Alternative Payment Channels

There is a growing awareness of the importance of payments in the retail banking business. The transaction account is at the core of the customer relationship and payment services play a critical role in customer acquisition and retention. Payments are also an important source and driver of revenue. At the same time banks traditional role in retail payments is coming under growing threat from a plethora of alternative payment providers. This is being driven by a need for payment mechanisms that are faster, more convenient, and more secure, and that meet the needs of new transaction channels and emerging market segments, along with a confluence of regulatory factors and market conditions.

In many respects banks are in a strong position to compete. They already have an installed base of customers who rely on them for payment services. They are trusted as repositories of funds and financial intermediaries. And network externalities pose a formidable barrier to new entrants. At the same time alternative players establishing themselves in market niches consistent with the classic model of disruptive innovation are looking to expand from there into the mainstream payments space.

Report Content

• Alternative payments - background to the threat
• Drivers of alternative payments
• Alternative payments - serving niche markets
• Micropayments
• The un(der)banked
• Alternative POS networks
• Enhancing point-of-sale payments
• Enhancing online payments
• Enhancing payments with promotions
• Integrating payments with the shopping process

Who should read this?

• CEOs, heads of retail banking, strategic planners, e-channels, IT and marketing managers of financial institutions
• CEOs, strategic planners, marketing managers of alternative payments providers
• Consultants, analysts and industry observers

What are they looking for?

• To understand alternative payments and the potential threat they pose to banks' position in retail payments, initiatives underway and solutions available to allow banks to respond to this threat.
• To understand the current state of the industry and what alternative payments mean to banks.
• To deepen their understanding of the potential impact of alternative payments on the financial services industry and the industry's response.

About the author:

Ray Cain is a researcher specialising in banking and finance. He holds a post-graduate Diploma in banking and a Master of Management in banking from Massey University in New Zealand. He is also studying for a PhD in economics at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. During his working career, he has held management and consulting roles in economic development projects in Indonesia and Serbia.