PaymentGenes Q1 2020
FINTECH MAGAZINE By payments people. For payments people.
THIS ISSUE:
MPE 2020 I Sodexo I Mercedes Pay G+D Mobile Security I FinTech in Amsterdam Toronto: The Next FinTech Hub I AI & Payments
FOREWORD Dear readers, 2020 is off to a flying start, and with that the start of the new decade. One begs the question: What will the FinTech industry look like at the end of this decade? This edition of the PaymentGenes FinTech Magazine covers some insightful information on what we can expect the coming decade and gives some food for thought with answers on questions such as: Will “physical” payments be a thing of the past with the mass incorporation of frictionless payments? Read all about Daimler Mobility Services’ seamless payment experiences through In-Car Payment solutions Why are non-FinTech companies building payment teams? A look back on our successful Payment Industry Expert Session in collaboration with HelloFresh’s payments team.
What is the current state of wearable payments and how will it develop? An infographic with the latest analytics and growth of wearable payment devices and adoption rates. Furthermore, this edition features two FinTech industry country overviews, partner articles, the hottest jobs, how China’s BigTechs are making 1-second AI-powered loan decisions, FinTech event discounts and some recruitment insights! This is a start-of-the decade must read! All of which is wrapped in a brand new design. Our team has worked hard to provide you with top-notch quality and valuable insights, we could not be more excited for the editions to come this decade!
Jamyl Jonker Marketing Manager & Partnerships
Who will be the big disruptors in the industry in 2020? G+D Mobile Security writes about how digital transformation has enabled FinTech innovations to accelerate globally. What is next for Merchant Payments in 2020, and the years to come? Insights from industry leaders on what to expect in an article composed by Merchant Payment Ecosystem.
Telephone: +31 (0) 20 223 7888 Address: Singel 250 1016 AB Amsterdam The Netherlands
Email:
info@paymentgenes.com
Website:
www.paymentgenes.com
Clickable Content This icon indicates that you can reach an external complementary content. Curious about how a feature in our magazine will put your brand in touch with the right industry professionals? Get in touch with our Marketing Manager, Jamyl Jonker by sending an email to jamyl@paymentgenes.com or click here.
CONTEN Quarterly FinTech Magazine
Contents 2
FinTech in Amsterdam Hugo Niezen of Amsterdam InBusiness explains the opportunities.
4
6
Sodexo Interview with Emmanuel Dreux of Sodexo
6 Daimler Mobility Services Interview with Andreas Philippi of Mercedes Pay
Interview Mercedes Pay
8 Infographic Wearable Payments
10 When customer behavior becomes the big disruptor Feature by G+D Mobile Security
10
12 MPE 2020 What is next for Merchant Payments’ Ecosystem in 2020?
Partner Feature G+D Mobile Security
14 PaymentGenes News Industry Expert Session with HelloFresh
16 Article AI shaping the world of payments.
14
18 Toronto: The Next FinTech Hub Is Toronto the next stop for your FinTech business?
21
PG News Expert Session with HelloFresh
Top Jobs Top jobs by PaymentGenes PaymentGenes Q1 2020 1
Market Overview
amsterdam business
FinTech in Amsterdam
Amsterdam InBusiness is the official foreign investment agency of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area and offers pragmatic and tailor made services to companies that are considering European expansion, by validating the market opportunity and making the business case for Amsterdam. We spoke with Hugo Niezen, Senior Manager Foreign Investments, to hear more about how Amsterdam InBusiness helps these businesses to establish themselves in the Dutch capital.
200,000
30%
#1
Jobs in Finance & FinTech in the Amsterdam Area
Tax advantage for highly skilled migrants
Global Green Finance Index 2018
A strong financial sector, successful tech ecosystem, and a vibrant startup scene.
The 30% facility applies to you if you were recruited outside of the Netherlands or seconded from a country other than the Netherlands to work in the Netherlands.
A financial system that delivers sustainable development and values people and the planet.
2 PaymentGenes Q1 2020
“We work with local experts that can help companies in navigating the commercial opportunity, the regulatory requirements, understanding the labour market and with their corporate setup. We also make the connection with other foreign companies that have recently made the move to Amsterdam, so that they can share best practices and warn them about potential hurdles. These connections are especially valuable, because the companies they speak to have gone through the process and will provide the most honest feedback. Furthermore, we can help companies with relocation of staff and all other matters related to that. We work closely with IN Amsterdam (formerly the ‘expat center’) in this matter. Looking at the key trends in FinTech in Amsterdam from the last year, Brexit has played a significant role. We’ve seen a wave of FinTech companies coming from the UK setting up offices in Amsterdam and applying for licenses at the AFM and DNB. The core activities of these companies will remain in London, however the activities in Amsterdam will grow over time, since these companies will use Amsterdam as their EU hub. A second effect of Brexit, which may be even more significant in time, is that FinTech companies from countries such as the US, Singapore or Australia that are looking to expand into Europe, are shying away from
London as the hub for European expansion. Amsterdam has proven to be a very attractive alternative. FinTech companies such as Lemonade and Plaid (both from the US) have recently setup their EHQ in Amsterdam, and we see a growing interest from companies in these countries. As a foreign investment agency, we can only do so much to attract and assist companies ourselves. Therefore, we depend heavily on external expertise when winning over companies for Amsterdam. PaymentGenes has been a great partner in assisting companies with setting up in Amsterdam, especially when it comes to understanding the labour market, the roles that are crucial for FinTech companies to fill, and the regulatory landscape. We work with a diverse pool of service providers, and look for industry expertise, experience working with international clients, passion for Amsterdam, and a proven track record. PaymentGenes ticked all these boxes.
Three things have contributed to Amsterdam becoming renowned for growing a Fintech business. Firstly, there’s a large and diverse local talent pool that is recognised for its quality, international focus and language capabilities. Secondly, the appeal of the city makes it easy to attract talent you can’t find locally. People love the idea of living and working in Amsterdam (the 30% ruling for expats is also attractive), and when expats arrive here they tend to stay for long periods, which decreases employee churn. Finally, the Dutch immigration process is unrivalled in Europe in terms of efficiency and speed, making it very easy for companies to attract non-EU nationals. In this very competitive labour market (which is the case for every major European city), companies in Amsterdam have a competitive edge to attract software engineers, data analysts, compliance officers and other roles that are in high demand.” █
PaymentGenes Q1 2020 3
Partner Interview
Interview:
Emmanuel
DREUX
Payments Project Leader for Sodexo Benefits and Rewards Services (BRS) “A company’s most precious asset is its people. Fulfilled, motivated people are the key to your ongoing success. We partner with companies to build within and beyond the workplace distinctive Employee Experiences and seamless Mobility and Expense Management solutions, proven to boost engagement and drive business success. Our services are leading the way. Every day, we serve 440,000 clients and 36 million consumers, relying on a strong network of 1.3 million affiliated merchants. Payment being a key enabler of our products, we have set up a dedicated team to ensure that we rely on the right capabilities. The team is also responsible for developping and deploying global digital payment solutions in all the countries where we operate”.
Emmanuel, tell us a bit about your background in payments, and why you joined Sodexo Benefits and Rewards Services payment team 2 years ago?
Every day, we see new players and new technologies coming in. It can be scary but it’s very exciting too.
4 PaymentGenes Q1 2020
In my previous experience as CEO of Smart Prepaid, I designed, developed and launched B2C and B2B gift cards from scratch. Enabling payment was at the core of the solution. It was new to me at that time and it was a very challenging and interesting journey. When I was offered the opportunity to lead payment initiatives within Sodexo BRS Digital Transformation, it was an opportunity to leverage my expertise and a challenge I look on with enthusiasm.
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Sodexo is undergoing a digital transformation. What role has the payments team played in this process and how have you approached this huge task? Indeed, the task is huge and complex. We work with many countries from different regions (Latin America, Asia and Europe) to build payment solutions that are relevant for all. With the payment landscapes often being very different from one country to another, the team has played a key role in managing this complexity. Our digital transformation aims at embracing the digital world by creating high-quality payment solutions to deliver the best in class customer experiences. The role of our team is to design, develop and deploy global payment solutions across all of our geographies. These solutions allow Sodexo BRS countries to benefit from our global expertise and practices and thus to focus on their core activity. Our approach is based on co-designing solutions with local teams, following the agile methodology to be able to test, adjust and accelerate our time to market.
“Our biggest challenge is our legacy.” What have been some of the main successes you have experienced, and also some of the biggest challenges you have encountered within the payments project? Our biggest challenge is our legacy. It makes the journey towards our target solutions more complex, yet very interesting. So far, our main success has been to build a highly effective, multicultural team, with complementary capabilities, expertise and ways of thinking. This is a key success factor in a global environment,
You have worked closely with PaymentGenes to build your payments team. Can you tell us about your experience so far and how we have have been able to achieve joint success? Finding the right person for the right position is critical in this competitive payment environment, and PaymentGenes has played the role of business partner in that sense. We’ve always had insightful discussions to help us define our needs and then formalise job descriptions. We have benefited from their expertise and international exposure to have a better view of the market.
and PaymentGenes has been of great help in sourcing the best profiles. Thanks to this team, we have successfully designed and developed our first global solution that is already running in Brazil and Romania. Beyond being a technical provider, I can proudly say that, with the team, we have successfully grown into a business partner. Are there any exciting projects, product launches or other big news from Sodexo Benefits and Rewards Services that we should keep an eye out for? We are keeping busy by following the latest payment trends. Every day, we see new players and new technologies coming in. It can be scary but it’s very exciting too. There are lots of new opportunities to catch! As a payments professional, what do you think will be the biggest trend in the payments industry in 2020? Payment will be everywhere and no longer unilateral. This will contribute to reinforcing competition between closed and open payments platforms where new standards should appear. █
PaymentGenes Q1 2020 5
Partner Interview
Mercedes pay’s standardized architecture can easily connect various systems and other payment services providers. More than 70 experts work in Stuttgart and Berlin on enabling Daimler’s digital business.
Andreas, tell us about your activities at Daimler Mobility Services? Our goal is to bring Daimler’s sales online by enabling the monetization of our online business models. We have built a Global Payment Platform that is enabling Daimler entities and affiliates to benefit from a secure and simple payment process via a one-stop solution. Mercedes pay is a central component of the Daimler digitalization strategy. It promotes long-term customer loyalty and will make our mobility solutions even more attractive.
Andreas Philippi Head of Payment Solutions at Daimler, explains how his teams contribute to developing great user and payment experiences for Mercedes drivers and Mobility customers.
customers to use pay services such as navigation, DAB+ digital radio, and smartphone integration. The in-car payment service is currently available in more than 30 countries Combined with a Mercedes Me user account, drivers only need to enter the payment details once. Paying parking tickets digitally. Mercedes pay also makes parking much more convenient. For example, drivers will soon also be able to start,
What are the projects that you are currently working on? In-Car Payment. With Mercedes pay, payments are processed in the multimedia system MBUX from Mercedes-Benz. The integrated fee-based Mercedes Me Connect services, such as in-car office functions (including automatic dial-in to conference calls and updating of calendars) can be payed, and expired services can be extended. Mercedes pay makes it even more convenient for 6 PaymentGenes Q1 2020
Future plans include step-by-step development and integration of more Daimler Group products and services.
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stop and pay for their onstreet parking via the in-car MBUX system or the Mercedes Me app. At the end of the parking duration, the total parking fee will be visible in the MBUX display and the payment will be made to the parking garage operator through Mercedes pay. In addition, drivers can use the Mercedes-Benz parking card to digitally capture their entry into and exit from selected parking garages throughout Germany by means of an RFID chip. This eliminates the frequent need to maneuver the vehicle to retrieve the parking ticket, or the need to walk to a highly frequented automated pay station. Fueling. Convenient payment via app: Users of Daimler’s Bertha app compare gas prices and pay for gas at approximately 400 selected HEM gas stations in Germany via smartphone. Mercedes pay offers drivers an integrated payment solution. To pay, the user only needs a Bertha account with registered payment details. Daimler plans to directly integrate this payment function into the head unit of Mercedes-Benz vehicles in the future, which will enable the entire payment process to be handled via the vehicle’s on-board unit.
In your vision how will the consumer interact with Mercedes pay in 3-5 years? As seamlessly as possible! Ideally, the consumer will not even recognize payments in a checkout process, so that he can fully focus on consuming our mobility and digital services.
The consumer will store his preferred payment method once and will be able to use it everywhere in the Daimler ecosystem or even maybe beyond that. In addition, we are currently working on other financial products and solutions in order to create a superior user and payment experience and increase our customer touchpoints. How would you describe your relationship with PaymentGenes over the past year and what are the challenges when hiring talent in the Payments Industry? Our relationaship has been collaborative and goal-oriented. ePayment is a hot topic which is demanding in terms of technology, regulation and innovation speed and this makes it challenging in the aforementioned war for talent. Finding just the right talent covering the above mentioned functional areas, plus fitting in the team, plus being available at one of our main sites is challenging. How do you think FinTech companies should approach hiring new team members, and what should the role of a specialized recruitment firm be in that process? Organizational leaders should continuously reserve a relevant amount of their schedule to search and meet new talent, even if there isn’t a concrete job vacancy. Payment professionals are highly qualified, sought-after and hard to get. FinTech companies should, therefore, use the chance to hire a talented professional when possible. █
Mercedes pay is a component of Daimler’s mobility and digitalization strategy, and is operated by Daimler Mobility Services, a business segment of Daimler Mobility.
PaymentGenes Q1 2020 7
WEARABLE PAYMENTS Infographic
Wearable payment methods are increasing in Europe, with consumers rapidly incorporating these new methods of payment not only in their daily lives, but in their outfits as well. Wearable payments are payments made using devices such as smart watches, payment wristbands, rings, fitness trackers, and more innovative PayTech.
x8
2019 wearable transaction figures showed an eightfold increase compared to 2018.
Wearable payments are available in 26 EU countries, offering over 30 different devices.
A third (33%) of all wearable transactions in 2019 came from the Netherlands, followed by the United Kingdom (18%), Switzerland (8%) and Russia (7%).
117.5 143.3 174.3 212.0 263.2 335.2 million units 8 PaymentGenes Q1 2020
TOP 10
European countries in wearable payments 1. Netherlands 2. United Kingdom 3. Switzerland 4. Russia 5. Poland 6. Sweden 7. Czech Republic 8. Finland 9. Germany 10. Ukraine
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Wearable Devices* shipped from factory *Not all wearable devices are payment supported.
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Wearable Payments Transaction Volume World Markets
$600,000 $500,000 $400,000 $300,000 $200,000
*million dollars $100,000 2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Mass-adoption of NFC enabled terminals NFC payments have sparked the existence and growth of wearable payment options. Every POS system that has NFC payment capabilities, therefore, also accepts every form of wearable payment. NFC payments have grown substantially, paving the way for new wearable payment methods.
Berg Insight predicts that the installed base of NFC-enabled terminals will more than double by 2022, reaching 112.3 million units. This signifies that over 78% of the world’s POS terminals will be NFC-ready in 2022, up from 50% in 2017.
Wearable technology for athletes & events During the Rio Olympics, athletes sponsored by Visa were given payment rings, payment bands, and smartwatches to help them make payments, without having to worry as much about theft. 9
Partner Feature
FEATURE BY
When customer behavior becomes the big disruptor Digital transformation has enabled FinTech innovations to accelerate globally, with not only new players setting the scene for new ways to do banking but also a constant development of new solutions and services. Many innovations have been developed in the UK and Germany, in Singapore and Silicon Valley but now another region is starting to boom. In this article we take a look at Canada, and G+D Mobile Security’s Andrea Paric shares her views on the FinTech scene in the Northern American region.
While banking customers are changing their behavior based on the experiences they have with social networks, global marketplaces, and their favorite online-stores, the digital transformation gives opportunities for new ways to do banking. But it’s not only the customers’ adoption of new behaviors that drives innovation, almost every seventh banking customer will be a digital native in a couple of years, which means there is an actual need for innovation. And here is where the FinTechs are paving the way, with Canada seeing a boom in the FinTech industry which is gaining traditional market share by offering customer centric solutions and services that are convenient, secure and foremost easy to use. This is a view confirmed by EY in their newest survey, which finds that Canada’s FinTech adoption rate has more than doubled since 2017. As trend for this Andrea states that customers are wanting more digital services with quick ways to interact, when and how they want. 10 PaymentGenes Q1 2020
This is also something that is core at G+D, putting the customer wants first, and is shown in our offering of digital solutions that segue into more traditional offerings such as physical cards. “As fact of the matter, we have recently launched the first pre-paid Metal Card in the Canadian market, together with the FinTech KOHO”, Andrea says. KOHO offers an alternative to the traditional banking experience with an easy to sign-up account in a mobile app, which combined with a physical bank card gives real-time insights into spending. That customers really have an appetite for these types of combined physical-digital banking experience is shown very well in the KOHO case, as for this particular prepaid card, over 75,000 customers had been on a waiting list since August 2019 in anticipation of this card being rolled out. From the G+D perspective, Andrea continues, this allows us to support the FinTech industry with our long and market leading
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Text to visual: Andrea explains, G+D’s assumptions on the new ways to do banking have made us identify that even though digitalization and looking for the best offering in the market are big drivers, quality is still something the customer wants.
experience in unique card form factors that enable the financial service providers to become top-of-wallet. And our future-proofed solutions promise quality and security, always keeping the customer at heart! “The industry isn’t focusing on digital only, there is a requirement for both. Digital, as Generation Z is used to and prefers digital communication and interaction, but physical as well, as cards are still required as older generations are not as comfortable with letting go of their cards and going digital and most bank infrastructure isn’t fully able to adapt to going digital.” Globally neo-banks such as Revolut, and lately also Apple, have been heavily promoting Metal Cards, which provides a good example of combining physical and digital, showing that the need for a physical card not only lays within the challenges traditional banks face, but also confirms the view that Canadian bank customers aren’t ready to fully embrace digital only. The card is still a strong banking companion, even if the same EY survey mentioned earlier finds half of Canadian customers use some kind of FinTech services in 2019. But when banking on the fly turns into a commodity, and FinTechs with their focus on customer needs, which is changing the way traditional banking is done, this can be a threat for incumbent banks.
Click here to find out!
SO HOW TO TURN DISRUPTION INTO INNOVATION AND CARVE OUT NEW REVENUE STREAMS? The silver bullet Andrea argues, is for FinTechs and incumbent Banks who want to have a piece of the pie, to work with a partner that can fully enable innovative offerings put into larger programs such as a card supported by a fully integrated app or being associated with an offer of some sort to promote the use of other services. What does that mean? Put simply, delivering on a need for deviceagnostic, digitalized banking services. This will at the end of the day create stickiness and keep the brand stay top of mind. “Any strategy to build competitive banking solutions must incorporate components that are future-proof, which G+D’s 165 years of experience in the payment industry can bank on!”, Andrea concludes. █ G+D Mobile Security is a part of the G+D Group (founded in 1852) with more than 11,000 employees worldwide. Our 5,300 experts in over 40 sales and partner offices all over the world are glad to advise and support the financial industry with years of experience and comprehensive solutions that allow meeting the challenges of a connected financial industry and capitalize on its opportunities.
PaymentGenes Q1 2020 11
Article
What is next for the merchant payments’ ecosystem in 2020?
MPE 2020 speakers provide the answers. The way people pay is changing rapidly, thanks to technological innovation and digitalization. Society is becoming increasingly cashless as more consumers choose to rely on cards, as well as alternative payment methods. At present, less than 50% of all payments in the UK are made with cash, and if this trend continues by 2026 it is predicted that this figure will drop to 21%. In 2019, mobile technology changed the way we paid, with m-Commerce constituting 56% of all e-commerce sales and an estimated $3.6trn in m-Commerce sales by 2021. The changing payments landscape challenges everyone. For merchants, payments are no longer just a cost of doing business but can drive growth, if approached holistically. Currently, only 20% of merchants have a mobile payments app and only 40% have a mobile-centric payments website. On top of that, there is a myriad of new technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and biometrics impacting commerce & payments. The Internet of Things creates a seamless web of touchpoints, through integrated apps, smart devices, and integrated payments, making electronic payments even more convenient. Instant & Mobile payments are poised to finally have their day thanks to APIs and open banking. 12 PaymentGenes Q1 2020
New channels appear, seemingly overnight. In 2020, “Social Commerce” and “Voice Commerce” are looking likely to become part of our everyday life. There will be more “Value Added Services”, including loyalty and coupon offers, that are seamlessly integrated into payment transactions. In this context, delivering a unified mobile payment experience is the new challenge in the battle for the consumer. Omnichannel integration can be an overwhelming task for merchants. Over 50% of retailers are focused on creating a consistent brand experience across channels. Along the road towards optimising payments for omnichannel commerce, there are many questions for both payment providers and merchants. At MPE2020, the biggest European conference on merchant payments (Berlin, Feb 18-20 2020), over 140 inspiring speakers will provide unique insights on what payment providers are doing to help merchants to achieve frictionless shopping experiences.
Quarterly FinTech Magazine
systems, thus accelerating integrations with 3rd party vendors for quicker go-to-market strategies. For this matter, a middleware is necessary to orchestrate communications through standardized data structures, avoiding any updates in backoffice systems every time a new application is connected. In his presentation, he’ll propose a new model for adapting legacy infrastructures to new market standards (e.g. Mobile, PSD2, 3DS v2.0, APMs, Omnichannel), capitalizing on existent systems and preparing incumbent companies for the challenges ahead”. █
How should the payment companies change their business models to adapt to the new era of instant & mobiledriven payments in 2020? According to Jeremy Nicholds, CEO of Judopay, who will speak about the psychology of mobile payments at MPE2020: “If you’re looking to build a case for technology investment, explore your business growth goals and how this new payment technology can support these plans.”
The important question for incumbent players is whether to substitute, or adapt their legacy systems to cope with the new market standards & technologies?
Future of merchant payments, new business models and technologies supporting commerce and payments are among the key topics to be discussed at the MPE 2020, Europe’s Largest Merchant Payment Acceptance Conference in Berlin, February 18-20. Request the Agenda & register at www.merchantpaymentsecosystem.com
Ruca Sousa Marques, CEO of Switch, who will cover the Interoperability in the Payments Industry in his speech at MPE2020 said: “There’s value in existing legacy systems—they’re still performing valuable actions! What’s needed though, is to decouple traditional monolithic architectures into microservices setups, ones that allow for interoperability between internal/external
Get your tickets here! Use code: MPE2020_PaymentGenes
Thijs Moser from PaymentGenes will be speaking at MPE 2020!
DAY 2 (Feb 19th) Track 2 /// Session 2 Time: 11:30 Room: Potsdam 3 Session 2: Changing face of customer shopping journey • Customer journey in today’s retail and e-commerce landscape • Aligning marketing with customer decision journey • Frictionless payments and personalized services • Mobile technology changing the customer journey
PaymentGenes Q1 2020 13
PG News
EXPERT
Elaine Nguyen Senior Payments Manager HelloFresh
SESSION with
In November, PaymentGenes hosted the last FinTech Expert Session of 2019, partnering up with subscription-based meal-kit company HelloFresh. We spoke with the guest speaker of the event, HelloFresh’s Elaine Nguyen, Senior Payments Manager, about HelloFresh and its payments team.
HelloFresh in brief HelloFresh SE is the leading global meal-kit company that operates in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Australia, Austria, Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand and Sweden. HelloFresh delivered 69 million meals to 2.6 million active customers worldwide in Q3 2019 (July 1 September 30, 2019). HelloFresh was founded in Berlin in November 2011 and went public on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in November 2017. HelloFresh has offices in New York, Berlin, London, Amsterdam, Zurich, Sydney, Toronto, Auckland and Copenhagen.
We use common channels - namely email, text messages and letters. In some countries, we like to use local and familiar tools, in the Netherlands for example, we use Tikkie. How do you tackle debt collection and unresponsive customers? Similarly to most subscription companies, we do come across customers who are unresponsive or unwilling to pay the outstanding balance, and we ensure that our terms and conditions cover us as much as possible. We also work hand-in-hand with our collection agency to solve these cases.
As a subscription service provider, what are some of the challenges you face and how do you approach them?
How do you figure out if a payment method is needed in a specific market?
With our subscription business model, it can happen that a meal box is delivered, but the payment has not yet been collected. This is the moment that my team has to monitor the process closely, to ensure that we recover the funds.
We perform market research, and we also rely on our payment service provider’s advice. We conduct surveys and listen to our new and existing customers when they tell us which payment methods they would like the option to use.
14 PaymentGenes Q1 2020
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What are the 4 main focus areas of the HelloFresh Payments Team? Payments, dunnings, debt-collection, risk.
In which areas of the business does the payments team play a strong role? The payments team plays a primarily core role cross-department with the finance team, due to its direct impact on the revenue and debt. Secondly, with customer service by listening, analysing and helping our customers on a daily basis. Their feedbacks and complaints help us to improve our service constantly. Also, they are directly impacted by a new launch or issues with the product. Finally, with the marketing team by monitoring and controlling the marketing campaigns. What are the main success factors that contribute to making a great payments team? The ability to work cross-department, but also having a deep understanding of the local customers’ purchase behaviour. Customers are at the heart of everything we do, and customers can sometimes experience a payment issue which in most cases is not intentional or a major issue. We need to be flexible and service-minded to solve it as quickly as we can for them. █
Interested in more information on the PaymentGenes Expert Sessions? Get in touch with Jamyl Jonker jamyl@paymentgenes.com
Click here for a video impression of our event in collaboration with HelloFresh:
0:45
Join us next time! PaymentGenes Q1 2020 15
Article
AI shaping the world of payments How Alibaba and TenCent are leveraging AI to make 1-second loan decisions. By Blagovesta Dimitrova AI implications are changing the present and the future of payments for consumers as well as businesses. AI has already turned into a hot topic among BigTechs and predictions indicate that in 2020, companies within the financial sector will invest $11 billion in AI, in a market that is valued at $191 billion. Making the financial industry leaders in AI expenditure out of all other industries. Alibaba is one of China’s most notorious representatives among the BigTechs. With the assistance of AI technology, Alibaba and Tencent have further disrupted the financial services industry with a new offering: a 1-second loan decision for their users. The procedure consists of a 3-minute application process (with most KYC information available from the user profile data), a 1-second AI decision to assess whether a candidate can meet repayment How Alibaba schedules and zero staff and Tencent
feed data into AI loans?
members involved in the entire process. This is also known as the 3-1-0 principle, applied to micro-loans.
The second principle, 2-1-2, focusing on loans, consists of a 2-minute application procedure, 1-second for auto-review, and a 2-hour algorithmic settlement. The two companies are disrupting China’s financial sector as they have already given loans to more than 100 million consumers. A number of these loans have been given out to clients who do not qualify for a loan from conventional banks. The eligibility for a loan is being assessed utilizing AI through the individuals’ income and payment ability. Normally speaking, paying for your utilities in time allows you to be assessed as eligible for a loan. This is possible due to the vast amount of information these companies possess as they process 90% of the mobile payments that take place in China. The total value of transactions handled by Alibaba and Tencent in 2018 was estimated at $25 trillion. This new offering represents a single example among many disruptive financial services that are steadily changing the face of the payments world with the assistance of AI technology. █
Alibaba
Tencent
Microbusinesses, farmers, and others using e-commerce
Individuals
Records of smartphone-based payments (transcation amounts, utility bills, etc.)
User IDs, registered profiles, and owned assets Assessment of e-commerce transactions Assessments of purpose of funds and references (in case of farmers)
Records of calls and texts to confirm personal relations and guard against organized crime
AI decides on loan amounts, periods, and other terms 16 PaymentGenes Q1 2020
Event Partners
PaymentGenes
EVENT PARTNERS $250 Discount Code:
MP20PGN
THE FUTURE OF PAYMENTS IS COMING TO THE SUMMIT. Use code 2020SUMMPG30 for 30% off “Redefining the customer experience standard with APMs” Start-up Stage Monday May 25th 1:00 PM - 1:15 PM
Michael Tailleur President of Americas PaymentGenes
May 25 - 27, 2020 I Montréal, QC I thesummit.ca PaymentGenes Q1 2020 17
Market Overview
THE NEXT STOP
TORONTO FOR YOUR FINTECH BUSINESS
A
strong technology sector, resilient financial system, quality pool of talent and low business costs put the Toronto Region on the global FinTech map. Not only does the Toronto Region boast being home to the headquarters of major Canadian banks, but it also lays claim to three of the top 60 global pension funds and seven of the largest global hedge fund administrators. After New York City, Toronto is the largest financial centre in North America, hosting around 12,000 financial firms and employing over 360,000 people. It is also the 3rd largest technology hub in North America. Since 2015, the number of FinTechs in Canada has skyrocketed from 40 to over 250 and counting. These FinTechs operate in multiple sectors including payments, financing, robo-advising, crowdfunding and blockchain. From a talent perspective, the Toronto Region is a compelling location for fintechs. Ontario,
18 PaymentGenes Q1 2020
which is the province Torontro resides in, is home to over 30,000 of the country’s approximately 60,000 FinTech employees and offers one of the most highly educated workforces in the world. What makes the talent even more attractive for businesses is that the average salaries for engineering, management, and software development talent are 17-33% lower here when compared to major cities in the United States. Many European companies have already got the message: the Toronto region is a great place to grow your FinTech. The convergence of the financial and technology sectors has laid the foundation for the FinTech cluster to emerge in the Toronto Region. Successful Canadian FinTech companies like Shopify, League and Wealthsimple are the products of the closely interlinked financial and technology sectors.
Furthermore, with the continuous uncertainty surrounding Brexit, protectionist policies in the US, and the positive note struck by the trade agreement between Canada and the EU (CETA), FinTechs in the EU and UK would do well to consider expanding to the Toronto Region – home to a consistently stable political and economic climate. The Toronto Region further offers one of the most diverse populations in the world. More than half of the region’s 6.4 million residents are foreign-born – a higher percentage than most global cities, including New York. This diversity creates a welcoming and attractive environment for international students, skilled workers, and immigrants from around the world. This ensures companies have access to the best and the brightest from around the world. Toronto Region has all the makings of a world-leading FinTech cluster that is supported by a growing tech ecosystem.
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TORONTO TRIVIA Stats
3 of Canada’s five largest banks, ranked amongst world’s largest 25 banks by market capitalisation.
Accolades #1 Best city in the world to live in” The Economist, 2015
The third largest technology sector in North America with over 400,000 tech related jobs and over 2,500 startups.
“Job growth in Toronto’s tech ecosystem is outpacing primary industries such as finance and manufacturing” TechTO, 2016 “3rd top tech hub” Expert Market, 2016
More than 80% of Toronto’s financial services workers have post-secondary degrees and accreditations.
start-ups h c e T to region n in o F r f o o T n e h io t t s in Distribu es offering ic v r e s l ia c by finan 8% Wealth Management
R&D incentives are valued as “the most generous R&D tax incentive program throughout the G7” by KMPG.
There are more than 61 technology-related programs.
Talent
“Top city in the world for tech innovators” Teleport, 2016
A low cost business environment with lower corporate income tax rates and lower overall operating costs than comparable locations in the U.S.
2% 2% Risk Other
21% Payments
5% Insurance
12% Digital Currencies
17% Lending
6% Personal Financial Management
Ontario’s 45 colleges and universities produce approximately 39,600 skilled graduates in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) each year.
FinTechs headquartered in the Toronto region offer full spectrum of major financial services, with the highest concentration in payments. Executives also indicated that they are increasingly pitched with innovative ideas primarily focused on front office including sales origination while there is enormous potential in legacy back-office, B2B market, and claim processing which have largely remained unchanged for decades.
Are you curious to find out more about Toronto region for your FinTech business?
Reach out to Michael Tailleur from PaymentGenes at michael@paymentgenes.com 12% Capital markets
13% Back office operations
Sources: Accenture analysis on CB Insights, Crunchbase, and Pitchbook Data.
Or Salman Khan from Toronto Global at skhan@torontoglobal.ca
PaymentGenes Q1 2020 19
Interview
IN THE
RECRUITMENT SPOTLIGHT
Simon Busch took over the role of Head of Business Partner Management - ePayment at Daimler Mobility Services in April 2019, after a successful recruitment collaboration with PaymentGenes. 6 months into his new role, we caught up with Simon to see how he has settled in. What was it about the position that you were introduced to by PaymentGenes that grabbed your interest originally?
one in Stuttgart. Thanks to that transparency, what I’m doing now is pretty much in line with what I expected a year ago.
It was the combination of the progressive and demanding subject of ePayment embedded in the corporate environment of Daimler AG that attracted my attention.
Can you tell us a bit more about what you are currently working on?
Could you talk me through the role that Diederik (Klopper) and Julia (Schindler) played in the process of applying for the role and during the interview process as well? Diederik and Julia are very passionate about their profession, this is what differentiates them from other “headhunters”. They showed strong interest in the person behind the CV and were very quickly able to analyse whether my talents met the given organizational and positional requirements. How involved was PaymentGenes towards the end of the interview process? Diederik and Julia are willing to go the last mile. Showing strong perseverance and commitment, they funneled the process until contract was signed on both sides. In what way do the activities that you are currently doing differ from your expectations before and during the hiring process? Diederik and Julia, as well as Daimler, were very transparent with what can be expected as of day 20 PaymentGenes Q1 2020
I’m currently working on expanding the global coverage of our Mercedes pay platform within Daimler AG. This includes connecting to our digital initiatives, regions and markets on a global scale, deep diving into ePayments and eCommerce with them and finding just the right payment setup for them. In this regard, we are continuously striving to find the balance between global scalability and local adoption. Global scalability in order to be as efficient as possible from a corporate perspective, local adoption in order to reflect local consumer behavior and payment preferences. The ultimate goal is to make payments as convenient as possible and integrate them seamlessly in the greater digital environment of Daimler AG. Which future products and/ or developments within Daimler Mobility Services are you most excited about? The autonomous car of the future might be more of a lounge with comfortable chairs that would allow the users a lot of time to consume or work. We need to enable the right services for the user, so they can do everything that they are used to through other devices. That is really exciting, we are transforming an industry and driving future business models forward! █
TOP JOB
PaymentGenes TOP JOBS January
Senior Compliance
Sales
LONDON
BERLIN
Manager
Get in touch with: Marek Buenting +31 615642798 marek@paymentgenes.com
Manager Get in touch with: Diederik Klopper +31 642672190 diederik@paymentgenes.com
VP Business
Senior Sales
MADRID
AMSTERDAM
Development Manager
Get in touch with: Sonia Morozova +31 636074554 sonia@paymentgenes.com
EMEA Banks
Get in touch with: Jorrit Wijtsma +31 654644783 jorrit@paymentgenes.com
Lead Operations
Principle
MUNICH
DORTMUND
Architecht
Get in touch with: Borja Gonzales +31 617451273 borja@paymentgenes.com
Software Engineer Get in touch with: Jonathan Pothuis +31 634261457 jonathan@paymentgenes.com PaymentGenes Q1 2020 21
Recruitment. Personified. PaymentGenes exists to help payment and FinTech companies grow.
We build teams across a variety of positions including commercial, product, project, compliance, and IT.
Our expertise lies in C-level, senior & middle management, and senior experience roles.
www.paymentgenes.com // info@paymentgenes.com // +31(0)20 223 7888