Study finds most payment leaders see a need for tech upgrades

A recent study by global payments infrastructure provider Primer has revealed that 80% of payment leaders worldwide see a need for significant technology updates.

The survey gathered insights from 500 payment decision-makers across the US, UK, Singapore, France, and Australia to understand their perspectives, goals, and challenges in managing payment operations. The findings suggest a growing recognition of payments as a strategic function within organisations, transitioning from a back-office role to a key element in business growth. 

Around 75% of respondents anticipate that payments will play a more critical role in their organizations over the next five years. However, despite this shift, 76% reported that their company's leadership does not currently prioritise payments as a strategic focus, highlighting a disconnect between payment professionals and company leadership regarding the strategic value of payments.

Regional focus and main objectives

The research also uncovered regional differences in the focus areas of payment leaders. In Australia, France, and Singapore, reducing fraud and chargeback rates is a primary goal over the next year. In contrast, UK-based professionals are concentrating on incorporating more automation and artificial intelligence into payment processes, while their US counterparts are prioritising improvements to the customer experience. 

Almost half of the payment professionals surveyed (46%) emphasised the need for greater support from senior management to achieve their objectives, with 47% underscoring the importance of spreading payment knowledge across various departments. 

Investment in updated technology remains a central theme, with 89% of respondents planning to invest in upgrading their payment systems, and 87% considering the adoption of payment orchestration platforms. These figures demonstrate a clear dissatisfaction with the current state of payment technology and a desire for more flexible and agile systems to enable transformative improvements. 

Officials from Primer noted that the role of payment leaders has become increasingly important in the business landscape. They brought up the importance of modernising payment technology to support organisational growth, saying that payment leaders need flexible and optimised tools to navigate the evolving payments environment.

Survey methodology 

The Primer survey, conducted by Wakefield Research, surveyed 500 payment decision-makers from non-consumer/retail banking sectors in companies with at least 50 employees. The survey covered respondents in the US, UK, France, Singapore, and Australia and was carried out between 18 and 25 June 2024. The results carry a margin of error of +/- 4.4 percentage points for the global sample and +/- 9.8 percentage points in each market.