ECOMMPAY: developing own EU-wide Open Banking product to get a bigger slice of the cake

  • 2021-09-20

Vadim Guskov, Business Development Manager of ECOMMPAY, says the company is more than an online payment service provider, e-payments platform or payment company: “We’re your reliable payment partner. We help our clients to achieve their business goals, tailoring every solution in our payments arsenal to create bespoke financial technologies for business growth.” Vadim Guskov kindly agreed to take questions by The Baltic Times Magazine.

What is particular about ECOMMPAY?

ECOMMPAY sets itself apart from other payment providers by offering completely bespoke solutions, helping our clients to succeed in a new era in the history of online payments.

Our fintech ecosystem helps businesses to grow globally, with a full suite of payment services utilising data-driven technology and a wealth of local and international expertise.

With access to over 100 alternative payment methods, as well as mass pay outs and currency conversions, ECOMMPAY’s ecosystem is constantly optimised by our fintech experts and machine learning algorithms, allowing businesses to advance and grow globally, whilst we do all of the heavy lifting. We process Visa, Mastercard, Amex, and Mir card payments; ECOMMPAY is also the only payment service provider in the Baltics offering Apple Pay and Google Pay integrations.

Being a worldwide payment service provider and direct acquirer, licensed and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), we work with medium and large e-commerce businesses around the world.

In terms of service, reliability and security, which major boxes should be ticked by every potential client of an online payment service provider?

First, always check the company’s licenses. For example: In a post Brexit landscape, companies that hold an FCA licence must now also apply for a separate licence to provide their solutions within the EU.

Secondly, a typical contract issued by a payment provider can be up to 80 pages in length. It’s vital that all of those pages have been read and understood before proceeding.

Third, ask the payment provider to send anonymous examples of financial reports or operational balances, to check that they’re able to provide a high degree of transparency and reliability. When you buy or rent an apartment, it’s good practice to check and ask questions about the utility bills. The same principle can be applied to payment providers!

Fourth, check if the payment solutions and technologies offered are flexible enough to fit in with your business needs. The payment provider must tailor its technologies to your needs, not the other way round! Remember that proprietary solutions are always more flexible.

Fifth, check if the support team is going to be responsive to your needs, and arrange face-to-face communications with your potential key account manager.

Check if the provider offers different integration methods of a checkout page, i.e. using API, the provider’s checkout page, and an encryption script.

Finally, do not forget to check if the payment service provider has its own payment infrastructure and specialists to support it. If the payment provider has 99.99 percent uptime, you can consider them reliable. If your payment provider has data-centres in several geographical regions, this can help with faster payments and lead to a more stable infrastructure.

Where do you believe that ECOMMPAY has a competitive edge?

The e-commerce landscape is changing rapidly. That means new technologies, untapped markets and a wealth of opportunity. For many businesses however, the use of inflexible payment service providers can quickly become a limiting factor to their potential growth.

ECOMMPAY’s ecosystem offers a degree of flexibility and customisation that traditional providers simply can’t match: our payment gateway and full-range services are tailored precisely to our client’s individual needs, and are constantly enhanced using data-driven analysis to improve conversions and sales.

The result is a payment service provider and direct card acquirer that can help companies to seamlessly and rapidly expand into new markets, whilst at the same time offering a level of specialist expertise and customer support that’s second to none.

What was the start?

ECOMMPAY was founded in London in 2012, and has since grown from a team of just 10 specialists to a 700-people strong, award-winning global company with clients located around the world.

Your website www.ecommpay.com suggests you are catering to a broad range of industries?

Our clients are medium to large-scale businesses that span a vast range of industries and sectors, including travel, hospitality, online retail, education and mobility (taxi, ride-hailing, micro-mobility and car-sharing).

We’ve helped e-learning businesses to expand and automate their payment services during the global pandemic, and we’re at the forefront of the burgeoning personal-mobility sector, helping thousands of our clients’ customers to get around more efficiently and safely every day.

ECOMMPAY’s unique tailored approach means that we’re able to adapt our services to meet the needs of a wide and diverse range of clients.

What part of the online payment market does ECOMMPAY occupy?

We think that ECOMMPAY’s combination of global expertise and reach, plus our bespoke products and growth-focused mindset, gives us a completely unique market position.

What services do you provide on a daily basis?

ECOMMPAY provides services for businesses that accept electronic and online payments. We offer a payment gateway, mass payouts, currency conversions, an e-merchant bank, card issuing and over 100 local payment options for markets around the globe.

As well as offering a full suite of payment services, ECOMMPAY helps businesses to improve their conversions and sales, and rapidly expand into new markets. We employ advanced analytics, sales optimisation and risk control, as well as a team of highly experienced industry specialists to help our clients succeed.

Where do you see room for growth and expansion in the future?

In two surveys conducted in March 2021 by ECOMMPAY (in collaboration with Censuswide), we found that digital wallet use had tripled in three years, whilst Open Banking was continuing to drive innovation within the payments sector.

Moreover, one in five of business leaders did not feel that their company had adequate payment processes to adapt to the rapid changes taking place in consumer habits, suggesting that many businesses could struggle with the post-Brexit shift.

To address these concerns, ECOMMPAY is developing its own Open Banking product, which will cover all the EU countries by the end of the year. We’ll also continue to promote alternative payment methods such as e-wallets, online banking and mobile payments, helping to support businesses expanding globally with local solutions and expertise.

What are the big names you’re serving?

We work with leading brands in various industries, for example, a global brand Accor Hotels and a well-known UK company The Dream World Travel in travel & hospitality; established retail leaders in the Baltics MySport and Elkor; famous video gaming and media brands Total Battle and The Soul Publishing; and a popular ride-sharing services app Yandex.Taxi, which is part of Yandex, one of the largest IT companies in Europe and Asia.

How has the coronavirus pandemic impacted ECOMMPAY?

COVID-19 saw the need for ECOMMPAY to monitor its sales volumes in real-time, and understand what was happening within each specific industry within our portfolio, in order to predict how the market would change as the public’s spending habits adapted to lockdowns and restrictions.

Our main message is a positive one: COVID-19 hasn’t significantly impacted us because we have a very diverse client portfolio, and our solutions are bespoke and extremely versatile in nature. This has not only helped us to successfully navigate the difficult COVID-19 landscape, but also helped our clients to adapt and pivot where necessary.

What do you believe needs to be changed in Latvian and EU regulation of online payments to make them more accessible and affordable? And are those issues being addressed?

I do believe that those issues in the EU are being addressed. The new payment trends are constantly coming into the industry; therefore, it is crucial for the regulations to be up-to-date. We can observe that EU regulations with regard to payments are regularly being reconsidered and updated. PSD2 is a great example of a recently introduced directive which has made payments more secure as well as fostered innovation in the industry.

IN THE PHOTO: Vadim Guskov is Business Development Manager at ECOMMPAY, an online payment service provider, an e-payments platform and a payment company