The Paypers ‘Ecommerce Payment Methods Report 2016’ provides basic information on the world of payments - there are now over 300+ payment methods offereed by Payment Service Providers, and highlights key aspects of the rapidly changing ecosystem and the implications for digital commerce.

Four trends driving payment systems innovation

The report lists the four key trends:

1. Changing consumer behaviour and expectations;
   • Anytime, anywhere, any device
   • Fast shipping
2. Ecommerce developments
   • Emergence of (social) platform commerce
   • Subscription commerce;
3. Technology driven innovation;
   • Innovative technology (e.g. mobile apps, application programming interfaces (APIs), cloud technology, crypto technology, artificial intelligence, internet of things and data analytics) enables so called FinTech and BigTech (the likes as PayPal, Amazon, Facebook, and Google) companies to provide superior alternatives for existing payment offerings.
4. Regulatory reforms and frameworks to clarify aspects in the ecommerce and online payment ecosystem;
   • Access to payments accounts (XS2A)
   • Interchange regulation (gap of Multilateral Interchange Fee). In this paragraph we will describe how these developments and the developments described in the paragraph on payment methods might change the current landscape of payment methods usage across regions.

Online payment methods ecosystem

The rigour of the report is shown by how it reviews the main types of payment instruments: cards, bank transfers, direct debits, cryptocurrency, cash and direct carrier billing. Distinguishing ‘online payments’ as: 

• “Online payments could be described as the way shoppers can choose to pay for their online purchases and where the payment method itself is selected online. 'Online' refers only to the condition that the selection of the payment method is made online, e.g. in merchant's online shop or within the app. It does not require that the actual transfer of funds is initiated online or happens online.”

The infographic on payment- see below - shows the range of payment solutions covered:

Source & Copyright©2016 - The Paypers

Details on each of the payment methods are given in the report, as well as a glossary. Further details on the alternative payment methods are accessible in The Paypers database, see. 

How to integrate payment methods at checkout

The report includes details of how PPRO Payment Hub and ACI World-wide tackle the problem of integrating multiple payment methods at the checkout

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CTMfile take: This report provides important information and analysis. Worth a download from here.