Payment providers need to invest in technology if they want to ride the wave of digital transformation

The financial article that has grabbed our attention most in recent months was focused on a local pub. What really got us thinking was the fact that this pub had stopped taking cash payments. This may seem a bold move to some, but it may well prove a smart one.

The way we pay has changed radically in just a few years. In fact, reports regularly discuss the appeal of disruptive payment services over old-school cash. With this in mind, businesses need to adapt to keep pace with consumer preferences and so too do payments providers.

When it comes to providing payments services the market has never been more competitive. Research from SharesPost reveals that the global payments industry is a $100 trillion plus market consisting of large and small companies fiercely competing for transactions. To stay ahead these businesses need to move fast, but this can be difficult when most financial organisations are built on the shoulders of legacy systems and traditional infrastructure.

Payments businesses need to fast track adoption of the latest technology solutions. If they fail to do so, they could be left behind by the current wave of digital transformation.

The future is cloud

One of the first and most critical moves for payments providers should be moving to the cloud. This provides the benefit of continuous technology upgrades as well as eliminating the risk of maintaining on-premise hardware and data. It also minimises the need for major overhauls and costly investments in the future; cloud solutions can flex and evolve with your businesses.

To put it simply, companies are increasingly frustrated by costly operating process and constant challenges with updating technology, aging systems, as well as infrastructure that is complex and inefficient.

However, the constriction in any process is the narrowest point. If 90% of infrastructure is straight through but some complex manual processes still exist, then the outcome may be the same as a legacy service. The key question may be whether cloud infrastructure-powered payment services will be able to access a businesses CRM or ERP solution directly to complete the task automatically. The future is cloud, but the enabler is the API economy that can give the required direct system-to-system access in line with a company’s risk appetite.

It is here that cloud hosting can play a key role and allow companies to move away from the trappings of legacy technology and remove the bottlenecks.

Saving time, money and removing risk

However, this is easier said than done and business leaders need to think strategically to make sure they have the cloud platform in place to grow, innovate and evolve with changing customer demands.

With the ability to provide a simple and seamless service, Cashfac’s Hosted and Managed Service is working with businesses to support their transition to the cloud. By offering daily bank processing, as well as importing account holder data and transaction files, we are working with our customers a create fast and scalable solutions that are increasing time to market. Fundamentally, cloud hosting allows companies, from small business to large organisations, to outsource the cost and complexity and focus resources on areas that can drive growth.

Banking has always been a disparate process from company functions, it was the last act in making a payment or extracting data. The new world of Open Banking allows businesses to harness the data from within a bank and input into it directly. Open Banking and the API ecosystem that is evolving allows the banking that businesses require to be both bespoke to them and also directly connected to the core systems that run their business and more importantly to the bank.

Going forward, it will be the payments providers that look to the cloud and understand its potential, as not a threat to legacy systems, but an extension that will help keep up to speed with customer demand. By putting cloud at the centre of a business, we will see Open Banking continue to proliferate and businesses and customers reap the benefit, now and into the future.

Learn more about Cashfac’s Cloud Hosting and Managed Services