It’s been a busy conference season, and one of my highlights was attending sibos in Amsterdam, where more than 10,000 leaders of banks and financial institutions from around the world came together to discuss the changing financial landscape, and change was arguably top of mind for those of us in payments.
The conferences, for me, are much more than attending the sessions. It’s about making connections. My career in payments has allowed me to develop a remarkable network across the industry. In fact, I consider one of my superpowers to be connecting the decision makers in my network with the contacts and partners they need, when they need them. It was clear to me at Sibos that it has become essential for payments players to look beyond their own abilities to thrive in this rapidly changing industry. Partnering for success has become a non-negotiable.
Everything from the underlying payments infrastructure to the customer experience is changing at a rapid pace, and it is no longer practical for any player to fly solo. The payoffs of working in collaborative networks alone make it worth it. Add in the challenge of finding enough tech talent to help gamers keep up with new developments and customer expectations, and you begin to see why collaboration is not only advantageous, but necessary.
I recorded a video at Sibos where I talked about some of the biggest opportunities for paying players today and the need for innovation to take advantage of those opportunities. You can see it here:
A new world of collaboration
Payment collaborations began with simple arrangements for one partner to use another’s services or make their products available on the partner’s platform. Today, collaborations are becoming much more complex and two-way.
The lines are blurring as services, platforms and functionality become more integrated. Payment ecosystems are expanding and relationships are becoming more sophisticated and less transactional than a few years ago.
Customers are now used to having a variety of hassle-free and convenient payment options. In the North American market, I don’t think any pay channel can dominate. Digital wallets, integrated payments, tap to pay, and all emerging technologies will likely co-exist in an increasingly diverse market.
By working collaboratively, more vendors can offer the choices their customers want and avoid them searching for competing products or spreading their business across multiple vendors offering different services in different contexts.
How can banks be great partners?
To thrive in this new collaborative environment, your business will need to be a sought after partner. It’s a mindset shift from the highly competitive attitudes of the past. Instead of approaching the payments market as a zero-sum battle for the customer, the best contributors are building win-win partnerships across the ecosystem.
Fintech Kyriba and Bank of America partnered to add a live connector to Well CashPro digital banking platform. The connector enablesyes real time payments and payment status for US customers, plus intraday bank statement and bank balance updates.
The keys to adapting to this new environment are responsiveness and flexibility. For many incumbents, this will require a new approach to decision making. Building responsiveness across business processes, corporate planning, risk, and controls can greatly reduce time to market when working with ecosystem partners.
Evolving customer needs and expectations will drive change. The ability to work seamlessly with partners to offer the right payment options when and where customers need them will decide which players will stay relevant over the long term.
building strong relationships
In the end, players who can build strong and effective relationships will play a leading role in emerging payment ecosystems. That brings me back to Sibos and the other big conferences that bring together leaders from various corners of the payments industry. Events like this present a valuable opportunity to forge connections between decision makers that can start new collaborations rolling. Because partnerships aren’t just about aligning business goals, it’s about aligning people and their visions for the future.
A find more about how can you do the right connectionscontact me here. Learn more about people were arguing in Sibos, see our full coverage Featgram The main takeaways from my Accenture colleagues’ conference.
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