Insights

We recently surveyed Payment Service Providers from around the world about how they are dealing with today’s volatile payments landscape.

We particularly focused on the hot topics: instant payments, ISO 20022, and liquidity management, all of which are heavily impacting the payments industry, and asked PSPs to reveal what they saw as the main challenges experienced today, how they are rising to these challenges including insights into global technology investment strategies and cloud adoption trends among others.

The survey took place against a backdrop of rapid digitalization, where advancements in technology, regulatory overhauls, the introduction of new initiatives and schemes – not to mention the wide-reaching impact of the pandemic – are having a tumultuous effect in the payments industry – perhaps the greatest experienced in the last decade.

Navigating these changes successfully no doubt involves rethinking existing approaches, business models and systems as well as intelligently leveraging on the many innovative technologies available including, in many cases, adopting a cloud-based strategy.

Time is running out. All banks today offering instant payments (SCT INST) and reachable in TARGET2, must become reachable in TIPS before the end of the year. The ECB has defined three options for European Instant Payment interoperability and whichever model Banks choose, TAS is able to accelerate and ease the process and boost compliance efficiency. Further highlighting a commitment to the goal of increased interoperability, reachability and take up of Instant Payments in Europe, the European Commission has launched an assessment on the need for an EU-wide instant payments scheme. The initiative will investigate whether: new legislation is needed, non-legislative measures would be appropriate, or other policy options are suitable. The deadline for submitting feedback is midnight (CET) on 7 April 2021. Click here to have your say. Find out which option is best for you to be reachable in TIPS and contact us for a free consultancy.

Cascade, the US-based issuer processor, has announced the imminent launch of THAT™ Visa® Prepaid Card. THAT will be the first card program to leverage Cascade Processing, based on the company’s state-of-the-art issuing platform – PayStorm – built upon TAS Group’s advanced, API-first issuing processor technology, delivered in cloud.

Cascade Processing provides Card Issuance, Origination, and Enrolment for card programs as well as a web-based banking portal, mobile app, and contactless payment capabilities.

As an Issuer Processor that provides Program Management services, Cascade can quickly plan, test, and launch expanded offerings for its fintech customers to meet their business and cardholder needs. Spencer Schmerling, CEO of Cascade said: “I’m thrilled to be taking this next step in delivering comprehensive, modern card services to fintechs who are looking for agility, speed and innovation in their card issuing and processing. We have enjoyed working with TAS and are excited to launch our first program on their world-class platform.” Peter Caiazzi, SVP Product Development, TAS International added: “We’re confident that PayStorm can provide precisely the advanced functionality, flexibility and scale that Cascade needs to play an ever greater role in the card management and processing space and provide the next-gen card and digital payment services that its customers are looking for. We’re certain that THAT card will be positively received and wish them much success.” The THAT Prepaid Visa Card is issued by First National Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. This card can be used everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted. Card program administration by Cascade Financial Technology Corp.

Less than 11 weeks to go to the obligatory choice for all European PSPs on how to make themselves reachable on TIPS. The Instant Payments settlement service, despite having been launched over two years ago by the ECB is still very much underused. To overcome the fragmentation of the market present in the various EU countries, the Governing Council of the ECB has formalized the new regulatory obligations that will lead to the “pan-European reach” of instant payments by November 2021. Already by the end of January, therefore in less than three months, all PSPs that currently participate in a SCTInst scheme and are reachable on TARGET2 must open a DCA account on TIPS or choose how to make themselves reachable also on TIPS. Have you already chosen how to make yourself compliant? TAS supports its customers both in the management of central currency accounts on TARGET2 and TIPS with Aquarius, its Liquidity Management platform, and for connectivity to the new ESMIG (Eurosystem Single Market Infrastructure Gateway) via SIA-Colt or SWIFT. Our solutions are available both on-premise and as a service or in the cloud. Contact our experts now!

Mario Mendia, TAS Group’s International Markets SVP and Raphael Barisaac, Global Head of Cash Management and Global Co-head of Trade at Unicredit, were recently invited by Fintech Finance to speak with Ali Paterson in his Virtual Arena.

The topic was the dynamic European Payments scene today, how it’s evolving, the COVID-effect on payments, how ISO20022 is set to be a game-changer, and the challenges (and opportunities) of the T2/T2S Consolidation project.

Mario Mendia offered viewers valuable insights and shared his views on the upcoming changes to the Eurosystem, where TAS Group is playing an active role in the T2/T2S Consolidation Project.

In case you missed the Fintech Finace Virtual Arena discussion on the European Payments Ecosystem, you can watch it  on our YouTube channel.

 

The merchant acquiring business landscape is undergoing major transformation. Two main things are driving this change: increased competition and technology.

Despite continuous growth in market volumes, regulation and increased competition from non-traditional players are putting pressure on already squeezed acquirer margins.

In this Mercator Advisory Group Research Brief commissioned by TAS Group, you’ll discover how ISOs and niche players in the Merchant Acquiring landscape can compete and thrive by leveraging the latest technology and applying smart thinking. The report is especially relevant given the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Download the white paper here to get all the insights and recommendations.

TAS Group has just launched a new service that allows out-of-the-box connectivity to all the major US signature networks, including Mastercard, Visa, Amex, Diners, and Discover, and the US PIN debit networks. The service, available for both Issuers and Acquirers, is being offered in SaaS mode deployed on the Cloud.

 The new service delivers real benefit and convenience to Issuers and Acquirers who are able to easily, quickly and securely accept a wide range of traditional and innovative payments, with TAS acting as an aggregator of network traffic towards Mastercard Network Gateway Services (MNGS). Thanks to this smart way of connecting, customers avoid having to carry out individual negotiations with each network and can benefit from the inherent economies of scale this approach delivers, enjoying added efficiencies and lower costs.

 The Network Gateway Service, which includes settlement and reporting, is available both to new and existing customers of CARD 3.0 IE, TAS Group’s card and digital payments management solution, also deployed on the Cloud, and will also be available as a stand-alone service for onboarding, seamlessly interfacing with other third-party platforms.

The Consolidated T2/T2S platform goes live in 2021 and banks have to adapt their access mode to reach the Eurosystem,especially those who currently connect to T2 over the Internet, since this will no longer be allowed. In order to help T2 participants easily comply with the new mandatory ESMIG interface, TAS Group developed PAG€, the first cloud-based, easy and scalable solution that embeds certified NSP connectivity for a smooth and transparent migration. With its user friendly interface, PAG€ allows quick access to the Eurosystem Targ€t Services, enabling both U2A and A2A functionalities, through an agile and secure cloud service that guarantees all the standards required by the new ESMIG interface. What makes PAG€ so powerful is the cutting-edge technology at its core: PAG€ is the result of a combination of TAS leading-edge technology and over 35 years of payments experience in mission-critical market infrastructures, Amazon Web Services (AWS) secure cloud and accredited NSP connectivity. Discover more

PecunPay, Spain’s largest e-money Institution, has decided to further boost its flexibility and agility to support strong business growth by migrating to CARD 3.0 IE, TAS Group’s state-of-the-art card and digital payments management platform. The migration is scheduled to take place before the end of 2020. This is not the first time that PecunPay has put its trust in TAS payments technology, having already adopted its cashless 3.0 platform four years ago. Upgrading to our newest platform will allow the Spanish fintech to manage the entire authorization process in-house, giving it better control over the 750,000 cards it manages and the 2,500 digital and card-present payment terminals it supports at merchants throughout Spain and beyond. PecunPay is licensed by the Bank of Spain to operate throughout the SEPA area, and is already exploring different options to enter the South American market. Discover more about CARD 3.0 IE Visit Pecunpay website