Payments on Fire™

In our 2024 Wrap Up episode, we looked into our crystal ball to predict how different payments  themes may evolve in the coming year; however, this industry delivers headlines at a rapid-fire pace (by the way, are you subscribed to Payments News?) and it can be hard to keep up.  To help you read the tea leaves in the mountains of publications, Yvette Bohanan rounded up Chris Uriarte and Drew Edmond for this mid-year update on payments industry trends. Tune in to hear updates and perspectives on the following topics: Regulation, including the Durbin Amendment, CCCA, and Click-to-Cancel Stablecoins Agentic Commerce Tokenization Fraud and Risk, including Visa's VAMP and passkeys

Chanan Lavi, CEO and Co-founder of Kipp, dives into the pressing issue of non-sufficient funds (NSF) declines affecting transactions. He discusses innovative strategies that allow merchants to influence authorization decisions, enhancing approval rates. The conversation also covers the evolving landscape of overdraft experiences, with banks moving toward fee elimination. Lavi emphasizes collaboration between merchants and issuers to improve payment solutions and shares insights on customer behavior shifts with debit cards, driven by apps like Venmo and Cash App.

Is the U.S. fast enough? The podcast dives into the lagging performance of U.S. instant payments compared to global trends. It challenges traditional views by including popular P2P apps in the discussion. Obstacles to adoption are explored, including the allure of credit card rewards and the need for reforms. The hosts also analyze the complexity of the U.S. payments landscape, emphasizing the importance of fraud prevention and interoperability. Could there be a more advanced ecosystem under the surface? Tune in to find out!

In our third episode in a series to spotlight the latest in global developments in payment systems from a financial inclusion lens, Sonja Kelly, Global Head of Women’s World Banking Institute, joins Joanna Wisniecka to dive into design principles for inclusive digital financial systems and how all end users benefit when design considers the specific needs of women. Listen in as they discuss barriers to women’s financial inclusion, the critical importance of addressing safety and trust issues, and potential benefits and risks associated with emerging technologies like AI and CBDCs.

Rehman Baig, Chief Product Officer at FlexFactor, dives into innovative strategies for payment optimization with a fresh take on the Merchant of Record model. He discusses how this model can tackle challenges like failed payments and auth rates that often leave merchants stumped. Baig shares insights from his journey through the payments industry, emphasizing the role of AI-driven solutions and real-time decision-making in enhancing transaction efficiency. His perspectives are essential for anyone grappling with improving payment systems and driving success.

Russ Jones, a partner at Glenbrook, dives into the intriguing world of agentic commerce and payments. He discusses the rise of AI agents that could handle purchases autonomously, raising questions about consumer trust and merchant recognition. The conversation covers the impact on vacation planning, balancing automation with personal choice. Additionally, they explore the challenges of customer authentication and how new technologies must adapt to evolving regulations. Join them as they navigate this transformative landscape in the payment ecosystem.

In a series of episodes, Glenbrook's Joanna Wisniecka will to bring you up to speed on what’s happening globally as countries modernize payment networks and reach individuals and businesses through faster payment systems. In this episode, Joanna welcomes Sabine Mensah, Deputy CEO of AfricaNenda, a leader in financial inclusion, to explore Africa's dynamic path towards inclusive instant payment systems and the need for continued innovation and collaboration to enable access to financial services for all Africans on the continent by 2030.

Here’s a payments conundrum for you: We now have more ways to authenticate access to an online account or app than ever before. And yet, account takeover (ATO) - basically unauthorized access to an account - is at record levels. In this episode, Glenbrook’s Yvette Bohanan and Chris Uriarte are joined by Rocky Scales, CEO of IDgo, to explore this multifaceted problem.  Tune in as they discuss the vulnerabilities in authentication techniques, the need for better consumer education, and how financial institutions and businesses can implement more secure and user-friendly authentication systems to counteract evolving threats from sophisticated fraud methods. 

In this episode, Brant Peterson, Head of Enterprise Product, North America at Worldpay, joins Drew Edmond to talk about payment optimization through the perspective of a payment service provider. Worldpay is one of the world’s largest global PSPs - it processed over 2.5 Trillion Dollars in 2024, which was made up of 50 Billion transactions. Tune in to hear their perspectives on payment optimization and solutions that PSPs can offer merchant customers to help them improve their approval rates.

With this episode, we are launching a series to explore the current state of global financial inclusion efforts from a payments perspective. Joanna Wisniecka joins Yvette Bohanan to chat with Michael Wiegand, Director of Inclusive Financial Systems at the Gates Foundation, about the work the Foundation is doing globally and the transformative impact of digital financial inclusion on economies and societies.