BNPL: Is It Worth the Hype?

Currently one of the fastest growing payment methods globally, “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) is gaining momentum among younger shoppers as well as their older cohorts, with particularly strong growth in segments such as fashion.

Consumer Payments in Europe: What Are the Trends That Are Here to Stay?

The way we pay for everything, from food to clothes and everything in between, is changing significantly. 80 percent of consumers report they have made more contactless payments than ever before, and nearly a quarter (24%) of these consumers are making more use of their mobile wallets.

The European Commission’s Consultations on Instant Payments in the EU: What Are the Questions and Why You Should Reply

On 24 March 2021, the European Commission (EC) published its Consultation Strategy on Instant Payments in the EU. This initiative is a follow-up to the EC’s Retail Payments Strategy (RPS), which I covered in another post, and it wishes to promote the availability of competitive homegrown and pan–European payment solutions.

EMV at the Pump: Is It Really That Secure?

Last weekend I went spring skiing, well spring snowboarding — but you know what I mean. It was sunny, with temperatures in the 50s — an epic day of carving mashed potatoes to close my snowboarding season.

How to resolve delayed mail issues with digital payments

In light of the pandemic, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has been facing its own crisis. In late December 2020, only 38 percent of non-local first-class mail arrived on time, compared with 92 percent during the same time period in 2019.

Making Waves in Indonesia’s Payments Space [ALTO Q&A]

The Indonesian market is one to watch in the payments space. While paper-based transactions still reign supreme in the country, digital and real-time payments are now top-of-mind issues for regulators and businesses.

Could Increased Fraud Make the Mobile Payments Boom a Revenue Bust for Merchants?

Mobile payments are fast becoming mainstream, with ACI merchant customers seeing 30 percent of all eCommerce transactions in 2020 being made on mobile devices. In the United States, adoption is higher, with 42 percent of eCommerce transactions in 2020 on mobile – that’s a year-on-year growth rate of 55 percent.

Real-Time Payments Growth Across the World

Spurred by a year of unprecedented disruption, 2020 saw real-time payments grow larger—in terms of both volumes and values—and faster than anyone could have anticipated.

PCI DSS 4.0 compliance – A catalyst for progressive consumer payments modernization

2021 marks the beginning of the implementation of the new PCI DSS standards, with the final version of PCI DSS v4.0 currently planned for completion in Q4 2021.

The European Commission Inception Impact Assessment on real-time payments in the EU: Is the real-time payments’ future a regulated one?

On March 10, 2021, the European Commission (EC) published an Inception Impact Assessment (IIA) on the Commission’s planned initiative on real-time payments in the EU. The IIA is open for feedback until April 7, 2021, and you can provide your contribution here.

What Merchants Should Do To Ensure They Don’t Miss the SCA Deadline

Just as we emerge from one of the most turbulent years most businesses have ever experienced, the enforcement of strong customer authentication (SCA) under the PSD2 directive has hit for merchants across the EU, with the U.K. set to follow in September 2021.

Building resilience and flexibility through multi-acquiring

At one time, merchants saw payments simply as the cost of doing business. Today, however, payments are seen as a strategic battleground—one that can drive revenue and loyalty when done right.