Ingenico Experts / Shaping the future of payment
Ingenico Experts / Shaping the future of payment
The act of payment is a part of our daily lives that many take for granted. And yet, it is multifaceted, intricate, covers multiple touchpoints and its functionality is increasing. The humble payment terminal, in itself a complex device, is a key component in this fascinating jigsaw. However, payment terminals don’t exist in isolation, instead they form part of a terminal estate, perhaps owned by a bank, a merchant service provider or large retailer.
Last month, Ingenico launched a new series of articles, called Perspectives, looking at the expectations of different sectors from their payment experience. We started by considering the “payments menu” for the HORECA segment. Now, Christian Bwakira, Managing Director for Middle East & Africa, looks at an unpredictable and interesting slice of retail: the world of SMALL SHOPS…
Germany is considered a world leader in innovation. Think about science, technology, consumer products and a very impressive list of high-quality car brands. The country is synonymous with product excellence and expertise. But surprisingly, when it comes to payments, its progress has not been quite as remarkable.
Ingenico, a Worldline brand, has an essential philosophy at its core - to stay up to date with the latest security standards and promote the most secure cryptographic elements for our customers.
A few months ago, I was walking past my local curry house when I saw that their neon sign was on the blink. It made me smile: now that, I thought, is some serious targeted marketing. Not only do they recognise that my name is Ian, but also that it’s late so I’m probably hungry... and they have created a whole new cuisine just for me! If only all small merchants had marketing that was as focused as that.
For those of us who belong to Generation X, or even the lucky ones known as Millennials, looking back at payment methods in our youth takes us to a time when cash was king, and the predominant method of settlement. Point of sale (POS) terminals, when they arrived, were slow and limited to the major card types such as Visa and Mastercard.