The Payment Service Provider segment in the payments value chain is maturing, and the growth process can be accurately described in two powerful words: dynamism and fragmentation. Seeing how the market currently encompasses hundreds of PSPs, staying on top of the game is quite challenging, and it will ultimately require new strategies.
In the last two or three years, the landscape has begun to change, and the payments industry started moving towards consolidation. Major acquisitions in 2017, some of the biggest being Worldline’s acquisition of Digital River World Payments, Ingenico’s acquisition of Bambora, and Vantiv’s acquisition of Worldpay, signalled an important new development. Leading PSPs are starting to scale up their operations, competing for a wider reach on the market. According to Innopay, “retail prices for online transactions are dropping, for some payment methods even at 10-15% p.a.”, which means that acting as the payment facilitator may not be enough (anymore) to stay competitive and relevant on the market.
Also, constantly increasing market demands, such as omnichannel capabilities and enhanced UX, and the imminent reform brought about by the implementation of PSD2 in Europe will leave even the most experienced merchants at loss for words when asked, "which PSP is right for my business?". Thus, we at The Paypers have decided to aid merchants, experts, and consultants in their mission to understand the payments landscape by creating a detailed mapping of the PSP ecosystem.
Our mapping begins by distinguishing four main categories of payment providers (Payment Service Providers, Payout Solution Providers, PSP Enablers, and PSP Connectors) and continues with a detailed overview of the industry, as revealed by the following variables:
Geographical presence - the degree of global or regional presence of a PSP (regional, international, or global).
Omnichannel/Pure ecommerce - omnichannel PSPs offer both online and offline solutions, while pure ecommerce PSPs offer solely the former. In all three of the infographics, the PSPs are divided in two groups to signify the divide between the omnichannel and pure ecommerce PSPs.
Payment capabilities is the main variable that determines a PSPs position on the x-axis. It is the sum of all the payment capabilities offered by the company. The y-axis measures the number of countries in which a PSP supports merchants.
If you want to gain more detailed and accurate information on the PSP landscape, you can access the full Payment Service Provider Industry Mapping. This product serves as a support-resource within the Online Payments and Ecommerce Market Guide 2017, one of the most relevant sources of information on the ongoing trends and developments of the payments industry.