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noted. Attackers who are blocked or deceived will tions, their introduction was driven purely to solve a
eventually realize they are being played and will problem: is there a better way to make a payment than
move on to the next victim. conventional cash or check?

Wouldn't it be nice to flip the script and give bad actors a For many years, the payments industry has led the
very bad day? Layered technologies work tirelessly in the way, growing the scope of provision and the quality of
background against automated attack vectors. Numerous experience. Today, we live in a world where cards are
attacks look and act legitimate, which is why they are so ubiquitous, cash is in decline and checks as a means
dangerous. With troves of personal data for sale on the of payment have all but died. However, as the world
Dark Web, reinforcing passwords with biometrics and becomes increasingly digital, new opportunities are being
one-time SMS codes can help protect us from automated uncovered.
attacks and fraudsters.
Creeping up on the inside track has been the faster
payment – a near real-time, direct account-to-account
Dale S. Laszig, senior staff writer at The Green Sheet and managing method of transferring money that rivals any card scheme
director at DSL Direct LLC, is a payments industry journalist and content for speed and simplicity. It doesn't yet provide a route that
development specialist. She can be reached at dale@dsldirectllc.com can be used effectively at the POS, but that could become
and on Twitter at @DSLdirect. an option. This raises the question of whether in a world
of convergence where technologies start to overlap, could
faster payments be facilitated at the counter?
Potential to be explored

Granted, technical and logistical hurdles must be overcome.
But surely the point of innovation is to find new ways to
solve problems. What's more important is to consider what
might drive such a development and who would be the
winners in such a case, as this tends to determine if an
idea or opportunity can truly go the distance.

From the consumer perspective, it's just another convenient
payment option akin to that provided by a debit card:
make a payment, money leaves your account, transaction
history is recorded, job done!

From the merchant perspective, however, providing
card payment services is costly. Transaction charges, the
underlying interchange fees, the risks associated with
Faster payments – fraudulent activity and the risk of chargebacks are all
obvious motivations when it comes to securing a simpler,
From here to there in cheaper way to accept payments.
With over 300,000 retailers in the UK, alone, an alternative
the blink of an eye that could mitigate some of the expense of existing
payment mechanisms would be quite a force for change. It
may not be so positive for the acquirers and card schemes,
By Simon Fairbairn but like all innovations, there are many routes to consider
and given their control over this key point of trust, there
Ingenico Banks & Acquiring may be a new role for them in facilitating such a service.

hile the payment experience is still a neces- Many miles still need to be traveled before such a
sity, over the years the payments industry solution can be realized. But in a digital world where the
has made steps to improve the experience boundaries of what is possible continue to grow, could the
W for both consumers and retailers. The birth convergence of mainstream banking become a reality at
of the credit card came about as a way to avoid carry- the POS?
ing cash while providing access to short term credit. The
debit card was similarly introduced as a better means
of payment than a physical check. Over time, both have Simon Fairbairn is director of solution development Western Europe at
evolved to provide a simpler, faster customer experience. Ingenico Banks & Acquiring. To discover more about Ingenico B&A's 2020
However, it is important to note that like many innova- payment predictions, visit www.ingenico.co.uk/future2020.

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