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Great payment innovation minds think alike… and good things happen when we work together
In the world of financial services innovation, some businesses like to refer to their clients as partners. One reason being is that digital technology is most effective when companies – suppliers and customers – collaborate to solve problems and drive growth.
Colleagues at Iliad Solutions have been thinking about this quite a bit recently, as they prepare to attend PSE Consulting’s Merchant Acquiring Conference 2024 in London.
Pitched as an event that allows “groups of like-minded people the opportunity to exchange their views”, this industry gathering attracts important members of the payments ecosystem – from Adyen and Amex to Mastercard and Moody’s.
It’s a superb example of collaboration on ideas and insights within the payments sector. But what about practical partnerships and how do they benefit businesses and their end users? Here are five areas where working together can make a difference in payment testing.
Five ways collaboration is key to success in financial services technology
Firstly, testing isn’t really a competitive function. As such, Iliad Solutions works closely with a range of subject matter experts to complement our own technological offering in areas such as payment terminals and card schemes.
This approach allows us to act as a strategic partner to clients, providing fast access to options for implementing new systems across their business. It also aligns with 94 percent of tech executives who say innovation partnerships are necessary to their strategies, according to Harvard Business Review.
Secondly, technology itself should promote collaboration in order to improve operational efficiency and reduce costs. This gets to the heart of Iliad Solutions’ t3 platform, which centralises the testing process in a single dashboard.
Our flagship system gives project managers complete oversight of test calls to all internal and external endpoints – thus removing the need for different departments to purchase individual payment simulation tools.
Open banking demands collaboration between traditional banks and fintechs
Thirdly, partnerships are important for some aspects of regulatory compliance. For example, authorities the world over increasingly expect financial institutions to share data to enable open banking functions, such as payment authorisations. To do this effectively and securely, it’s vital to test a third party’s technology to the point of destruction.
Interestingly, numerous Iliad Solutions’ clients use t3 to assess the performance capabilities of prospective partners before entering into a commercial arrangement.
Fourthly, when we work together we are more effective at preventing fraud. By sharing different security tools, we help to make financial institutions more resilient in the face of attacks from cyber criminals. Of course, testing plays a crucial role here in ensuring these systems work together seamlessly.
Embedded partnerships can deliver modern payment experiences
Finally, collaboration in financial services is moving beyond joint working between businesses within the industry. Companies are now compelled by market forces to team up with other sectors as embedded payments and finance adoption accelerates.
From Iliad Solutions’ perspective, there’s no reason why traditional financial institutions cannot cast themselves as central characters in the quickly unfolding embedded finance story.
With the right partners and testing tools in place, it’s possible for banks to act as the engines powering modern B2B and B2C payment experiences, where the lines between financial and non-financial business are becoming ever blurred.
The commercial imperative for working with peers
Aside from many operational and compliance benefits, partnerships make good business sense. For example, tech giant Microsoft has reported how 95 percent of its commercial revenue flows through partners.
And video conferencing innovator Zoom has derived 40 percent of its income in Japan and 70 percent of business with the U.S. Federal Government in 2021 via channel partners.
So, to wrap up, if you’re not already having a meeting of minds with other innovative businesses, you could be missing out on a host of opportunities to deliver new solutions and drive growth.
To find out more about Iliad Solutions’s approach to working in partnership with financial institutions, email us at info@iliad-solutions.com today.
Sources:
Harvard Business Review – What Makes Innovation Partnerships Succeed