The Paypers’ Payment Methods Report 2023
Understanding How People Pay Across Regions and Verticals
In a highly digitalised world, industry players — especially merchants, payment method providers, PSPs, and fintechs — push innovation forward in an attempt to provide an enhanced customer experience, seamless checkouts, and a frictionless shopping process — both online and in store. The key trends that defined ecommerce and the payment space in the past few years — among which convenience, speed, and security — continue to be at the core of payment developments, driving competitivity and growth. With the aim of continuing to shed light on the most recent industry updates, the 8th edition of the Payment Methods Report features insights into the latest technologies deployed to improve the global payments ecosystem, providing a clear overview of how customers prefer to shop and pay and how merchants can meet these ever-changing needs.
What you’ll find in the report
Latest trends in the payment methods space in 2023
The three biggest trends in the payment ecosystem this year include cross-border payments and the solutions to the challenges they pose, the complexity of payment methods and how merchants decide which ones best fit their business models, as well as the acceleration of instant payments.
The latest updates in the BNPL world, together with the crypto winter and the surge of payment orchestration, have also proven important topics in the field, with many companies acknowledging the need for in-house payment orchestration solutions to better cater to the needs of their customers.
Globally trending payment methods
BNPL continues to remain a hot topic in the payment industry, with over 500 million customers globally, and hundreds of providers aiming to meet the specifications of each market. Even though many countries stepped forward in regulating BNPL, the main difference from previous years is the growing appetite and need for B2B BNPL services.
The adoption of Open Banking and A2A payments is also on the rise, with clear benefits for ecommerce and end-users. As more countries choose local schemes to transfer funds faster, easier, and less costly, A2A payments are challenging the status quo of card schemes and their high fees.
If you’re looking for a global overview of the BNPL and A2A payment methods, check out The Paypers’ extensive research featured in this edition of the report, completed with insightful infographics that show how widely adopted these types of payments have become worldwide.
Globally, companies aim to provide seamless customer experiences by leveraging white-labelled solutions, while e-wallets continue to grow in popularity, especially in Asia, where they are looking up to super apps. The potential of tap-to-pay payments is immense, driving not only digitalisation but also financial inclusion and a smarter, easier way of paying.
Finally, biometric payments, the development of GenAI, and the deployment of state-of-the-art machine learning technologies are expected to become the new norm in payments in the next five years, while more countries are running pilot programmes to include stablecoins as an alternative to cash. Recouping after the crypto winter, merchants still consider adding cryptocurrencies to their wide array of payment methods in order to grow revenue and attract younger consumers.
Latest updates in payment habits
The culture of influencers and live commerce is yet another factor contributing to the transformation of the payments and ecommerce space, as Gen Z and millennials count for most of the active population segments across the globe. Based on their alert and active lifestyles, the payments industry must develop and adapt, becoming not only faster, but more inclusive and less expensive.
In addition, gig economy continues to be on the rise, as are concerns regarding a potential global economic downturn and how it will impact the financially excluded population. Gen Z and millennials are also the most prone generations to financial exclusion, experiencing more destabilising economic trends in the past decade than any other generation. The COVID-19 pandemic generated a worldwide housing problem, while the high inflation rates perpetuate a strong disparity between salaries and the cost of living. As a result, these uncertainties force not only people to reconsider their spending and finances, but also companies to create sustainable business models that can thrive or survive during turmoil.
BNPL providers are faced with scrutiny on whether their lending mechanisms will lead to over-indebtedness in a class of individuals who are already seeing pay cuts, unemployment, and rising prices. At the same time, PSPs and merchants are pioneering seamless transactions, while national and international regulatory bodies aim for enhanced transparency and security, consumer affordability, fair overdue payment plans, and encouragement for timely payments through the new Consumer Credit Directive 2 (CCD2) and PSD3.
Checkout optimisation and payment integration: improving conversion and retention rates
Creating a seamless checkout experience was the talk of the year at international payment forums and conferences. This section of the Payment Methods Report was created to compile the essential aspects in the field of checkout optimisation to reduce cart abandonment rates, while also providing the necessary level of data security for payees.
You will learn more about the importance of a customised checkout process and what the drivers for APMs adoption are. Moreover, seasoned payments professionals from Kiwi.com, Vestiaire Collective, Gameforge, OnBuy, and Fiverr discuss the best practices for optimising checkout and provide a perspective on how the younger generations will ultimately shape the future of digital payments.
We invite you to further explore our Payment Methods Report 2023 and find out more about the modern payment landscape. Specifically created with merchants, PSPs, fintechs, and enterprise leaders in mind, the report encompasses the latest trends in the world of payments — and will benefit all the players in this space by featuring insights on specific industry topics.
The Paypers Team
