Retailers and banks need each other, but often have very different perspectives on payments. The situation is not helped by a growing number of intermediaries, specifically Fintech players. This series of three reports commissioned by ACI Worldwide and written by Celent explores how payments relationships can be reimagined, taking a perspective of each main party, namely retailers, banks, and Fintech.
Celent has released a new report with ACI Worldwide titled Banks, Retailers, and Fintech: Reimagining Payments Relationships, Part Three: The Fintech Perspective. The other reports in this series also published today include:
The reports are authored by Zilvinas Bareisis and Gareth Lodge, senior analysts with Celent’s banking practice.
Banks, retailers, and Fintech form a payment ecosystem that we believe is more symbiotic than many would want to admit. Retailers care about accepting payments efficiently and effectively, but also have various other needs, from physical cash management to borrowing money and paying suppliers.
Retail banks have been responsible for most of the payment instruments issued to consumers and used at the merchant tills. Yet, it is corporate banks that have the main relationship with retailers. Even though both sides may belong to the same universal bank, they often operate in silos.
Fintech companies sense the opportunity and are trying to insert themselves in a variety of ways. What will their growing presence mean to the relationship between banks and retailers? Will it prove to be a wedge further driving them apart, or the glue that bonds everyone together?
Celent believes that it is time to reimagine the payments relationships between banks, retailers and Fintech. Combative stances and door slamming will only result in lost opportunities for all.
To reimagine those relationships, it is helpful to start by understanding the perspectives of each main party. Therefore, Celent has written three reports in the series with each exploring the perspective of a different stakeholder. This report looks at Fintech and examines three research questions below.
“Fintech players are attracted to payments for a variety of reasons such as revenue, transaction data, and the opportunity to provide a range of services to merchants,” says Bareisis. “However, confrontation is not always the best strategy. The Fintech community increasingly appreciates that banks still have a lot to offer, and despite their shortcomings can be valuable partners.”
This 20-page report contains six figures.
