Merchant acquiring
The growth of the payments sector is driving expansion of the acquiring market, enabling new entrants and innovation. Total revenues in the acquiring industry are expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.7% in the next few years, exceeding $160 billion by 2026, according to BCG.
However, traditional acquirers face intensifying pressures from growing competition, constantly evolving payment solutions and lower expected margins. Indeed, non-bank players are capturing a growing share of acquiring revenues. In the US, payment facilitators more than doubled their acquiring volume from 2019 to 2021, according to Glenbrook.
To meet these evolving challenges, Mastercard Data and Services can help traditional acquirers across the acquiring value chain, including improving their operational efficiency, optimizing current portfolios and segment mix, developing compelling value propositions, and assessing partnering opportunities with fintech and technology companies.
Crypto and innovative payments
In recent years, there has been an unprecedented acceleration in the adoption of digital assets globally.
While the total number of cryptocurrency wallets grew by 75% from 2020 to 2022, reaching 81 billion wallets, the number of cryptocurrencies worldwide have exploded from 66 in 2013 to over 9,000 in 2023, according to Statista.
Despite the recent turmoil in the sector, retail and institutional interest in digital assets remains high. Although the adoption of crypto solutions by traditional financial institutions is at an early stage, FIs can harness this burgeoning technology to enable additional services and revenue streams.
Fraud and payments security
As organizations and individuals embrace the convenience and efficiency offered by interconnected systems, consumer concern about the security of payments is also growing.
Indeed, the global transaction value of e-commerce fraud alone grew an estimated 16% between 2022 and 2023, and is set to continue to increase strongly, according to Juniper Research.
As fraud becomes more complex, industry players need to evolve to ensure security and stakeholders’ trust. Businesses will need to adapt their data security infrastructure and processes, as well as continually improve authentication, authorization and fraud performance to both comply with regulations and meet the evolving threat landscape.
ESG integration
Sustainability is becoming a key social and regulatory priority in the financial and payments industry. Indeed, more than three quarters of the world’s largest 250 companies now have targets in place to reduce their carbon emissions.
However, sustainability is not just about complying with evolving regulations and stakeholder expectations. It is fast becoming an important growth area and is increasingly seen as a competitive advantage for financial institutions.
Organizations can leverage D&S’s end-to-end offering to identify key ESG opportunities, design and implement organization-wide sustainability strategies, and develop winning ‘green’ product value propositions.
Access the full ‘State of Global Payment Market’ report today to explore the main drivers and trends transforming the global payment industry, and find out how Mastercard Data & Services can help you navigate the challenges and opportunities of this evolving market.
