In 2020, 52% of all payments in the UK were made by card while the use of cash collapsed, spurred on by the unprecedented impact of the global pandemic. This was an accelerant that had a part to play in the recent evolution of payments, but ‘the landscape is changing faster now than ever before,’ according to Deepti Akkali, Head of Gateway Commercialisation at Elavon Services. At a recent esynergy event, we had the chance to catch up with Deepti, as well as Lily Krawowsky and Michael Bridgman from GoCardless, to find out more about the drivers of payments innovation and the distinct benefits of architectural modernisation.
The importance of payment modernisation
The topic of modernisation is not just highly relevant in terms of updating existing payments infrastructure, but also for the purpose of introducing entirely new forms of it. Deepti explained that many of these upcoming enhancements are going to be launched globally, which will need to be undertaken in a scalable way and driven by architectural modernisation. We are now on the cusp of a landmark moment in payments evolution as we come closer to experiencing truly frictionless transactions, which Deepti described as having ‘always been an endgame for most merchants and service providers.’
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Innovation in the payments space has also transformed customer expectations, with many now anticipating always-on service levels as standard. This has placed a particularly strong focus on the need for instant payments, which Deepti highlights as a central driver of payments modernisation in general. Another factor that is amplifying the importance of modernisation is regulation, as more sophisticated capabilities will play a critical role in maintaining compliance.