Interview

Discover Global Network targets expansion of digital payments in Asia-Pacific

Tuesday 12 December 2023 09:25 CET | Editor: Irina Ionescu | Interview

Chris Winter, Managing Director & Head of Asia Pacific Region at Discover Global Network, discusses the future of digital payments in APAC and the prevalence of cards, alongside popular local payment methods.

APAC is not a homogeneous market. How would you characterise the region when you think about the presence of Discover Global Network, Diners Club International, and the overall card industry there?

Given the diversity of the market and the rapidly expanding position of Discover Global Network in the region, we are focusing on two main priorities. First is to support those businesses we closely collaborate with. Whether they are issuers, acquirers, or both, we are broadening our product range to ensure they are deriving the maximum value from their association with us. 

Second, we want to target the markets where we may not issue a local card, but where we actively support our local and global acquirers to ensure they can leverage our competitive scheme fees and interchange. This allows us to better articulate our value proposition to their merchant customers and enhance the ecommerce proposition to make it easier and more affordable to accept our local and international cards.

Within each of these markets, there are also great differences in consumer behaviour and preferences. In some countries, such as India, there is a big push by the government and regulators for increasing cashless capabilities, while QR code use is the dominant payment method in other places. What opportunity do those various approaches create for more-traditional card schemes?

The partnership between the Reserve Bank of India and the domestic payments scheme is strong, delivering  positive results in terms of traditional card Issuance, as well as an instant-payment system.

Furthermore, in some countries, QR codes are now the preferred choice of payments for both merchants and consumers, to the point where they are displacing traditional POS devices and card acceptance. This creates a challenge for all traditional card schemes and their cardholders, as acceptance of cards becomes less common, even in major cities. But in China, for example, thanks to our association with Alipay and WeChat Pay, our cardholders can now fund those wallets with their cards and enjoy a seamless payment experience when they travel there.

What specific challenges – or opportunities – do you see for the card industry and Discover Global Network in the region? 

We will continue to work with wallet providers to ensure that cardholders on the Discover Global Network can use their cards whenever they want. Strategically, we can deliver to QR and virtual wallets the same value we have delivered to physical cards, with interoperability on a local and international level. This is a focus area for us, and we are leveraging our strong working relationships with both issuers and domestic networks to deliver this. Although no one can dictate the transaction preferences of people, we can work with the right industry leaders in different markets to ensure a smooth experience.

How do you provide customers from APAC, who are used to paying with their locally preferred method, the acceptance and payment flexibility they need in various markets around the world when they travel?

Traditional card payments, either in their physical plastic form or loaded into wallets, are the de facto face-to-face payment method. That is well understood by the payments industry, and the legacy of chip-and-pin, chip-and-signature, smartphone wallets, and contactless wallets is likely to continue, even in Asia.

That said, we are seeing a growing need, as cardholders download local wallets, to ensure a seamless payment experience. This is part of our responsibility as a global network — to ensure all our cardholders have a seamless payment experience wherever they travel.

How do you capture the opportunity to expand the payment options of cardholders from other parts of the world when they travel into this region?

We continue to work with global and local acquirers to ensure traditional payment methods remain available in key markets and merchants. This includes our relationships with traditional acquirers and payment service providers, as well as the many new entrants we are seeing, especially in the tap-to-pay space. Communication among ourselves, our issuers, and their travelling cardholders is key. For travellers to have a great experience, they need to know which apps are available, the steps to authenticate and load their cards, and where these apps can be used.

At the same time, alliances are essential for Discover. We have built our global network through a strong ethos of collaboration, both with traditional card Issuers and acquirers and with domestic schemes, such as Rupay in India, JCB in Japan, and BC Card in South Korea. They play a central role as Discover Global Network grows and evolves its market strategy to reflect the needs of consumers and merchants.

Finally, looking ahead, where do you see the industry heading in the APAC region?

In the use of QR codes and wallets, growth rates are staggering, and this trend is likely to increase. Aside from QR codes and wallets, we are seeing a lot of growth in commercial cards, especially in the B2B space, notably in the travel verticals and where regulators and governments are looking to digitise their economies. From our view, there may be changes in the market share for credit, prepaid, debit, consumer, commercial, virtual, or physical cards, but cards are here to stay.


About Chris Winter

With strong experience in the payments industry, Chris Winter joined Discover in 2010 and has focused on building international acceptance of Discover Global Network and broad alliance collaborations in the EMEA and APAC regions. His current responsibilities include managing existing and developing franchise relationships to support the growth of Diners Club International and expand acceptance via acquirers and processors for Discover Global Network. Prior to his current role, he served as VP EMEA Partnerships at Discover, where he oversaw Issuing activities with DCI franchises and N2N alliances across the region.


About Discover Global Network

Discover® Global Network, the global payments brand of Discover Financial Services, processes millions of cardholder transactions each day. With industry expertise, innovative technology and a closed-loop infrastructure, Discover Global Network provides effective, customized solutions that evolve as needs change. Discover Global Network has alliances with 25+ payment networks around the world and is led by three Discover businesses: Discover Network, PULSE®, and Diners Club International®.


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Keywords: digital payments, online payments, credit card, debit card, payments , QR code, QR payments, e-wallet, digital wallet, prepaid card, virtual card, B2B payments, digitalisation, financial inclusion
Categories: Payments & Commerce
Companies: Discover Global Network
Countries: Asia, Oceania, Pacific
This article is part of category

Payments & Commerce

Discover Global Network

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