Overview

Currently the payments industry worldwide is going through changes with the evolution of fintech products, Bitcoin and the increase of online challenger banks, coupled with the shrinkage of High Street Banks, this is having an immense impact on the payments industry and with the increased usage of mobile phones and social media within the younger generations, opportunities are available to mirror trends and integrate payments into modern emerging technologies. Banks are reducing headcounts and are allowing companies to sell merchant service products which include chip and pin devices and digital applications which can process transactions via an eWallet held within the consumers mobile phone. High Street retailers have been affected via the new technology which has forced many closures within recognised brands and this has been down to the increased usage of internet purchasing and the shift from a ‘bricks’ environment to a ‘bricks and clicks’ environment. Within the SME marketplace this trend is continuing and in particular the food industry is having to adapt towards new technology to maintain customers and enable online ordering for consumers. A typical example is Just Eat who have a successful proposition and can charge a retailer 21% commission for this service. Broadband for business is more expensive than home broadband and broadband within a business controls Web Access and computer networking and Data Control, firewalls are required and security needs to be addressed, all business owners understand this requirement but to be able to manage this as a SME business cost is prohibitive and the owner is not usually technically competent to manage IT related issues.