Apply Financial Blog

Round Table Report – Challenges, disruption and opportunities in an instant payments world

Discussion hosted by Inbound FinTech, led by Apply Financial, Ebury Group, Form3 and Railsbank, on 28^th February 2019

To the end-user, the advent of instant payments is an overdue recognition by banks and the broader payments industry of new realities and expectations in the digital economy. To payments providers, especially long-established players, the pros and cons are less clear cut. Instant payments can be viewed as both an exciting opportunity to deliver new services and a potentially terrifying existential threat.  

 
When the digital age gives us the power to make every-day commercial and financial decisions at the touch of a screen, we expect payments to be executed in real time too.

At the retail level, great strides are being made to deliver a truly seamless real-time user experience. In the B2B payments space, the needs and challenges are slightly different, with transparency and security often regarded as important as speed. But the opportunities are no less exciting and transformational – if the industry can work together to put the necessary building blocks in place.

What does SEPA stand for?

The Single Euro Payments Area allows people and businesses throughout Europe to process and receive credit transfers, Direct Debits, and card payments just as easily as they would domestically.

The payment or transaction page is the most important interaction many businesses can have with their customers. It might be their only interaction, but it might also be the start of a long relationship, and this can depend on how easy and secure the payment process is.

80% of internet users own a smartphone, which means a large portion of online activity happens on a smaller screen. This doesn’t just mean ecommerce sites need to make sure they’re catering to mobile customers, banks are also focusing more on this particular part of their customers’ experience.

Each failed payment processed through a business could cost £50 in charges, time spent fixing the error, resending costs, and exchange rate fluctuations. When looking for a solution, it’s important to make sure the data gathered and checked is as comprehensive and up to date as it can be to avoid any errors.

In total, Validate has saved over £125 million in operational costs for our clients and they’ve never lost a payment.