How New Players in the Payment Sector are Pacing the Shift to Digital Banking

For online businesses, streamlined payments is one key to improving valuable consumer relationships. That’s because players in the payment sector have been working the midnight shift to make payments safer, faster, and universal.

Check the list of mergers and acquisitions in the payment sector witnessed in 2019 alone, and it’s easy to tell that the industry is dedicated to improving the quality of payments. Here are some this year’s mega-mergers;

• FIS & Worldpay, 
• Fiserv &First Data Corp,
• Global Payments &TSYS.  

As we speak, customers can pay in many new ways they couldn’t before. Industry players are increasing the number and sophistication of the payment alternatives accessible by customers.

But in the cut-throat rush to digitize transactions, sector bigwigs— like the ones who’ve merged above— understand that they must tailor services to fit the customer’s financial needs and offer better solutions than banking institutions and credit unions.

A top priority for customers is to have easy-to-integrate, intuitive, and digital payment solutions for their modern financial-transactions needs. Payment providers are working to achieve all those and more. In truth, the sector is changing shopper expectations, experiences, and habits with their ever-transforming tech.

Innovations like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Google Pay—though not well-liked by consumers like many anticipated— are paving the way for better payments in the future. But many other user-friendly solutions and innovations like PayPal and Venmo have disrupted payments and led to a massive shift from old-school banking ties.

And not just that; some retailers are invading the payment space, even threatening to steal the eminence from Banks. The Starbucks app, for example, plays a critical role in payments because millions of consumers use it to keep finances and buy goods. 

In essence, finances that were once locked up in secure accounts are now available in multiple platforms— money flowing freely in the market for the good of customers and business owners. And the good thing; both business and customers are loving it! 

Banking institutions and Credit Unions still outshine these fresh players when it comes to customer trust. These old players have been around long enough, and customers trust them over these newbies.

But banking institutions and credit unions won’t compete favorably until they learn to make the most of this invaluable resource they have—customer trust. They must adapt to the need for speed, convenience, and intuitiveness to match up to new players. 

Parting Shot

Banking institutions and credit unions must digitize their services to compete favorably in the payment space. The goal is to integrate user-friendly payment alternatives to the financial-transactions experience, eliminate obstacles, and improve quality.

Author Bio: Payment industry guru Taylor Cole is a passionate payments expert who understands the complex world of merchant accounts. He also writes non-fiction, on subjects ranging from personal finance to stocks, and scrutinizes Worldpay complaints to understand the payments ecosystem. He enjoys eating pie in his backyard porch, as should all right thinking people.