Fintech Insights

Number of stakeholders increase.

As a payment solution provider, we have a vast responsibility. Literally speaking, we are taking care of the blood stream in our customer's business. We have an extensive toolbox that we can tune to fit our customers' demands and desires. Over time, a shift in complexity, and availability has made it almost impossible for any merchant to decide the best setup. When I summarize 2021 and make notes of what I bring to 2022, the main thing is; Westpay should continue expanding our overall ambition to include ourselves early on, already when our customers are preparing for the next generation payment solution. Then we, as a provider, can ensure that the value of the whole solution is greater than the sum of the parts.

Number of stakeholders increase

Today, multiple factors have a substantial impact on the overall success when implementing a new payment solution. What used to be a straightforward and linear process now affects the entire organization. Finance, legal, HR, IT, and end- users, to mention a few. Consequently, these stakeholders need to be a part of the process early on. Only then do we have the right line-up to reach all the benefits internally that come with a new payment solution. This is something we highlight early on when we guide our customers. As a consequence, they get better information in how and why they should prefer one solution in front of another.

Enabling Integrated Commerce

Society and individuals often overestimate the impact in the short run and underestimate the impact in the long run. This statement is something you can apply to almost everything.

Fifteen years ago, Cloud was the #1 buzzword. Everybody talked about the importance. They said that anyone not jumping on that train would be out of business within 18 months. Now, we know that this was not true. First, we know that the pace has been much more agile and pragmatic, and it was not binary. There are still many companies that have a blend between datacenters on-prem and Cloud solutions off-prem. Secondly, we know that making this transition had an impact on the entire organization. Those that made this an isolated IT project failed big time. I think that the same experience will meet merchants and their payment solutions, if they approach this challenge without a holistic approach.

OMNI is the current buzzword in our industry. Enabling trade in multiple sales channels, supporting multiple payment methods, while giving the customer a one shopping experience. At Westpay, we call this Integrated Commerce. To get all the benefits out of Integrated Commerce the merchant need to address a lot of questions. Only by asking the right questions the merchant will end up with a solid decision basis. On the opposite, failing to do this might severely damage the merchants competitive ability.

Our response

Westpay’s response to this is sharing knowledge. We, as experts, have the know-how to explore, analyze and interpret what makes a good payment solution.

We have formalized this in something called Payment Solution Advisory Assessment. Whenever our customers face a decision with a big impact, they can request a solid and reliable conclusion based on their current situation, conditions, and objectives.

I predict that more companies will reach out for this kind of guideline. This is not the natural way for all companies since it takes courage and absence of prestige to ask for help in an area that used to be their home field. But those that decide to do this the proper way will stand firm, knowing that their payment solution will work for them in years to come. Internally as well as externally.

Best regards/ Hans Edin, CCO at Westpay


Published februari 28, 2022

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