Innovation

Ace the opportunity and risk balancing act in payments

Through the combination of tools, talent and partnerships, businesses can be better prepared to secure new payment technologies

By RL Prasad, SVP, Payment System Risk, Visa

Illustration of a smartphone, a smartwatch, and a contactless Visa credit card all connecting through a padlock to a POS terminal and website.

Continued innovation in digital and mobile technology has paved the way for an ever-increasing number of ways to pay. As consumers adopt new purchasing behaviors inspired by emerging technologies, members of the payment ecosystem are recognizing the need to balance new ways to pay with security measures to prevent fraud.

This was the overarching finding from a new global report from Forrester Consulting commissioned by Visa “Understanding the Evolving Payments Landscape.” The report looks at how banks, financial technology companies and merchants are protecting themselves and customers from fraud amidst an evolving payment landscape. A survey conducted across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, North America, Latin America, and Asia Pacific among 566 decision-makers in retail banking, fintech, and merchant services found that while enthusiasm for new payment technologies abounds, many organizations struggle with managing fraud and are turning to trusted partners to help them navigate new waters.

The key findings from the report include:

1. Digital payment adoption (including mobile) is increasing globally.
Consumers’ usage of new payment technologies is expected to increase substantially over the next five years. Banks, merchants, and fintechs are working hard to ensure they offer these capabilities to their customers. The survey found that 58% of respondents support digital wallets, 60% support peer-to-peer payments, and 72% support mobile banking bill payments.

2. Each new payment technology brings its own host of fraud concerns.
Companies recognize that new technologies bring new fraud challenges: 68% of respondents expressed concerns about fraud in mobile banking payments; 60% for mobile wallets; and 58% for peer-to-peer payments. However, 77% are ready to invest to meet these challenges head-on.

3. Companies recognize three top fraud concerns.
They are identity verification, data privacy/data theft management, and transaction monitoring.

4.  Companies with more mature security practices take a more holistic approach to fraud management.
Proper protection requires a combination of new technologies, new teams, and new skills.

Given this, how should issuers, merchants and fintechs balance risk and opportunity? Forrester provides five key recommendations in the report.

To read more about the key findings, recommendations and download the full report, follow this link: https://globalclient.visa.com/visa-risk-security-research

Tag: Payment Security Tag: Payment technology Tag: Mobile payments Tag: Fraud

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