TALKING

B2C companies that lived through , and survived the pandemic , invested hard in digital . We saw commendable innovation built around not only the expectations of consumers in the new normal , but around the desire to do more with less . Everything from finance to logistics appeared to undergo an overhaul . Retailers were bridging the gap between physical and digital stores .

But , of course , all this change was not unique to the retail sector . The payments industry also got to work reinventing itself . We saw a wave of transformation in the way consumers pay for goods and services . Buy now , pay later , was a huge hit .

Additionally , we had subscription boxes and sustainable payment methods . And as more and more of these offerings enter the mainstream , retailers will have to deal with the fact that they are now fixtures on the customer ’ s list of expectations .

What is connected payments

Challenges lie ahead from day one of the transition journey . Effective payments orchestration calls for all payment gateways to speak to each other regardless of location .

Partners are no longer responsible for the massive amounts of secure payment data that flow back and forth . That is now the retailer ’ s domain . They must tangle and get to grips with PCI compliance .

The challenge list goes on . In introducing valueadded products such as consumer finance , the business must establish new teams and workflows to combat fraud and money-laundering and manage

Laith Al-Bazirgan , Head of Retail MENA , Endava

Currently , most UAE retailers rely on third-party payment gateways to manage back-end payments . But while outsourcing can be a great optimiser , it may not always yield outcomes that best fit customers preferences . Just as retailers have successfully modelled the end-to-end customer journey , they must incorporate payments in the manner customers prefer .

Failure to do so could mean missing out on growth opportunities or losing customer loyalty . And while enterprises remain constricted by payment-provider tie-ups , those that have taken the plunge with connected payments are more agile .

To stay competitive , others will need to follow suit , taking ownership of authorisation , transaction routing , settlements , and even compliance . Automate and optimise every link in the payment value chain through a single , connected platform and new value can be unlocked .

Taking charge

But moving from gateway partnerships to in-house solutions can be tricky without the right talent pool .

Just as retailers have successfully modelled the end-toend customer journey , they must incorporate payments in the manner customers prefer .

things like the lending process , loyalty schemes , and reward systems . And care must be taken to ensure the payments system automatically install rolling updates to issued cards without any disruption to the customer or employee experience .

Challenges of cloud

All these tasks and responsibilities that used to be handled by gateway providers are now resting on the retailer ’ s shoulders . They need to be ready to lift the veil on the payments landscape and gain new understanding of all the systems , processes , and integrations they used to take for granted .

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