In your opinion, how has the payments market evolved over the last few years and what are the prospects for global growth?
Competition, consolidation, growth, and the evolving regulatory environment have all had a significant impact on the payment landscape, but not necessarily with the desired outcome to provide better services for merchants - or clients, as we prefer to call them - and their respective consumer base. A good case in point is the rise in the number of merchants switching to offer cashless payments in recent years, in response to the boom in ecommerce and mcommerce. Cashless payments in Europe alone - both online and in bricks-and-mortar stores - are expected to double by 2025 to 238 billion transactions, from 128 billion in 2015.
As consumers take greater control over where and how they shop, it is an increasing challenge for merchants to source the right technology and translate this into a simplified, user-friendly, and effective service to improve cost and speed for acquisition, increase retention and grow spend and loyalty with consumers.
Making it “work” anytime, every time and anywhere is a must-have in a world where consumers’ behavior is dictated by living “instantaneously” because of the technology we have at hand. Instant access, instant comments, sharing, views and evaluation are the new standard for merchants and clients providing services and products online and off-line.
To ensure they benefit from the opportunities these changes provide, payment service providers (PSPs) need to stand out from the crowd in the eyes of their merchant clients. In the payment landscape where everybody is just doing more of the same, it’s the personal relationships between merchants and their suppliers that make the difference. Payments providers must put their customers at the heart of what they do.
With this in mind, the most successful PSPs will be those that really invest the time in getting to know their customers and their specific needs. Doing so, they can really understand how to take the pain out of payments for a merchant’s customers, enabling their business to grow and thrive in the future.PXP Financial’s platform supports payments across retail, among other industries. What are the main challenges in accepting payments in retail?
Merchants are constantly faced with being creative in an evolving commerce environment. To allow the consumer to “blur” the boundaries between online and in-store shopping, merchants need to offer a variety of choices, personal touch, strong customer service, and fast delivery in order to maintain consumer loyalty and satisfaction.
Payments and the choice of payments are also crucial, but most companies often forget about the importance of the payment solution. Demographics, consumer patterns, technology and data are all relevant cornerstones to build and deliver an effective and user-friendly service.
At PXP Financial, our payments solutions are designed with this in mind. We can tailor services to the specific needs of each of our merchants, considering their customers’ needs, to help them create the best possible user experience in-store or online. Whether you’re a supermarket that needs a payment solution capable of handling high-volume sales in a short time, or a luxury fashion outlet looking to create a top-tier, unique consumer experience, PXP can provide the exact system for your needs.
PXP Financial is a merger of two payment companies, PXP Solutions and Kalixa. How do you see the capabilities of the new brand evolving over the next two years?
The merger saw two experienced and valued payment solutions providers come together to combine in-store technology with online and ecommerce solutions. Not only have we amassed a wealth of expertise into one team, we gained the freedom to invest back into both product development and increasing the one-to-one service we offer our clients. Not only has this helped to combine a wealth of expertise into a single business, but it also frees up a considerable amount of resource that we can invest back into both product development and the one-to-one service we offer customers.
Going forward, our focus is to deliver technology and service that will help our clients overcome today’s market challenges. We will work more closely with our clients to understand how we can build and deliver a solution for their specific needs. Our portfolio of products will continue to expand so we can offer our clients unrivalled service, increase consumer satisfaction and grow high approval rates by combatting fraud and optimising relevant payment solutions.
We will look at benchmarking ourselves and our solutions to ensure we deliver the best to our clients. We will also invest in offering financial services on top of payment and transaction processing to allow faster and more flexible funding cycles, as well as financing options for products and services. Ultimately, our goal is to optimise the working capital of our clients.
About Koen Vanpraet
Koen has over 25 years’ experience in technology markets, focusing on delivering value to clients. He has a proven reputation in payments, excelling in senior roles with Global Collect/Ingenico and Credorax. Koen is responsible in building relationships and furthering PXP Financial’s global business and product line.
About PXP Financial
The PXP Financial team has many years of combined experience leading innovation in the dynamic payments space. We have employees from 25 nationalities working across offices in the UK, Austria, Bulgaria, India, Australia, and the US. Through innovative technologies, we create a first-class payment experience for our customers.
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