Profile

Location

London

Member since

2018

Writes about

Payments Regulation & Compliance Cryptocurrency Markets Financial Crime Covid-19 Predictions

Paul's blog archive

2024 (1) 2023 (2) 2022 (5) 2020 (3) 2019 (12)

Paul Marcantonio

Head of UK/Western Europe at Ecommpay

Message Posts: 25 Comments: 8

Bio My main objective is to establish Ecommpay as a trusted partner to eCommerce merchants throughout the UK & Western Europe. As such, I'm committed to driving success across the diverse landscape of digital payments by facilitating frictionless user experience for clients and consumers alike. Career History I have more than 20 years of experience working for representatives of the payments and eCommerce industries, including popular e-Wallets and tier 1 interactive gaming brands, such as Ubisoft and THQ.

Blogs

What are the payment alternatives in 2024?

19 Feb 2024

Card schemes were planning to increase fees, according to reports last autumn. Then the UK Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) announced in December 2023 provisional proposals to introduce a price cap for cross-border interchange fees. What’s the alternative? A perennial hot potato Many merchants and industry players feel that there’s a duopoly betwee...

Trends in Financial Services

Anti-fraud solutions that can’t detect fraud rings are redundant in 2023

05 Jun 2023

In today’s e-commerce landscape, fraud prevention and detection solutions must include tools such as graph analysis to track data across numerous transactions. Over the last few years, the e-commerce sector has witnessed unprecedented growth. As volumes of digital transactions continue to skyrocket, merchants and payment providers find themselves a...

Open Banking

Will Open Banking hit the mainstream in 2023?

13 Apr 2023

Open banking has the potential to reshape eCommerce transactions, yet so far, uptake has been slow amongst consumers. Since Open Banking was introduced in January 2018, UK banks have been required to make their data available in a standardised format, allowing third-party developers to build applications for financial services and enabling fast ban...

BNPL

Will BNPL use increase this Christmas as the cost of living continues to rise?

21 Dec 2022

With Christmas just around the corner and many consumers feeling the pinch of a rapidly worsening cost of living crisis, festive spending is already being curtailed. As consumers become more cautious with their money, payment trends will almost certainly change, and business owners will need to stay informed about the latest developments if they w...

See all Paul's blogs

Paul is Commenting on

Only 14% of UK consumers ‘completely understand’ Open Banking - Ecommpay

That’s a good point, Ketharaman, if we compare the US regulation with the UK/EU regulation. In the USA Open Banking is more industry-based, whereas in the UK/EU it’s regulatory-based. When an industry in the US sees that there is a demand for opening data, it focuses on developing that product. Whereas in the UK/EU the regulator decides first that they open data and then the industry should adjust to these regulations.

13 Sep 2021 Reply Read article

Only 14% of UK consumers ‘completely understand’ Open Banking - Ecommpay

Definitely agree with you, James. As an industry, we have to focus on the value that Open Banking can bring to both businesses and end-users. For businesses, the advantages are more or less straightforward (lower costs, SCA, no chargebacks, data about the users), whereas users need an explanation on why they are better off using their bank instead of a card. Consumers are creatures of habit and are used to paying with their cards, or other traditional methods and would naturally assume that it is a more secure way to pay. We are not claiming that Open Banking will replace payment cards, but it will be interesting to see how the industry adopts Open Banking and its inherent advantages. The industry is moving fast, creativity is key, so coming up with innovative products that consumers can use without being afraid, in this case, to use their bank, either for payment or for information. There is still room for innovation with Open Data.

13 Sep 2021 Reply Read article

Only 14% of UK consumers ‘completely understand’ Open Banking - Ecommpay

Thanks for your comment, Melvin. In terms of public information, there are many articles and white papers from various sources on how Open Banking can change the industry and benefit consumers. The UK is counted as one of the strongest and most advanced regions in terms of Open Banking adoption, so naturally, there is a lot of focus but I do agree that there is more education needed at the consumer level. Security is absolutely key and of paramount importance to end-users, this is where OB can reduce fraud; a user always confirms their payment via Strong Customer Authentication using Face ID, Touch ID, or unique passwords. When confirming the payment, the user is redirected to their own online banking app within a secure environment, it is important to note that only regulated providers are allowed to initiate OB payment. For merchants who are considering Open Banking, there are 2 major factors that make it an attractive proposition – Costs & no risk of chargebacks. During the height of Covid, we saw an increased risk of chargebacks as well as fraud. Online shopping fraud statistics show that global losses from payment fraud reached $32.39 in 2020 – three times more than in 2011.

13 Sep 2021 Reply Read article

5 Steps to Set Up Online Payments for Your Business

That's the beauty of the payments industry - there's lots of choices out there, and each merchant can assess the various providers with respect to their individual needs!

15 Jan 2020 Reply Read article