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How many payment methods are there really out there🤔?

This is one that has puzzled me for a long time, and continues to do so. There was a time when most of the payment solution taglines revolved around how many Alternative Payment Methods (APMs) they supported. And the very definition of what constitutes a payment method differed significantly between providers, somehow leading to the perception that the more on offer, the merrier.

Don’t get me wrong, APMs are absolutely critical in countries where traditional banking infrastructure is underdeveloped or inaccessible, as they often serve as lifelines, enabling financial inclusion and empowering individuals and businesses to participate in the formal economy.

However, the sheer focus on quantity over quality and relevance has always seemed misguided. Simply offering a large number of APMs inherently does not translate to better performance and wider market reach. In fact, this can also be a bad play, due to:

◾Increased complexity resulting from managing a plethora of APMs

◾Diluted user experience as a cluttered checkout page with dozens of payment options will more overwhelm and confuse customers, leading to cart abandonment.

◾Ironically reduced conversion rates because of the “paradox of choice”

◾Increased fraud risk, each APM presents a unique fraud risk profile and framework

◾Geographic irrelevance as many APMs are region-specific

My point being that payments are complex and multifaceted, they involve not just the types of payments but also the processes behind them. Factors like the authorisation process, security protocols, and the underlying rail infrastructure all play a significant role in shaping how payments function and the level of security and convenience they provide.

Looking just at card levels, this complexity is magnified when considering not only the sheer variety of card types that exist (i.e. credit, debit, prepaid, commercial, contactless, EMV, signature-based, virtual cards etc) and the proliferation of regional domestic card schemes. In fact, according to Nilson Report, there are more than 90 domestic card schemes around the world, the largest being RuPay (India), Elo (Brazil), Mir card (Russia), and Shetab (Iran), and they are projected to reach 2.1 billion cards and 7.5% market share worldwide by the end of 2027.

👉🏽#Paymentexperts, any perspectives to share on #apms or these regional #cardnetworks🎤?

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𝑾𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆?

𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘢𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘺, 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴.

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