Each of us is convinced that data is the oxygen of the 21st century. Due to the proliferation of points of interaction and communication, we generate and consume astronomical quantities. Thus, the art of data mining is becoming an essential asset for many companies, especially when web giants or some start-ups have made it their specialty.
This is what is happening today in the sphere of financial services and payments, in the light of an increasingly competitive market, where the risks of intermediation continue to increase, where the economic equation is undermined (impacts of the PSD2, digital boom, lower commissions, boom of the collaborative economy …) and where consumers are informed, hyper-connected … and more volatile.
In this particular area, who is best placed to “take the bet”? Gafa, international card systems such as Amex, Visa and MasterCard, neo-banks and other account aggregators; major distribution groups, mobile operators or “classic” banking institutions?
Payment methods are the umbilical cord of the banking relationship and banks remain the first issuers of cards. They process billions of transactions a year from a vast network of merchants.
From then on, it becomes strategic for banks not to lose this advantage. On the contrary, they must consolidate it by taking advantage of the wealth of information available, of course in compliance with regulations. Above all, they must consolidate this advantage by combining transparency, relevance, contextualization, anticipation, personalization in their approaches and finding the right partners.
Moreover, the issue of data applied to payment will be crucial, as the banking relationship will always be more “mobile first”. It will be a matter of improving the user experience, offering the right service at the right time, where the consumer is located, depending on its movements and thanks to geolocation.
We must remain clear-headed: consumers will be able to sort and reward the providers who have built the most appropriate, safe and useful services.
In any case, the coming years will be rich in initiatives of all kinds and twists and turns, but one thing is certain, the data will remain at the heart of the stakes for all players playing in the payments arena.
