As a growing group of consumers around the globe adopt digital payment platforms and tools, some well-known players, including Google and Amazon, are now working to improve and expand access to the solutions that will make those transactions as frictionless as possible.
In the latest Payments Powering Platforms Tracker™, PYMNTS examines how digital payment platforms are being used to transform brick-and-mortar and remote transactions alike.
Around the Payment Platforms World
In New Zealand, for instance, Google is working to get more customers to use Google Pay when shopping online.
The company recently unveiled a new partnership with digital payments processor Paymark that allows the latter’s online merchant customers to accept Google Pay. The initiative is part of an ongoing effort to boost Paymark’s payment acceptance options, and the firm is working to roll out both Google Pay and a range of payment acceptance features and innovations over the next 12 months.
In its quest to influence all angles of commerce, Amazon now has its sights set on brick-and-mortar payments.
The eCommerce giant is making a push to get physical retailers to accept Amazon Pay in a move designed to help expand adoption of the service beyond online payments, according to some reports. The company is currently approaching gas stations, restaurants and other merchants, but experts speculate that hesitant retailers may see the move as a threat.
To read more on these stories and other headlines from around the space, check out the Tracker’s News and Trends section.
How Choice Sets Platform Providers Apart from the Competition 
Online transactions, of course, require digital payment platforms to complete purchases and move funds from one party to the next.
But when it comes to providing a platform to assist users who want to execute a successful concert, road race, fundraiser or other event, simply offering embedded payments isn’t enough, according to John Russell, co-founder of fundraising and event management platform provider Webconnex.
In this month’s Payments Powering Platforms Tracker™, Russell shares how the company has worked to create value-added features, from payment acceptance to event registration to ticket checking and other event operation features, all of which are intended to help simplify event calendars for both attendees, companies and nonprofits.
About the Tracker
The Payments Powering Platforms Tracker™, powered by WePay, serves as a monthly framework for the space, providing coverage of the most recent news and trends, along with a provider directory highlighting the key players contributing across the payments-integrated platform ecosystem.
We’re always on the lookout for opportunities to partner with innovators and disruptors.
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