super easy for PSPs to scale in this space without the overhead of having to manage hardware deployment and support.” State-of-the-Art Fraud Controls Despite its simplicity, tap-to-pay offers the same level of security and reliability as more complex payment systems. “I joke that my mom is very nervous about using tap-to-pay because she’s worried that the minute she touches her phone or her credit card to someone else’s phone, they’re able to steal her credentials,” said Craven. “But everything is fully encrypted. You don’t see full credit card data. It has a token attached to it so that you’re able to purchase again without having to enter or show your clear card data. They don’t even have PIN numbers that the merchants have accessible.” Behind the scenes, advanced fraud prevention tools monitor transactions to ensure that in-person payments are being made by the authorized user, based on behavioral patterns and prior usage history associated with the card or device. Tap-to-pay is also more secure than swiping a card because payment data is encrypted instantly, and there’s no magnetic stripe involved. Consumer can feel confident that their information is protected and that transactions are secure. Much of this security is invisible to the user, but it helps create a seamless and trustworthy experience for both merchants and consumers. Final Takeaways As consumer expectations continue to shift toward faster, more flexible payment experiences, tap-to-pay is becoming less of a convenience and more of a competitive necessity for businesses of all sizes. For micro merchants in particular, the technology removes many of the traditional barriers to accepting digital payments, allowing them to operate with greater mobility, lower overhead costs, and more direct access to customer insights. As smartphones become all-in-one business tools, tap-to-pay is set to play a central role in how small businesses sell, grow, and engage with customers in the years ahead. “There are so many use cases for that today, especially when you look at the makeup of small business in the U.S.,” said Apgar. “Field services like plumbers, electricians, and real estate agents—the use cases are almost limitless.” Craven added: “It is table stakes that people expect to be able to tap their device anytime and anywhere. Then you have the age-old problem, I don’t have change for a $50 when I’m at the farmers market. It’s all the benefits of card payments rolled into an easily accessible platform.”
Transcribe →Modern Cyber Risk Is Breaking Longstanding Security Assumptions
2d ago00:27:43Tap to summarizeModern geopolitical tensions now extend well beyond traditional statecraft. They increasingly manifest through wiper malware attacks, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against critical organizations, and coordinated disinformation and influence operations designed to shape public perception in real time. Even as active flashpoints evolve and direct confrontation fluctuates, organizations are left operating in a sustained environment of elevated cyber and systemic risk. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Teresa Walsh, CEO and Founder at Integrated Intelligence Solutions, and Tracy Goldberg, Director of Cybersecurity at Javelin Strategy & Research, discussed how financial institutions can strengthen operational resilience and build more integrated cybersecurity strategies in response to this shifting threat landscape. Perhaps most importantly, the direction of travel is clear: public and private sector coordination is no longer optional. It’s becoming foundational to how organizations anticipate, withstand, and recover from disruption. The Changing Cyber-Risk Landscape These capabilities are increasingly critical because the cybersecurity landscape has reached an inflection point. Ongoing geopolitical volatility has pushed cyber resilience to a top priority for most organizations. Coordinated cyber-attack campaigns now often blend network intrusion, disruption, and disinformation, creating cascading impacts . “When two nations are fighting against each other, one of the things they’ll always go after is your communications system and probably your energy systems as well, because they’re trying to disrupt the other guy and make their lives harder,” Walsh said. “If you’re a private sector company, like a banker or some other type of company, you have to understand what you are going to do if you don’t have access to the internet or if you don’t have access to power to even turn your computers on,” she said. There are many documented examples of how these tactics are used in modern conflicts, including cyber attacks against critical infrastructure, large-scale malware campaigns, and disruptive events. These incidents can assume many forms. Disinformation and misinformation campaigns are especially prevalent during periods of instability, often used to create public confusion or shift narratives. There have also been cases where nation-states, directly or indirectly, leverage fraudulent activity, including account takeovers or money-mule recruitment to launder funds.  Increasingly, these operations are augmented or outsourced to third parties like hacktivist groups or cybercrime syndicates, which can operate independently or align with broader geopolitical objectives. Withstanding Disruption High impact cyber incidents have demonstrated how disruptive these types events can be . In some cases, enterprises have experienced widespread device outages, operational shutdowns, and recovery timelines extending over multiple weeks. This begs the question for all organizations, especially financial institutions: Are they prepared to withstand a 30-day disruption—whether impacting their own operations or those of a critical third-party provider? “Most of the time when we talk about disruption, even when your regulator talks about disruption, they’re not talking in terms of 30 days,” Walsh said. “They’re usually talking in terms of three hours or maybe a day or two. The concept of a 30-day disruption, that might completely wipe out a company, wipe out their entire profit, and wipe out their customer base and their reputation.” While such scenarios may appear unlikely, ongoing geopolitical instability and the increasing sophistication of cyber threats makes it essential for organizations to plan for extended disruption. Institutions must also look beyond their own operations. As reliance on third-party vendors grows—often across multiple jurisdictions—these relationships introduce additional systemic risk. For example, a fintech partner with significant operations in a region affected by a conflict could create downstream operational impacts for a bank. This makes it critical for financial services firms to map dependencies, identify concentration risk, and understand the complexity of their external ecosystem. “We talk so much about third-party risk, and we don’t even have a handle on third parties, but no organization out there—I don’t just limit it to financial institutions—has a good handle on who their fourth and fifth parties are,” Goldberg said. “As you are mapping out your enterprise and your systems and your network and all of those different entities upon which you rely, if any of those were to go down, what would the domino effect be?” she said. The Expanding Cyber Discussion Toward ‘Cyber Fusion’ Alongside external risks, internal approaches to resilience are often fragmented. One common challenge is the divide between fraud prevention and cybersecurity teams, which increasingly need to operate in close coordination. “When I started out at my first bank, my boss said that we in the cyber team have visibility that the fraud teams don’t and we need to be able to share that with them,” Walsh said. “Anything that we have on the cyber side that can affect the fraud space—tell them, communicate, help them try to see how we can make it better and how we can make the bank more resistant to cybercriminals .” This collaboration becomes even more important during periods of geopolitical volatility, when cyber risk, financial crime, and fraud often converge. In these situations, policies related to know-your-customer and anti-money laundering may need to be adapted in response to changing cyber risk . Addressing these challenges requires enterprise-wide alignment and cross-functional coordination, which is becoming an important trend in modern resilience strategies. “We could even bring HR into the discussion; because we know, in addition to rogue employees, we also have individuals who are applying for positions who are just trying to infiltrate the organization,” Goldberg said. “But then you also have the socially engineered pieces ,” she said. “We know that most compromises getting into a company’s network, or even data breaches, they usually come back to a phishing attack—someone was manipulated who has admin rights or access gets conned. There’s a lot of ways that this cyber fusion discussion could expand.” The Role of the Private Sector Beyond internal collaboration, rising cyber threats have made cooperation between public entities and private organizations essential, particularly during periods of geopolitical instability. “We saw a wonderful example leading into the Ukraine war with Russia, where several U.S. technology companies and cybersecurity companies went in and helped them out,” Walsh said. “They helped them transfer vast amounts of information to the cloud to be able to make sure that if something did happen, the data wouldn’t be lost forever, and they would still be able to operate.” “It was a wonderful example of how the private sector can help a country when these things happen,” she said. Often, private companies are well positioned to respond quickly due to access to specialized talent, infrastructure, and threat intelligence capabilities. However, this collaboration is not purely altruistic. Given the interconnected nature of the global digital economy, localized cyber incidents can rapidly escalate into broader systemic disruption, affecting industries and regions far beyond the initial target. “From a resiliency standpoint in the financial services industry, larger financial institutions have an obligation to share information with smaller institutions ,” Goldberg said. “And from a global perspective, especially as we think about cyber resilience, we’re only as secure as those smallest nations.”
Transcribe →Inside the Tech Shift Redefining How Credit Unions Operate
6d ago00:21:55Tap to summarizeCredit unions don’t want to be disadvantaged by their technology. They aim to offer members the same capabilities available at competing financial institutions. A critical part of that is having an ecosystem they can plug into—one that allows them to run their operations efficiently while staying competitive. To help credit unions achieve that, Velera recently introduced a unified, cloud-native architecture designed to support agility and future readiness. In a PaymentsJournal podcast, Jeremiah Lotz, Senior Vice President of Enterprise Data and AI at Velera, and James Wester, Co-Head of Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research, discussed the benefits this technology stack is intended to bring to credit unions across the country. The New Ecosystem Meeting member expectations requires more than adding new tools on top of existing infrastructure. It depends on a more foundational shift in how core systems are structured—one that allows data, decisions and services to operate in a more connected way across the institution. The Velera Ecosystem consists of the technology layer Stellaris and the intelligence layer Atmos, forming a centralized, cloud-native foundation that brings together payments, data and risk in a single connected environment. Velera developed this ecosystem in partnership with clients over several years, with the goal of making it configurable and adaptable to different credit union needs, as well as improving the member experience. “As member expectations change, we want to have the ability to be flexible and to enable our financial institutions to move along with those member needs quickly as well,” said Lotz. “The accelerated speed and ability to scale intelligently with this unified technology ecosystem is one of our key goals.” “We want to move from disconnected systems to this unified ecosystem where everything works together,” he said. “And we want to be able to build something once and deploy it in multiple places, which will allow us to remove the friction and patchwork integrations that credit unions have historically had to face.” A key design consideration has been keeping the system from becoming overly complex or burdensome for credit unions. Institutions retain the ability to roll out new capabilities and features without major rebuilds—and can integrate new systems or transition to newer processes more easily over time. For instance, small business onboarding, which has historically taken months, can be completed in a matter of weeks within this model. “Credit unions often run what we could call a thin or efficient technology group,” said Wester. “There’s no requirement for a rebuild or massive integration, because that’s not where these financial institutions are going to be spending a ton of money, time or resources. Anytime you can take that friction out and make it more efficient, that’s good.” What Atmos Can Do Atmos aggregates fragmented data into a real-time intelligence layer spanning the ecosystem. In many organizations, payment, fraud and member data reside in separate systems. A shared data layer allows these inputs to be viewed in a more connected operational context across traditionally siloed functions. This structure enables a range of capabilities: 1. Real-time connectivity of information Enables more informed decision-making in the moment, extending beyond transaction-level decisions to shaping the next step in a member’s experience—whether that involves fraud checks, authentication or payment processing. 2. More effective use of AI AI is most effective when connected to high-quality, unified data. Atmos provides a foundation for applying AI to payment and member data, including enabling natural language interactions and insights. 3. End-to-end member experiences Rather than treating interactions as isolated events, connected data allows institutions to understand and support the full member lifecycle—and to design continuous experiences over time. 4. Broader use of data across applications Through APIs and shared data access, credit unions can extend capabilities across multiple use cases rather than being limited to single-point solutions. Catering to Younger Members Attracting younger members has long been a priority for credit unions. These members tend to have different expectations shaped by digital-first experiences. The Velera Ecosystem supports more personalized engagement, using data to help tailor relevant experiences. “This is where the data starts to come to life, especially when I think about how younger generations are interacting with tools on a daily basis,” said Lotz. “I know you’ve got my information, you know how I used my payment account, and I’m not creeped out by that. But I do have an expectation of the cool tools to help me be better at it.” For example, data can be used to suggest how a member might best use a rewards account or support savings goals. Rather than generic messaging, the goal is to provide timely, relevant guidance for members. The same data can also be used as an opportunity for education—surfacing tools or financial options that members may not have explicitly searched for, but could benefit from. “That creates trust and the understanding that I know my credit union has this data about me and I know that they’re using it in a way that benefits me,” said Lotz. “That makes me appreciate and trust them because they’ve got my needs in mind.” Moving into the Future Many credit unions still operate within legacy systems that limit how quickly they can adapt. In many cases, meaningful changes require significant rebuilds. As organizations gain better access to and integration of their data, new possibilities emerge that were previously difficult to implement. In an AI-enabled environment, broader and better-structured data can improve how institutions understand and engage with members. The more relevant data that can be fed into those models, the more effectively those systems can support outreach and decision-making. Awareness of digital privacy and data usage continues to grow. Credit unions often have a trust advantage with their members, which can create an opportunity to use data responsibly and transparently in ways that ultimately benefit members. “You can help a member understand their account usage, where they can use particular financial tools, and where they can do things to help with savings or retirement,” said Lotz. “The earlier you start encouraging those responsible behaviors, the better it is for everyone.”
Transcribe →What Embedded Payments Can Solve for Small Businesses
1w ago00:16:07Tap to summarizeThe most expensive resource in any small business isn’t capital—it’s time. And increasingly, that time is being swallowed up by something owners never set out to manage: payments. The last thing business owners want to do is devote more energy to managing payment processes. Many small businesses have discovered business management software with embedded payment capabilities that remove much of the friction associated with reconciling multiple systems and statements while uncovering a wealth of valuable customer data. Worldpay for Platforms, now Global Payments’ annual Merchant Insider Report examines trends like these that are driving payment innovation and reshaping the small business landscape. In a PaymentsJournal Podcast, Matt Downs, President, Integrated and Platforms at Global Payments, and Don Apgar, Director of Merchant Payments at Javelin Strategy and Research, explored the findings and opportunities these advanced platforms present for embedded finance. The Payment Trends Worldpay for Platforms’ data shows that customer expectations around payments have shifted from a “nice to have” feature to a mission-critical capability. Across the three years of this research, one of the most consistent trends has been the growing importance of software. Indeed, 85% of small and medium-sized businesses say software is more important today than it was three or five years ago. In 2018, roughly 40% of buying decisions included payments and software as a bundled package, according to Downs. Today, that figure has climbed to 70%, meaning that when businesses switch payment providers, they increasingly want software included as part of the solution. What’s driving this increase is the growing importance of integrated workflows. Software is becoming specialized across industries, fueling demand for bundled payment and software solutions that streamline operations and reduce complexity. “We’re seeing the same in our research,” said Apgar. “Merchants want a holistic platform that that they can run their business on. Consumer expectation with regard to ease and a lack of friction have significantly increased. Business owners today are looking for an easy to use, all in one package of software and payments together that can run their business and deliver a superior customer experience.” The Biggest Concern: Friction One of the most surprising findings in this year’s Merchant Insider report is that the payment experience itself is not the primary driver of customer retention. Instead, friction remains the biggest obstacle. Wherever friction appears, it serves as an early warning sign that churn may follow. More than 80% of merchants surveyed said they would switch platforms for better payment capabilities. At the core, what they’re looking for is a truly seamless experience. Businesses have come to expect payments to be invisible. Take Uber, for example. It’s difficult to tell where the transportation experience ends and the financial experience begins. Drivers don’t have to worry about whether passengers will pay or whether they’ll have enough cash to cover expenses, because they know they’ll be paid quickly and reliably. Business management software aims to provide a similar experience for small businesses by handling payments while providing merchants with visibility into cash flow and business performance. The latest improvements have gone beyond integrating payments into business software to a level that makes them not just functional but much more useful to the merchant. Integrated payments simply connect payment processing to software, pushing transaction data back into the platform and recording reconciliation. Embedded payments go much further. They encompass the entire workflow—from customer onboarding and payment acceptance to reconciliation, reporting, and even chargeback management within the software itself. Worldpay for Platforms’ research shows that 99% of respondents are willing to consider embedded finance capabilities. “Instead of having to pivot out to look at your online banking portal or log out and log into your merchant processor for portable reporting, they want it all seamless right there in that software,” said Downs. “Seamless, flexible, full reconciliation. That is the definition of embedded payments, and they can get the full experience without leaving the vertical software. This is being done at scale around the globe. If you’ve missed part of that design, you’re set up to lose.” The Rise of Vertical SaaS Merchant acquirers have enabled businesses through horizontal solutions for years, but newer vertical SaaS providers understand the unique operational challenges within specific industries. When a merchant operates on a SaaS platform, the fintech provider has access to data. They can see seasonal fluctuations, peak periods, and revenue patterns. These insights allow them to understand not only which financial products a merchant may need, but also when they are most likely to need them. As fintech companies continue expanding into banking and delivering more services under one roof, they are likely to challenge traditional banks’ ability to maintain relationships with their depositors. “Banks are getting into the software services, but they’re not doing a good job of leveraging the data that the software generates,” said Apgar. “Being able to bolt on POS software to a bank account is not the same level that the fintechs are bringing through their embedded finance model.” Worldpay for Platforms’ embedded finance solution serves as an orchestration platform that allows software companies to build these experiences with minimal development and go-to-market effort. The orchestration layer allows providers to combine multiple financial products and create highly tailored experiences for specific use cases. Looking ahead, AI-powered capabilities for areas such as dispute management are expected to further enhance the platform experience. “We’re helping our partners think about future-proofing,” said Downs. “We’re thinking about how they can differentiate from their competitors by creating a richer payments and embedded finance experience right there natively in the software.” Time to “Pick a Lane and Go” At the end of the day, increased competition is driving innovation, and small businesses stand to benefit the most. While many of these advances are still in their early stages, that doesn’t mean business owners can afford to wait. “Now’s the time to pick a position,” said Downs. “With embedded payments and more specifically embedded finance, you’ve got to pick a lane and go, because it’s going to get hypercompetitive out there. If you want to provide value to your clients and drive that net revenue retention and the ability to grow, now is the time. At the rate that AI is going to move, either you better serve your customer—or your customer is going to find a way to get served themselves.” Final Takeaways Across the 2026 Merchant Insider Report, the story is consistent: software is more critical, payments are more central, and expectations are higher than ever. At the end of the day, this is about helping merchants grow revenue, operate more efficiently, and scale their business — so platforms can too. If you want the full picture, this year’s report breaks down where platforms are winning—and where they’re falling behind. Download the full report on Worldpay for Platform’s, now Global Payments, website today.
Transcribe →The Growing Importance of Payments Risk Expertise
1w ago00:10:33Tap to summarizePayments risk is no longer confined to a single payment rail or transaction type. Financial institutions and businesses today must manage risk across the ACH Network, checks, wire transfers, real-time payments, and a growing number of emerging payment methods. As the payments ecosystem becomes more interconnected, professionals need a broader understanding of how risks differ across payment channels—and how to effectively manage them. That need has helped elevate the importance of Nacha’s Accredited Payments Risk Professional (APRP) accreditation. In a PaymentsJournal Podcast, Kerry Sellen, Senior Consultant at Nacha Consulting, and Ben Danner, Senior Analyst of Debit at Javelin Strategy & Research, discussed the value of the credential, the knowledge it provides, and the role it can play in career development. Introducing the Credential The APRP certification focuses not only on ACH payments, but also on checks, debit and credit cards, prepaid cards, wire transfers, and emerging and alternative payment methods. Any professional in the payments industry can work toward accreditation, although Nacha recommends having at least two years of industry experience before taking the APRP exam. “It’s great hearing of its availability,” said Danner. “I originally thought this was only geared for bankers and financial institutions, but it’s really wide open for payment professionals across the space. Not just your Main Street banker, but also your startup fintech teams.” The Path to an APRP While the APRP can help professionals build a strong foundation in payments risk, it also offers value to those with years—or even decades—of industry experience. Because the accreditation covers a range of payment types and risk considerations, it often exposes professionals to areas of the payments ecosystem outside of their day-to-day responsibilities. Sellen’s career path illustrates that point. Even after spending years in the payments industry, she found that pursuing the APRP expanded her understanding of risk management and introduced her to new concepts and payment channels. Sellen started her career working in ACH payments at eFunds Corporation. She later joined First Data, where she spent the next 20 years serving in a variety of roles across the payments industry. “My first job was to work with the team to write the requirements for the ACH system to process their ACH payments,” she said. “During my tenure at First Data, I also led teams in the business risk and controls group operations and product development.” After leaving First Data, Sellen joined Nacha where she’s been a senior consultant with Nacha Consulting for the past seven years. “Risk management is always a part of the engagement,” she said When she registered for the test, one of the study materials included was the Accredited Payments Risk Professional Handbook. At more than 100 pages, the handbook can seem intimidating at first because it covers a tremendous range of payment types and risk concepts. To help remember all the terminology, Sellen created a spreadsheet containing key terms and their definitions. “What surprised me was the number of regulations and guidelines that the candidate needs to have a general understanding of,” Sellen said. “Whenever I had down time—like waiting for my kids at school or at the doctor’s office—I always had my printed spreadsheet with me.” A Much-Sought-After Expertise The APRP helps professionals understand the risks associated with different payment types and the controls that can mitigate or manage those risks. That expertise can make a significant difference to a customer’s bottom line. “I had a client who was experiencing significant fraud,” said Sellen. “I reviewed their policies and procedures, their risk management processes, and I spoke to the risk management team. After gaining a good understanding of their processes and procedures, I made some suggestions on how they could implement additional controls. A few months later, the client called and said the number of fraud cases had significantly decreased.” In addition to signaling professional credibility and expertise, accreditations such as the APRP are important for career development. They can make individuals more attractive candidates for new opportunities and advancement, particularly in payments risk, compliance, and fraud management. Important Related Professional Designations There are several important accreditations related to the APRP. The Accredited ACH Professional (AAP) designation focuses on the rules and regulations governing ACH payments and is valuable both for professionals who are new to ACH and for those with years of experience in the industry. The Accredited Faster Payments Professional (AFPP) designation focuses on faster payment systems such as Same Day ACH and FedNow. As these payment methods grow, the AAP, AFPP, and APRP accreditations will become increasingly important for organizations hiring the next generation of professionals to build payment applications and develop new payment capabilities. “Nacha is a highly respected institution across the banking and payments industry,” Danner said, adding that Nacha accreditations carry a significant industry weight, which is very important for career development.” Getting Started For anyone interested in taking this year’s exam, it’s important to register as early as possible and begin studying as soon as the APRP handbook is received. Applicants can also attend Nacha’s Payments Institute or participate in Payments Association training programs designed specifically for APRP test prep. The annual test window begins on Aug. 3 and runs through Aug. 29. “If you have worked in payments for years, you will add a highly respected qualification to your resume,” Sellen said. “If you’re relatively new to the field, you will give yourself an edge over the competition.”
Transcribe →How Cautionary Spending Is Fueling Gift Card Purchases
2w ago00:30:12Tap to summarizeConsumers may be spending more cautiously, but they’re not spending less strategically. As inflation, rising debt, and economic uncertainty continue to pressure household budgets, shoppers are becoming intentional about every purchase they make. To stretch their budgets further, many consumers now map out discounts and sales well in advance of major shopping events and holidays. This growing focus on value and flexibility is helping fuel interest in prepaid products. Gift cards are no longer reserved for birthdays and holidays; they’re increasingly being used for everything from loyalty rewards and incentives to personal spending and budgeting. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Sarah Kositzke, Global Insights Director at Blackhawk Network (BHN) and Jordan Hirschfield, Director of Prepaid at Javelin Strategy & Research discussed BHN’s latest 2026 Global Spring Gifting Research, which uncovered changing consumer behaviors, the role of emerging technologies and platforms, and why gift cards provide retailers with a strategic advantage in any economic environment. Adapting Gifting Traditions The financial challenges of recent years have caused staples like groceries to become a budgetary concern for many consumers. Fuel has also become a budget-buster, with prices rising sharply since the beginning of the year. Even gifting is becoming more intentional, as consumers apply the same value-driven mindset they use in everyday purchasing decisions. These factors have shifted consumer behavior. Shoppers are now more deal-motivated and intentional about how they spend each dollar. They are leveraging loyalty and rewards programs, and many have leaned into bargain hunting, often with the help of AI or social media. “It’s important that we understand that consumers are not abandoning gifting traditions; they’re adapting how they want to participate in them,” Kositzke said. “They’ve got all of these various channels in which they can leverage to find those cards. It is this major opportunity for brands to think about, ‘How do we offer more flexibility? How are we thinking about the value that we’re driving and the convenience, especially as we think about the economic times we’re in?’” In difficult financial times, gift cards are frequently viewed as a port in a storm because they offer budget certainty for buyers and spending flexibility for recipients. These benefits have made prepaid products particularly popular among younger generations. According to BHN, 72% of Gen Z and millennial consumers purchased gift cards instead of physical gifts this past year, compared to 38% of their older counterparts. Many younger consumers, often working with smaller discretionary budgets, look for gifts that maximize value, are useful to recipients, and help reduce waste. Gift cards meet that need while also offering convenience for buyers, who can often earn loyalty points or rewards through retailer promotions. “We saw growth in projected gift card spend as well as purchasing,” Kositzke said. “About 77% of respondents told us, ‘We’re going to purchase a card this upcoming year to give to somebody else,’ and self-use showcased almost a double-digit growth. They’re starting to recognize that budget value just even for themselves, and younger consumers are especially likely to use gift cards for both gifting and themselves. It’s creating that incremental revenue opportunity for brands.” AI, Loyalty, and Smarter Spending Another trend driven by younger consumers is the use of AI as a shopping assistant, with many using the technology to compare prices and scour product reviews. “Consumers are building what we call this value optimization toolkit, where it combines AI searches, loyalty rewards, deal discovery, flexible payment, and all the things that help us act smarter across that purchase journey,” Kositzke said. “I think of it as the place to find all that stored value or the change that you have in your couch cushion. AI is definitely going to be leveraged, probably even embedded in there somehow to combine all of these things together.” As AI plays a greater role in curating products and services, standing out in AI-generated recommendations has become a critical component of merchants’ brand strategies. Down the line, building loyalty will also become more important—and more challenging. This is an area where gift cards excel. BHN found that roughly 92% of survey respondents participate in loyalty programs, with gift cards remaining one of the most popular redemption options. This self-use of prepaid products can create strong customer relationships, often opening the door to additional engagement and growth. “That’s another way to optimize your program, to think about how do I get gift cards delivered to somebody who is self-use, but how do I get them to feel like that giftable moment to give to somebody else?” Kositzke said. “This just means your brand needs to think about traditional search, but also what’s beyond traditional search with some of those other e-commerce optimization tools that you might need to leverage.” The Rise of Social Channels Standing out on social media is equally as important as creating AI-friendly branding. Consumers want gift cards to be delivered through the same channels they use to communicate with friends and family, including TikTok and Instagram. While email is still the primary delivery method for gift cards, younger generations have shown strong interest in social media and text-based delivery options. For these consumers, the experience extends beyond receiving a gift card—it also includes how they discover and purchase it. “We saw more interest in terms of purchasing on social channels and especially through social streaming events,” Kositzke said. “Think of any of those events where you’re captivated in terms of, ‘Oh my gosh, I wish I could have this,’ but maybe you’re not ready for that full breadth of product line that is being offered in that moment.” “But a gift card helps to say, ‘I know that I’ll purchase this, but maybe I have this gift card and I have to add some additional funds later,’” she said. “There’s definitely strong interest in getting gift cards during those events. In fact, we saw about 50% of respondents already purchasing gift cards through social streaming events and almost 7 in 10 want to in the future.” Despite the growing emphasis on AI, social media, and digital gift cards, there remains a strong contingent of customers who expect retailers to offer physical gift cards. In fact, roughly half of respondents in BHN’s research said they would prefer a physical gift card over a digital alternative. Ultimately, the most effective strategy is an omnichannel approach centered on flexibility. Even when consumers purchase gift cards in-store or online, they expect to use them seamlessly across channels. “That’s something that’s critical, it’s the digitization of cards and how you manage and handle both a digital card and a physical card in the digital atmosphere,” Hirschfield said. “Digital and physical are not opposing forces, they are complementary forces and there is a merging of them at a certain point into the digital realm that is important.” Engagement, Retention, and Incremental Revenue The capabilities of technologies like digital wallets and AI are creating new use cases for gift cards and fueling additional demand. Merchants have responded by developing loyalty programs designed to capitalize on growing self-use trends. “It all capitalizes on the behavioral returns,” Hirschfield said. “We consistently see redeemers come to the store more. They spend more than the value of the card. They buy more expensive items. When you focus on that behavior, the cycle keeps moving in positive ways. That redeemer who has a positive experience will buy more cards for themselves and for others. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.” This cycle continues to expand through the growth of digital messaging channels and social media platforms. For younger consumers in particular, these platforms have become central hubs where they discover, engage with, and purchase the products they want. “You want consumers to be met where they are shopping,” Kositzke said. “You’ve got to still be in store, but you can’t forget that digital is online and growing, and in these loyalty ecosystems as well as through social channels. Then, it’s how to get your brand to be recognized within that AI ecosystem too, because you want AI to come ...
Transcribe →How the Merchant of Record Became a Global Commerce Engine
3w ago00:17:39Tap to summarizePicture the scene; a U.S. developer discovers that one of their fastest-growing markets is overseas. For many digital businesses, the first signs of international opportunity develop quickly. However, new local markets also mean new local complexities. Brazilian customers expect support for Pix. In India, UPI dominates the payments landscape. In Poland, BLIK accounts for as much as 70% of e-commerce transations annually. Across any market, local regulations, payment preferences, and fraud considerations can vary significantly. This is how an exciting growth opportunity becomes an operational challenge. These local complexities and risks have fueled the rise of the Merchant of Record (MoR) model, in which a third-party partner assumes liability for key functions such as tax obligations, regulatory compliance, and chargeback handling. While these platforms deliver benefits across all these areas, the evolution of cross-border commerce has transformed MoR solutions from a tax workaround into a critical component of international business operations. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Bridger Bullock, Senior Business Development Manager at Nuvei, and Don Apgar, Director of Merchant Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research, discussed the evolution of the Merchant of Record model, the criteria that differentiate these solutions, and how the operational advantages MoR platforms provide can equal—and potentially surpass—the tax and compliance benefits that originally drove their adoption. Far Beyond Orchestration One reason for MoR solutions rise in popularity over recent years is the landscape for international growth becoming exponentially more complex. “Just in the U.S., if you want to manage all of the sales tax collection, there are 13,000 different jurisdictions that you would have to adhere to in making sure that you are compliant,” Bullock said. “Outside of the U.S., you can only imagine how many different rules and jurisdictions you have to be compliant with, and that’s just from a tax perspective.” “There’s also fraud, which is getting much more complex depending on the region,” he said. “Lastly, there are so many different payment methods for each region that it’s critical that merchants offer those payment methods in those local regions so that there is a frictionless customer experience.” Along with domestic real-time payments systems like Pix and UPI, alternative payment methods (APMs) now include everything from stablecoins and buy now, pay later services to digital wallets. As these payment types have emerged, many merchants have sought to increase payment flexibility by leveraging payment orchestration systems that route transactions through the optimal payment rail. While these solutions offer clear value, payments are only one component of successful cross-border commerce. “Orchestration connects the dots from an authorization and a settlement perspective so you can transact globally fairly easily,” Apgar said. “But when you get into complexities such as local APMs, local fraud and risk tools that are available, local tax, and local banking, the complexity really multiplies. Being global today goes way beyond just orchestration.” Taking Gaming Global One of the industries that has been a trailblazer for the MoR model is gaming. Gaming platforms built for digital commerce often face relatively few barriers to expanding their products into new territories. In their zest for expansion, gaming companies have frequently taken a proactive approach to the operational realities of global expansion. “Forward-thinking companies like Roblox or Epic Games look at it holistically, so a local payment method in each region is critical to them,” Bullock said. “Say they want to be able to create the best customer experience in Korea. They need to make sure that GCash is set up as a payment method. Once the customer purchases, the sales tax is collected without Roblox or Epic having to deal with what that sales tax looks like in that region and what fraud looks like in Korea.” Addressing these challenges at a granular level is critical because many gaming platforms aspire to expand into dozens of countries and regions quickly to remain competitive. Effective MoR solutions, therefore, must pay careful attention not only to local payment preferences, but also to tax laws and regulatory requirements that are constantly changing. “Ideally for the merchant, they can do all of this through one API,” Bullock said. “They don’t have to go through several different PSPs, payment processors, and gateways to make sure that they can offer all these things. They just have one that can be this all-encompassing solution for them, which takes a huge burden off and makes it a frictionless customer experience during the checkout process.” The Architectural Differences that Matter MoR platforms can provide this level of comprehensive support, but not all solutions are created equal. For merchants and the institutions that serve them, selecting the right provider begins with the fundamentals: ensuring that tax liability and fraud risks are effectively managed. MoR platforms differentiate themselves in several ways: Their distinctly local approach to fraud prevention and compliance management across regions. The level of transparency they provide into the rules, controls, and decision-making processes used to manage risk. Local acquiring capabilities represent another importance differentiator and can often determine the success of an integration. “Let’s say that there’s a large merchant that has an entity in the U.S,” Bullock said. “Certainly, merchants want the highest authorization rates that they can get. If they have quite a presence of customers in APAC, it gets difficult for the issuers in that region to approve the majority of the transactions because they’re looking at those transactions as foreign transactions, as not from that region.” Merchant of Record solutions—on top of all their other benefits—frequently enable local acquiring in regions where merchants don’t have a legal entity. This can improve authorization rates while also delivering a range of operational benefits. “When you talk about local acquiring, you have to talk about local banking, too,” Apgar said. “If you have a local acquirer, they still have to pay the merchant somehow, and a local acquirer is going to pay in local funds, which means you need a local bank account, which then oftentimes you need to have a legal business entity present in that domain so that the bank can open an account for you.” “It’s not just the U.S., all countries have compliance requirements, so complexity quickly spirals,” he said. A Holistic Global Solution At their core, Merchant of Record solutions are designed to simplify the challenges of global commerce by assuming responsibility for many of its most complex operational requirements. This not only eliminates the need for merchants to build these capabilities internally, but also removes the burden of researching and managing the regulatory and tax nuances of every market they operate in. The result is a meaningful operational boost. Alongside the financial gains generated by higher approval rates, stronger fraud prevention, and customer-friendly payment options, merchants gain more time and resources to focus on growing their business. “For merchants, they want to focus on the customer experience, and they want to focus on delivering quality products,” Apgar said. “Being able to offload all this operational responsibility to a Merchant of Record construct is a huge savings operationally and from an opportunity cost and time perspective. It’s great that merchants can outsource this without completely relinquishing control over the fraud processes and the mechanics of h...
Transcribe →A Career in Payments: Insights from Three Decades at Nacha
3w ago00:15:08Tap to summarizeFew payments professionals have been able to observe and influence the industry as much as Jane Larimer, President and CEO of Nacha, who has helmed the organization that governs the ACH Network through challenging industry transitions and considerable organizational success. In her nearly 31 years at Nacha, Larimer has seen firsthand the shift away from paper checks to moving payments at the speed of modern life. During Larimer’s tenure, ACH has served as the national economic infrastructure. In 2025, the ACH Network processed $93 trillion. However, Nacha has not been content to coast on this success. Instead, the organization has continued to lead the payments conversation through innovation, education, and consensus-building. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Larimer discussed the biggest accomplishments and hurdles in her storied career, the many new projects on Nacha’s docket, and why—after over three decades—she is still excited to be a part of the payments industry. The Accelerating Shift from Paper to Digital Although the financial services sector has undergone a widescale digital transformation, it didn’t happen overnight. “One of the first things that I think of among my accomplishments was there were still a ton of paper checks then, only maybe 50% of Americans got paid with Direct Deposit,” Larimer said. “There were billions of checks, so one of the first projects I did at Nacha was check conversion. What that meant was stripping the information off the MICR line of a paper check and then converting that into electronic payments—that was literally the first year.” Also early in her tenure was an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) initiative aimed at moving from paper-based to electronic solutions. The goal was to reduce reliance on paper food stamps, which were high-risk for fraud and carried social stigma. To address this issue, Nacha worked with networks, merchants, and financial institutions to shift the paper-based system to an interoperable state-issued card usable on debit card networks and at the point-of-sale. This effort ultimately led to the launch of the Quest Operating Rules and QUEST Service Mark. For years afterward, Larimer and Nacha worked to grow ACH payments to be more vital than ever. In 2016, Nacha introduced Same Day ACH, providing the capability to send and receive ACH debit and credit payments within hours on the same business day. “That was just a huge sea change in 2016,” Larimer said. “Everybody’s been saying this for a long time and we’re always talking about the pace of change. Back in 2000 and then 2015 we thought that things were changing quickly, but what we’re seeing is that pace of change has accelerated, and it’s always going to be accelerating.” A Momentous Year for Payments This momentum isn’t slowing down, as faster payments, digital assets, and artificial intelligence continue to reshape the industry. Nacha is advancing a series of initiatives aimed at expanding capability while bolstering trust in the payments space. One of the most significant developments is the planned increase of the Same Day ACH transaction cap from $1 million to $10 million—This enhancement is expected to broaden adoption by enabling a wider range of commercial use cases for what has already become a fast-growing payment method. At the same time, Nacha has approved new risk management rules taking effect this year, reflecting a parallel priority: addressing the rising threat and volume of credit-push fraud. Together, these changes underscore a dual focus on scaling payment capabilities while reinforcing system integrity. “We have a lot of irons in the fire,” she said. “We are working as hard as we can in conjunction with the industry to make the ACH as efficient as it possibly can be, and to meet the needs of the end users of the [ACH] Network and all the participants with the [ACH] Network—the financial institutions, our processors, our corporates, and consumers.” Beyond rulemaking and ACH Network enhancements, Nacha is also continuing to engage the industry through education and convening. One recent milestone was its Smarter Faster Payments conference in San Diego this spring, which brought together the ecosystem for more than 130 educational sessions spanning topics from stablecoins, AI and faster payments to compliance and risk. In an often fragmented and rapidly changing industry, conferences like this play a critical role in helping industry professionals synthesize emerging trends and translate them into practical strategies. “It’s trying to invest in the things that you think are going to go forward, because along with all the cool stuff, there’s a lot of noise,” Larimer said. “It’s using discernment to say these are things that are important to me, they’re important to the industry, and let me learn enough about them to be able to make that determination about where are we going with this. Could this be of use to my company?” “How much do we have to understand about this to be able to appropriately discern whether it is strategically lifted up as a priority or say: ‘Not right now. This bears watching, but this isn’t where we need to be placing our bets right now,’” she said. Relevant Education in a Fast-Moving Industry Alongside conferences, accreditations have become an increasingly important way to stay current in the payments industry. For newcomers, the challenge is not a lack of information, but an overabundance of it—where separating insight from noise can feel like a steep learning curve. Accreditations like Nacha’s Accredited Faster Payments Professional (AFPP) and Accredited ACH Professional (AAP) can serve as valuable tools for onboarding new employees and refreshing the knowledge of seasoned veterans. However, the benefits of these accreditations extend beyond education. They are also widely viewed as an industry-wide mark of credibility. “We were really happy to be working with the U.S. Faster Payments Council on the AFPP, because we’re believers in education at Nacha,” Larimer said. “Accreditation is a great way to not only learn the material, but then to be able to bring it back to your organization to help them, because I truly believe that people who understand their business are a lot better at it.” “They understand the nuts and the bolts, and having your AFPP or your AAP shows the world that you know it too,” she said. “It’s great for career-building and it’s a great benchmark.” An Outsized Impact on the Industry Despite the complexities of the payments space—and in many ways because of them—the industry remains one where careers like Larimer’s are possible. “I love this job, I love this industry, and I love payments,” Larimer said. “Things that I value deeply are the relationships in the payments business, where you’re out at a conference and you see people that you’ve built relationships with over the years. It’s the people you can give a call to if you have a question, or if you need something, or if there’s an issue.” “When I go to Smarter Faster Payments, there are people that I met my first year at Nacha who are still coming to it,” she said. “Then, there are people that I’ve just met this year that I’ve already had back and forth with because I’ve learned from them. It’s a relationship business and I’m a people person, so that makes me happy.” Along with professional relationships, the payments sector offers the promise of lifelong learning for those curious enough to explore and willing to grow. Together with networking and accreditation, there are also evolving industry-wide initiatives such as those led by Nacha’s Payments Innovation Alliance. The Alliance serves as an innovation consortium for the payments industry, with current work spanning pay-by-bank, AI, and quantum computing. Larimer also praised the Nacha staff as “outstanding, smart, and good-at-what-they-do folks.” “We’re small—we’re less than 80 people—but I think we have an outsized impact on the payments industry,” she said. “I couldn’t be prouder of the folks that I work with, and I just look forward to doing everything we can to make the ACH as strong and as effective as possible.” And as for what the future holds? “For right now, there is so much happening. I cannot imagine being bored,” said Larimer. “I think we have a lot in front of ...
Transcribe →Preparing for Quantum Day and the Risks to Modern Cryptography
4w ago00:27:08Tap to summarizeQuantum computing may still be years away from breaking cryptography, but powerful quantum computers are rapidly advancing, and their impact on cybersecurity is already unfolding. Unlike previous technological shifts, it has the potential to render some of today’s most trusted cryptographic protections obsolete—forcing organizations to rethink how they secure data long before the threat materializes.    This moment, commonly referred to as Quantum Day, represents the point at which a quantum computer can effectively compromise today’s unbreakable algorithms. In a PaymentsJournal Podcast, Antoine Kelman, NORAM Payment Services Chief Technology Officer at IDEMIA Secure Transactions, and Tracy Goldberg, Director of Cybersecurity at Javelin Strategy & Research, discussed how organizations should prepare for this eventuality. Getting an Early Start A few years ago, Quantum Day was estimated to occur sometime between 2030 and 2040. However, rapid progress—particularly in countries like Korea—suggests that this timeline may be compressing. Many regulators are now urging organizations to be fully prepared by 2030, which is only a few years away. Preparations are already underway. Regulators across multiple jurisdictions are requiring critical industries to assess their exposure and begin updating cryptographic protocols. National cybersecurity agencies are actively defining policies and advancing new standards. A key concern is the emergence of “harvest now, decrypt later” attacks. In this model, attackers collect encrypted data today—even if they cannot yet decrypt it—with the intention of unlocking it in the future once quantum capabilities become available. Online vs. Offline The payments ecosystem includes cards and terminals with long operational lifetimes. Without sufficient preparation, these devices could become vulnerable. To address this, it’s important to understand how current transactions and cryptographic methods function. There are two primary transaction types: online and offline. Offline transactions occur when the payment terminal can’t communicate with the issuing bank—whether due to connectivity issues, system outages, or practical constraints. Certain use cases, like mass transit, rely on offline processing because speed is critical. Both transaction types must be addressed in the context of Quantum Day. On the online side, quantum computers are not expected to significantly weaken symmetric cryptography. As a result, maintaining strong, up-to-date algorithms is generally sufficient for quantum resilience. Some networks mandate offline functionality for resilience purposes—for example, during large-scale cyber incidents that disrupt communications. “We know that we’ll have to rely on offline transactions and therefore we have to address the Quantum Day risk,” Goldberg said. “We constantly have these types of conversations every time there’s a pretty significant change or shift that is needed, but eventually everyone will get on board.” Identifying Additional Vulnerabilities Another challenge is the long lifecycle of payment cards. Due to extended deployment and replacement cycles, it can take more than a decade to fully refresh cards in the field. As a result, some devices in circulation may still be active when Quantum Day arrives. “With chip cards, we knew the risks for decades, and look how long it took us to make that migration,” Goldberg said. “If financial institutions, card issuers, acquirers, and merchants think that we’re going to be able to address Quantum Day concerns and we don’t get started now, they’re fooling themselves.” The broader challenges lies in the complexity of the payments ecosystem. Cryptographic keys are stored, distributed, and managed across multiple layers and components, creating a wide attack surface. “The first, most critical area to address in the payment business was the card itself,” said Kelman. “It continues to be our priority, because it embeds those secure elements that contain all the vital cryptographic assets that could be vulnerable to attacks.” Seeking Agility Any security measures implemented today will not be permanent. Crypto agility, the ability to rapidly and securely transition between cryptographic algorithms, will be key. Post-quantum cryptographic standards are still evolving, and flexibility will be important. Achieving this will require a cultural shift. The U.S. payments ecosystem has traditionally operated in silos, where agility has not been a core design principle. “It’s a very diverse ecosystem,” said Goldberg. “You have a lot of different players. You have a lot of different types of systems that have to connect to one another in agility. It just isn’t something that we thought about. But it’s going to be a necessity.” The long-term goal is to avoid large-scale card reissuance where cryptographic updates are needed. This was a major challenge during the transition from magnetic stripe cards to EMV chips. Instead, issuers, acquirers, and networks should focus on building systems that can evolve without requiring physical replacement.   Consumers are already accustomed to frequent updates on their mobile devices. A similar expectation may emerge for payment cards, where security updates can be applied without requiring physical replacement. Questions for Financial Institutions Financial institutions have to begin addressing several key questions. They need to understand whether they have fully assessed their cryptographic bill of materials, where and how encryption is performed across their systems, and what tools and algorithms are in use so that risk can be properly evaluated. For many organizations, these are new and complex challenges. In fact, some institutions lack a clear understanding of their current cryptographic risk exposure. Organizations should approach cryptographic risk assessment in the same way they evaluate broader cybersecurity risks—by identifying vulnerabilities, quantifying impact, and incorporating findings into a long-term strategy. “We can’t prepare for risks that we haven’t identified yet, and that’s the way we have to approach this,” Goldberg said. “Things are going to come up that we haven’t even contemplated. We have to have models in place that are agile and can change.” A way forward is to engage technology partners already building solutions that help financial institutions accelerate their transition to post-quantum cryptography readiness. IDEMIA Secure Transactions is one such partner and is already supporting this transition through consultation, and by providing the following: Chips that support post quantum cryptography Hardware Security Module (HSM) for secure keys and data management, that can support evolving cryptographic standards including post‑quantum algorithms, while preserving long-term upgrade flexibility. Robust and certified cryptographic libraries supporting classical and post-quantum algorithms, enabling banks and fintechs to build crypto-agile applications and payment systems Crypto-Agility Services, helping card issuers future-proof payment products through remote cryptographic updates, enabling rapid response to vulnerabilities, regulatory changes, and legacy cryptography deprecation. Final Takeaways At the end of the day, financial institutions should recognize that customers will be affected. Fraud risks may increase during the transition period, potentially snowballing into an overall poor user experience and broader ecosystem instability. “We need to start preparing to address this issue in particular by issuing cards that would run quantum ready algorithms, keeping in mind that the era in which we are entering into is very fluid,” said Kelman. “Our devices need to be crypto-agile and have these crypto agile solutions. What we’re saying is basically we need to prepare, now if not yesterday. We need to prepare for the worst, but maybe hope for the best.”
Transcribe →Serving a Segment of One: The Race to Stay Top of Wallet
Jun 1100:15:05Tap to summarizeArtificial intelligence has raised consumer expectations. Today, people can create a personalized event invitation, social media post, or digital experience in seconds, so why does the payment card they use every day still feel generic? That question is driving renewed interest in payment card innovation, including personalization, premium materials, digital integration, and stronger security features which continue to influence what consumers want from the cards in their wallets. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Brent Bowen, Senior Vice President and Head of Sales for Financial Services Solutions at Giesecke+Devrient, and Brian Riley, Director of Credit and Co-Head of Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research, discussed the evolution of card design, the impact of the digital landscape, and the role technology is playing in the future of card innovation. The overarching message: cards remain the cornerstone of financial services product lineups, but staying top of wallet is increasingly challenging. Pushing the Unboxing Envelope This workhorse role of payment cards has long offered a branding opportunity for banks and credit unions, as well as digital-first firms and fintechs whose card offerings may be one of their few tangible links to customers. This opportunity is only likely to increase, as data from Nilson found that purchase volume on the leading card brands rose 6.4% last year, despite continued inflation and economic pressures. “The card will never go away, no matter how things expand in the digital space,” Riley said. “It becomes the way that a financial institution—whether it’s a fintech, a Wall Street bank, or a Main Street bank—can present themselves to their customer. It goes in their wallet every day and it’s an important part of the relationship. When you start building the value proposition for a credit card, the card itself comes into play.” A focus on individual lifestyles has fueled demand for special cards, although premium in cards doesn’t always mean gold-plated. A strong consumer segment is drawn to eco-conscious cards made from wood or recycled plastics. Others may prefer ceramic or similarly distinctive materials t while opening the door to more innovative designs. The popularity of premium cards has even turned receiving them into a social media moment, with many consumers sharing the unboxing experience online. “Many fintechs have pushed the envelope, no pun intended, with that unboxing experience, and that has created some unique opportunities to differentiate themselves from a branding perspective,” Bowen said. “These products and services reflect the consumers’ personalities and values. They want that cardholder experience to be delivered the way they want it and in the shape that they expect it to be.” “Whether it’s maximizing reward points or travel points, whether it’s lowering fees and interest, or even security and convenience and speed—those are all things that consumers are looking for in their payment products today,” he said. “Card products help differentiate that in the marketplace.” Digital and Physical Convergence Although physical cards retain strong tactile appeal, delivering a robust digital experience is equally important. This is no small feat, as e-commerce, AI, and social media have raised expectations for communication and product delivery. The convergence of physical and digital products is another key trend transforming payment cards. For example, a consumer attracted to a metal card as a status symbol also expects the convenience of loading the card into a digital wallet for e-commerce transactions. This digital optionality is critical not only for convenience, but also for driving customer engagement. As a result, speed to market has become critical for issuers seeking a return on investment. It also aligns with another growing consumer preference: constant innovation and access to the “next big thing.” AI is helping drive these expectations by giving users immediate feedback and personalized experiences in seconds. At the same time, the technology could prove to be a gamechanger for issuers. “One of the big things that is coming into our market is this AI world,” Bowen said. “G+D has a AI card design tool, so you as a consumer can use this AI generation and say, ‘I want a puppy dog sitting on a beach drinking a cool drink’, or apply images that have special value for you, and it will show you your card right there. The Influence of Security Alongside these expectations for speed and customization comes an equally strong expectation of security. As the digital economy has expanded, so too have vulnerabilities to fraud. These threats are accelerating the integration of advanced security standards into payment card technology. For example, the Fast IDentity Online (FIDO) standards are passkeys bound to a device to help mitigate password vulnerabilities and resist phishing attempts. When paired with EMV (Europay, Mastercard, and Visa) standards and near-field communication (NFC) contactless payment technology, authentication can be significantly enhanced. “That security is going to drive not necessarily the design of cards, but the way the cards are used in the marketplace,” Bowen said. “If I am a consumer of a bank or a fintech and want to make a transaction, one best way to make sure that I am talking to who I’m talking to is to verify the phone credentials.” “If it’s a high-dollar transaction, I might want to verify the person using that phone and ask them to tap their payment device against the phone to authenticate or verify that they are who they say they are,” he said. Biometric authentication is another major security trend. The widespread use of fingerprint and facial recognition on smartphones has prompted pilots in additional use cases, most notably payments, where the security benefits are clear. While a growing segment of consumers is security-conscious and would welcome this added layer of protection, mass adoption of biometric cards is likely still years away. Still, for certain segments and use cases, biometric cards could hold substantial appeal. After all, security is one of the main reasons card payments have become a dominant payment method. “That’s what is core to the card business, the irrefutability of transactions,” Riley said. “Without that level of confidence, there would be no card business. We’ve got to be able to ascertain not only is there value associated with the open credit line, but is it the customer making the transaction or the authorized user?” The Fight to Stay Top of Wallet All these trends—stronger security, hyper-personalization, and the convergence of digital and physical experiences—will continue to keep payment cards in consumers’ wallets for years to come. Even so, differentiating in a highly competitive market and staying top of wallet remains a challenge for issuers. For organizations looking to acquire customers more efficiently and drive card usage, the answers may not come easily. One place to start is with the customer. “It’s this granular marketing mentality of being able to hyper-personalize that card product into the consumer’s hands, so that it feels like it’s coming specifically to me, Brent Bowen, and I’m not just one of the masses,” Bowen said. “These advanced personalization strategies, in my estimation, can increase revenues 15% to 20%.” “There’s also the ability to reduce the acquisition costs for these card programs,” He adds: “Personalization can drive that cardholder experience.” This evolution underscores how cards have become critical ambassadors for financial services brands. More than ever, organizations now have the tools to maximize the value of these offerings. “It’s personalization and customization of individual packaging and a marketing-to-a-segment-of-one mentality,” Bowen said. “We’re moving to a world where the consumer wants their card to be unique, instantly issued, and personalized, almost in real time.” “AI can help drive all of those things, either in the back office or on the front end from a design perspective,” he said. “It c...
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