Open banking is gaining traction with consumers around the world, according to separate studies by Entrust and Axway. Researchers from both organizations noted that banking is fast becoming an integral part of the digital customer experience. The Great Payments Disruption, published March 8, 2022, by Entrust, surveyed 1,350 consumers in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Australia and Indonesia.
Axway Global Consumer Survey: The openness of today's consumers to open data, published March 9, 2022, by Axway and conducted by Propeller Insights in April and November 2021, polled 5,074 consumers in the United Kingdom, United States, Brazil, Germany and France.
Payments and legal experts are discussing President Biden's March 9, 2022, executive order (EO), Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets, encouraging government agencies to evaluate and comment on a range of digital currency initiatives and deployments. Citing advances in digital and distributed ledger technology, Biden directed policymakers to craft a legal framework to protect all stakeholders in the digital currency value chain.
Digital currencies, in rapid growth mode, can have "profound implications for the protection of consumers, investors, and businesses, including data privacy and security; financial stability and systemic risk; crime; national security; the ability to exercise human rights; financial inclusion and equity; and energy demand and climate change," according to the EO document.
Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, had harsh words for Visa and Mastercard during a recent interview on CNBC's Closing Bell. He hinted that federal regulators may take a closer look at the card brands' pricing strategies.
"I don't think we have a competitive payment system in this country," Chopra said. He indicated he is troubled by reports that many interchange rates will increase in April. "At a time of inflation, that just seems like adding insult to injury for many small businesses," he added. Pressed on whether there is anything the government can do to intervene, Chopra said, "When prices rise in tandem by dominant firms, that always raises red flags for regulators." Interchange has long been a hot-button issue among card-accepting businesses.
The Q1 2022 Digital Trust & Safety Index, published by fraud prevention firm Sift, revealed the payment fraud attack rate for fintechs ballooned 70 percent over the same period in 2021. That's the biggest jump for any vertical on the Sift network, the firm reported. The massive increase in fraud attempts correlates with even more massive growth—121 percent year over year—in fintech transaction volumes on Sift's network, making the sector an attractive target for cyber crooks.
The index is derived from a global network of over 34,000 websites and apps, plus a survey of over 1,000 consumers. Forty-nine percent of respondents indicated they had fallen victim to payment fraud within the past three years. Of those, 77 percent had credit card or other payment information on file with a merchant that was used for unauthorized purchases.
Analysts attribute the rapid growth of buy now, pay later (BNPL) to demand for tech-driven, extended payment solutions that drive approvals and customer satisfaction. The Economic Impact of Buy Now, Pay Later in the U.S., a September 2021 study by Accenture and commissioned by BNPL provider Afterpay, found a 230 percent increase in U.S. BNPL spending and 17 percent increase in average ticket size since the start of 2020.
Researchers estimated that U.S. BNPL adoption has grown by more than 300 percent since 2018. "Consumers prefer to use BNPL as a payment method for a variety of reasons, the most prevalent being because it allows them to pay in installments rather than a lump sum up front," Accenture researchers wrote. 
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