ISO & Agent

Like similar bans on using credit cards to buy stock and derivatives, banks would rather people use credit cards for other purposes than buying bitcoin, writes Alfred Duncan, a lecturer at the University of Kent.

As billions of devices interact in trillions of transactions, autonomous payments will be required because there simply won’t be enough humans on earth to look at them all, writes Vaughan Emery, founder and CEO of Atonomi.

"Ring-fencing" is designed to reduce risk, but will lead to major changes in transaction infrastructure and open a temporary door for fraudsters, according to Marcus Hughes, head of strategic business development at Bottomline Technologies.

Putting money directly in people’s pockets requires more speed and efficiency through innovative technologies and payments systems, writes Deirdre Ives, managing director of Wirecard North America.

The blockchains that likely prove the most durable and widely used will likely be those that have most effectively developed scalable protocols, writes Xiahong Lin, founder of Bodhi.

Success with blockchain does not depend on new technology alone. It requires bringing together experts in people, process and technology to simplify complex processes and apply tested methods to the new technical landscape, writes Michael Goodman, senior director of data and analytics for NTT Data Services.

On-card biometrics is the final piece of the puzzle to bring trust and security to contactless payments without compromising convenience, writes Lina Andolf-Orup, global product marketing manager at Fingerprints.

For financial institutions to match Venmo and Apple Cash's power, they need an embedded, mobile and social payment strategy, write Richard Crone and Heidi Liebenguth of Crone Consulting.

This trend will continue until banks have addressed key vulnerabilities, according to John Gunn and David Vergara of VASCO Data Security.

The fintech revolution is now touching almost every market in the payments space. Some are still further ahead than others, so expect 2018 to be a year of consolidation in more mature sectors, but one of rapid change in those with some catching up to do, writes David Yohe, vice president of marketing at BillingTree.

That’s because transaction-based loyalty programs that focus on discounting simply train customers to wait for coupons and incentives, writes Tom Caporaso, CEO of Clarus Commerce.

Although some companies have started to integrate cross-channel marketing as a core element of their strategy, most still haven’t realized the opportunity at stake, writes Lisa Paccione, vice president of sales for Syniverse.

While there's lots of fintech innovation globally, some of the most exciting moves are coming from China, Japan and South Korea, writes John Mitchell, CEO of Episode Six.

As organizations look to AP to take on more strategic planning, budgeting, and cash management activities, they have to use automation to get rid of the manual, repetitive, non-value-added tasks they’re doing now, writes Brent Meyers, vice president of national sales for Nvoicepay.

Consumers are more than willing to share retail payment information, geolocations, as well as Uber, OpenTable, Facebook, and Twitter information. However, they have high expectations for what they receive in return, writes Lisa Woodley, vice president of FSI customer experience for NTT Data Services.

A crucial challenge for payment apps and cashless banking is how they adapt to provide services for the unbanked, writes Michael Kordvani, head of SEO for app development agency Fueled.

The rapid development of the Indian mobile wallet market demonstrates the importance of reactivity and adaptability. Huge opportunities await those who can successfully navigate the transformative impact of regulation, emerging technologies and shifting consumer expectations, writes Elina Mattila, executive director of the Mobey Forum.

There are a number of tactics and solutions organizations can employ to shut down the favored methods of fraudsters, including the use of bots and device compromise, writes Michael Lynch, chief strategy officer at InAuth.

Digital channels are likely to delight customers, but poorly performing websites are a major concern, especially as these sites come under heavier traffic loads, writes Mehdi Daoudi, CEO of Catchpoint.

If e-invoicing were adopted by more organizations, many of the issues that currently cause late payments would naturally evaporate, leaving leaders more resources to seek out and identify opportunities for business improvement in this year and beyond, writes Richard Hurwitz, CEO of Tungsten Network.