UK-based payments processor Worldpay from FIS has focused on cross-border payments in India, with the aim of taking Indian merchants global.
Worldpay is looking to work with domestic merchants who are selling goods and services abroad. Given that Worldpay operates in multiple geographies, it can help these businesses offer unique payment solutions for specialised markets, said company officials.
In 2019, UK-based Worldpay was acquired by FIS at an enterprise value of USD 45 billion. FIS has also looked to spin Worldpay off into a separate entity.
Worldpay’s expertise is in international transactions and the domestic payments market in India is cluttered, therefore, the company intends to stay away from this market. PayPal, one of the former’s competitors, is also currently only operating in the cross-border payments space in India, after withdrawing from domestic payments in 2021.
Officials from Worldpay commented on how UPI had emerged as the backbone of the digital payments transformation seen by India since 2021. Opening credit on UPI is a major achievement for its operator, National Payments Corporation of India. This will eventually push to newer forms of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) opportunities in the country and drive credit penetration.
While BNPL has seen a slowdown, the UK-based payments processor is bullish on the opportunities in India. It has tapered a bit due to regulatory interventions, but newer forms of Pay Late offerings will emerge, Worldpay’s executives added. Regulators around the world are putting guardrails around the BNPL segment so that consumers are not cheated by high interest rates.
According to the press release, Worldpay’s officials foresee a consolidation of many of the different BNPL players that are in the market. Many of the big tech companies, device manufacturers, and card network schemes like Visa and Mastercard, may be getting into this type of a payment method.
Calling out the global payment trends, mobile wallet is emerging as one of the most popular payment modes around the world. While China popularised it with WeChat Pay and Alipay, consumers and merchants are taking to this payment mode quickly, representatives from Worldpay said. In terms of transaction value, wallets will rule 73% of the overall transactions done in the Asia-Pacific region, citing data from the Global Payments Report 2023 by Worldpay from FIS. Samsung Pay and Apple Pay are also emerging as popular wallet payment methods globally, they added.
Worldpay’s representatives explained that the most successful ones are those that provide a super app ecosystem, where within that digital wallet, one can do many things. For example, WeChat Pay allows people to book transportation, shopping, groceries, and the ecosystem even allows for bill payments and reminders for bill payments. The future of payments will be through embedded finance where there will be credit, investments, and everything within one app.
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