Roundup of PayExpo 2016

PayExpo 2016 held a number of interesting talks and mini events during the conference. From talks about blockchain as previously posted, to security and to loyalty and fraud.

During the event between talks a clever addition to the conference was added; a ‘boxing match’ which took place between two speakers who metaphorically fought one another with words in arguments such as whether or not the UK should stay in the EU and what the effects of either choice would have upon the financial services industry.

At the start of this interlude a pleasant homage and minute silence was given to Muhammad Ali in respect to his death which was a very humanising feature of what could be viewed as an nonhuman event.

The presentations given weren’t only about digital technologies such as blockchain, or about issues within the industry such as fraud. The event also featured physical tech from start-ups which looked to boost productivity from the everyday person to big businesses, from printers to payment methods.

One such piece of technology that came across as rather appealing was the Kerv payment ring. Delivered by Phil Campbell, he explained how this technology will be a useful tool in day-to-day life.

There are three unique selling points for the Kerv ring which are; it can store contact details, can pay in a growing number of places including trains and busses and it gives freedom to move from one place to another.

The last point is what really sets it apart from other payment solutions. Yes a person can take their card or cash anywhere, but, due to the Kerv’s waterproof feature and wear-ability it makes the payment method a lot more versatile. People are forever losing their cards, money and phone etc. but are significantly less likely to lose a wearable.

Due to the purpose of the device it means that people partaking in sports are able to carry it with ease. People who frequent the beach won’t need to worry about someone stealing their wallet from out of their bag. And because of the cap, like other contactless payment methods, it also means that if it was lost then no significant damage can be done to the owner.

Elsewhere at PayExpo was Dom Higgins, PaySec, speaking about cross-border payments. During his talk, Higgins, focused on the Asian market and explained than in Asia, like in the west, the middle class has expanded and this has caused e-commerce to expand into the digital.

By 2021, in Asia, debit cards are expected to overtake cash, a trend countries in the west seem to be following as well. Currently in China, 25% of shops are online and 12.9% of retail taking place is e-commerce. These statistics are not that surprising when you consider the expansion of people logging online to do shopping.

Other insights that Higgins offered were how Alipay, one of the biggest payment providers in China, has roughly 80 million transactions per day and half of those are done on a mobile device. With this knowledge PaySec investigated and found a correlation that indicates that companies which offered a wider range of payment types were succeeding more.

Overall, PayExpo 2016 was a massive success for those who hosted talks and those who attended. With a wide speculation of change and dynamic driving towards the future fuelled by new technologies and fresh methods of practice we from the Fintech Finance team look forward to going again next year.