Two Global Payments Showstoppers

The big trend in payments is to move away from in-house payments processing systems to SaaS-based platforms that are easy to deploy, configure and enable new capabilities. What’s driving this trend, says i2c CMO Marc Winitz, is the need for both the control and flexibility to compete effectively in today’s market. In an interview with MPD CEO Karen Webster, Winitz discussed the two big global payments showstoppers that i2c sees from its perch and the advice offers that are facing them.

KW: You bring a very important global perspective to the conversation about payments and commerce. What are the trends that you have seen in markets outside of the U.S. that you believe the U.S. market should pay attention to?

MW: The movement in many international markets is from in-house processing systems that are inflexible to true SaaS-based processing platforms that are easy to deploy, configure and launch new capabilities. What’s driving the change is really the delivery of control and flexibility needed to compete effectively.

There are two issues we are seeing in different geographic areas to which the U.S. needs to pay attention. The first is that the payment mechanism is simply a function that needs to be embedded into a broader enterprise business process.

For example, one of our customers outside the U.S., in the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) sector, supports disaster relief. The need to disperse funds rapidly, via a prepaid card, is really important to get money into the hands of those that need it, in the most efficient way possible. We are seeing this a lot now where the enterprise isn’t particularly concerned with payments, per se, they just need that capability delivered rapidly, securely and aligned to their business process.

An entertainment company we are working with wants to build loyalty with their customers via real-time engagement during performances and events. Having mobile capabilities, like push notifications tied to relevant offers that are integrated directly with a prepaid card, allows the push of an offer at the best time, say right before an intermission. This builds brand recognition, drives engagement, and ultimately revenue.

The second major trend we are seeing is a realization in the payment provider ecosystem that consumers really do hold the power in terms of expectations around the products they have and the associated user experience. The intersection of social media and mobile means that consumers are judging brands based on the experience delivered. If that experience isn’t on par with apps that deliver relevant experiences that are combined with ease of payment it won’t reflect well on one’s brand.

Financial services providers aren’t just competing against each other. Here in the U.S., financial services products are competing against innovative players like Uber, Starbucks, AirBnB and Facebook. That’s the bar that has to be met.

KW: According to recent industry data, prepaid is expected to grow at an annual rate of 22 percent through 2017. What are some of the biggest unrealized opportunities in the prepaid market today and how are you addressing these?

MW: The electronification of payments continues to expand and the opportunity is definitely there for growth to continue. Programs that can drive consistent, repeat loads and have stickiness with the consumer are key, so use cases around government disbursement and payroll are important target markets.

The other area that is driving growth are niche market players – for example, those that can deliver multi-currency capabilities in the travel sector. We are helping several customers differentiate here given the real time aspect of foreign exchange conversion our platform delivers.

The market is maturing, so there will be some consolidation. The challenge for a lot of programs is how to keep consumers engaged as they are savvier. The consumer is now in control so what will separate the winners from the losers is the ability to deliver real value, such as integrated offers and electronic coupons, via mobile apps and notifications, all managed with integrated campaign tools that work in real time.

From the i2c perspective, one of the primary areas we are now regularly talking with our business partners the most about is tying more intelligent engagement, through the processing platform, into the commerce experience. Just processing a transaction, while important, isn’t enough. Our platform is particularly well suited to support this next generation of commerce that more formally engages consumers.

KW: You have recently announced a partnership with Tuxedo Money Solutions. Can alternative finance really take on big banks and how?

MW: We are very excited about helping Tuxedo expand their business as they take advantage of the growing need for multi-currency travel card solutions.

Specific to alternative finance, there’s actually been a very active market taking on larger banking institutions for quite some time with sub-prime lenders being an example. One of the more interesting use cases we see in prepaid is helping immigrant communities by connecting transmitters and receivers of funds. Boom Financial is a good example of this as they are helping residents in Haiti and the U.S. migrate into the banking system via a prepaid card connected with a mobile application to support cross border payments.

KW: i2c has launched uChoose corporate rewards gift card in Australia. How would you describe the state of corporate prepaid cards globally? What trends have you observed?

MW: uChoose is a really good example of using a payment instrument to have a more engaged relationship with an employee and it shows the employer cares about them, using this method as staff recognition, for example. But corporate prepaid can apply to so many other important business issues as well. Certainly there is the area of cost takeout, making it easier and cheaper to support corporate travelers, for example, or running nationwide sales incentive programs and making payments quickly for brand re-enforcement, such as with auto manufacturers and dealers.

KW: Finally, what can we expect from i2c in 2015? What projects do you have planned for this year?

MW: We are expanding this year in several international markets given the growing interest for better credit, debit and prepaid processing solutions. We are also bringing to market several new products and capabilities in loyalty and big data, so much more to come on that front.

Marc Winitz
Chief Marketing Officer, i2c Inc.

Marc Winitz is the Chief Marketing Officer for i2c, a Silicon Valley based global payment processor with prepaid, debit and credit customers in over 200 countries. Prior to joining i2c, Winitz was the Senior Vice President of Marketing – Americas at Monitise, U.K.-based mobile money specialist. He has extensive experience in mobile technology and fintech software and systems integration companies, serving in senior sales and marketing roles at ATSC, Voyager Wireless Systems and FICO.