Payment Ponderings - A GPC Blog

Data analytics has become an indispensable tool for businesses worldwide, and the financial institutions in the Caribbean are no exception. The region's dynamic economic landscape, coupled with rapidly evolving customer expectations, necessitates innovative strategies to stay competitive. By harnessing the power of data analytics, financial institutions in the Caribbean can unlock valuable insights, enhance decision-making, and create personalized experiences that drive revenue growth. Let’s explore how data analytics can be a game-changer for revenue generation in Caribbean financial institutions.

Data analytics has emerged as a powerful tool for businesses across various industries, and independently-run ATM operations in Canada are no different. By harnessing the wealth of data generated by ATMs, operators can gain valuable insights that enable them to make informed decisions, optimize operations, and ultimately increase revenue. Let’s explore how data analytics can be leveraged to drive revenue growth for independent ATM operators in Canada.

What is a payment processor and what should you look for when choosing one?

Large financial institutions (FIs) are historically not known for innovation in financial products or services, and before recent times, the financial industry as a whole, was known to be traditional and not very innovative. In fact, one could argue that the last great financial innovation was the credit card. However, necessity breeds innovation, as the saying goes. And as the financial crisis that began in 2008 hit, alternative financial instruments, methods of payments and a multitude of fintechs sprung up to address various financial needs and gaps in the network of payment services. Still, the inconveniences felt from users in the traditional banking system wasn’t quite enough to propel these alternative payment methods into popularity. Fast forward 12 years, and a global pandemic of unseen proportions accelerated the conditions for fintech growth and the drastic need for alternative payment options. Whilst banks were still considered trustworthy, the continued frustration in the banking operating systems, as compared to the upcoming tried and tested alternative payment options, propelled innovation in the financial sector.

As with many payment trends, the pandemic accelerated the remittance industry to go digital and allow for fintech innovation to put pressure on traditional means of remittances. A remittance can be described as one person sending money to another, often in another country. It is a multi-billion dollar industry with hundreds of millions of migrant workers sending money home to their families, in order to assist with education, healthcare and other every day finances. In many cases, these remittances fully support their families in their country of origin. Very often, bank accounts are not involved.

As our world becomes increasingly smaller and more accessible, there is an expectation that things move instantaneously. Money transfers are no exception. Unfortunately, cross-border payments are still lagging, mostly due to archaic banking systems and differing laws and regulations between countries. Currently many cross-border transactions are handled through intermediary banks but this is clunky and inefficient. Legacy cross-border payments lack transparency and because nobody owns the cross-border experience there is low transparency, low predictability, and no standardization.