Prepare for the Future of Payments
As the head of a payments enabler for retail and ecommerce companies, I see the state of retail and ecommerce as strong.
We are in a rapidly changing retail environment that will benefit merchants who are agile and punish those who are slow.
Just in the last year, we’ve seen a dramatic change in the trends of our retailers away from traditional payment cards toward payment apps. Part of this is Apple Pay and Google Pay, both known and expected drivers of payment change. But what’s been more dramatic has been the rise of payment apps not linked to cards, like BNPL and traditionally P2P payment methods.
“P2P” payment methods have always been a factor in ecommerce overseas, with them accounting for as much as 80% of payment volume in some Asian countries. Now it’s taking off in the US.
Venmo and Cash App are enabling retailers to get more share of wallet from younger shoppers who haven’t access to payment cards but like the rest of us are swearing off cash. Immigrants and travelers from abroad (still a sizeable part of the US population) are bringing their home country payment habits to the US. And traditional card users are foregoing payment card expense rates for the temporary cash flow advantages of BNPL.
The payments landscape is changing quickly. The fintech revolution can be a potent retail and ecommerce accelerator, if the merchant is agile enough to keep up with the changes. When’s the last time you offered a new payment method to customers?
This can only help merchants drive sales. Acceptance rates for e-tailers on payment apps also tend to be higher, with a 13-21% increase versus cards.
It can help them with expenses too. Payment Apps have lower chargeback rates than Payment Cards due to their built-in two-factor authentication. A third-party study found it to be more than 90% less!
All this can mean the fintech revolution can be a potent retail and ecommerce accelerator, if the merchant is agile enough to keep up with the changes. An integrated payments provider that enables rapid and cost-efficient adoption of multiple new payment methods, like Citcon, we believe to be key to achieving that change.
We’ve moved beyond the days where merchants can count on the next 10 years looking like the past 10 years in terms of what payment methods they can offer. The payments landscape is changing quickly with far more payment options available to clients and consumers.
When’s the last time you offered a new payment method to customers? Have you leaned into the Payment App trend? Do you have a payment infrastructure that can adjust as quickly as your customer payment expectations? If so, you’re on a profitable path. If not, now is the time to adjust to reap the rewards.
Chuck Huang is the founder and CEO of Citcon, a payments platform that enables seamless global commerce at scale by connecting the world’s businesses with more than 150+ payment applications. Previously, Chuck was CTO/COO at Miteno Mobile and partner at Gemtech Ventures. Chuck also held senior management positions at Visa, eBay, and PayPal. He received his BS and MS in Computer Science from Tsinghua University and his PhD from the University of Florida.
THE STATE OF ECOMMERCE 2023
JAN 2023
Chuck Huang is the founder and CEO of Citcon, a payments platform that enables seamless global commerce at scale by connecting the world’s businesses with more than 150+ payment applications. Previously, Chuck was CTO/COO at Miteno Mobile and partner at Gemtech Ventures. Chuck also held senior management positions at Visa, eBay, and PayPal. He received his BS and MS in Computer Science from Tsinghua University and his PhD from the University of Florida.