EpisodeSix

Payment experiences have changed significantly over the last decade as more consumers and merchants expect payments to be made in real time and in their currency of choice.

According to a new study by IDC Financial Insights commissioned by Episode Six, a payments technology company, 74% of consumer payments will be handled by non-traditional financial service institutions (FSIs) by 2030. The IDC InfoBrief, Future Ready Payments Technology Reshapes the Playing Field for the Industry, highlights that while the payments world is changing FSI paytech is not, pushing lucrative consumer payment volumes to non-FSIs.

Mainstream banks can compete more effectively in the digital-first world with risk mitigated by adopting leading, proven technology.

The gaming industry is proving that the desired metaverse is one that is decentralized in terms of control but hyperconnected for easy transfer of value between platforms. Having become accustomed to a plethora of units of value, and their extreme portability, today's gamers will not welcome a centralized institution locking their value inside any particular system such as Facebook's virtual world. Flash forward where banks and digital banking make all units of value portable too... imagine: - crypto into consumers' digital wallets - holding cash as central bank digital currency. By 2030, 60% of global consumers will have made a transaction using a unit of value other than a fiat currency.

These changing times have certainly made life ‘interesting’ for mainstream banks. Recent events have seen a marked growth in the digitisation of financial services and the emergence of crypto currencies as payment mechanisms have introduced another digital variable to the banking equation. There is a challenge to mainstream banks to step up to remain relevant in this changing world and to leverage their own trusted brand. Banks can avoid costly transformation and choose new incremental models with the right supporting payments technology.