One of the most often overlooked attributes in the shrinking global business environment and in the payments ecosphere is trust. Trust is so basic in any relationship, be it personal, professional, or transactional.
When we talk trust in payments, we are talking about the buyer trusting the payment brand to ensure the payments so they can get what they want. Buyers have varying levels of trust that the payment will be made, that the payment will be secure, that their PII will be protected. If there is no trust, it is very likely that they will choose another payment option.
A recent article in PaymentsSource, U.S. and U.K, firms looking global need to learn ‘local payment methods’, makes the point that U.S. and U.K. firms that want to globalize need to allow buyers to pay with local payment options. As the author points out:
As commerce goes global, payment preferences, such as using cards, e-wallets or cash, are becoming more local.
That can be a surprise for people in the U.K. and U.S.; PPRO’s recent research highlights that 91% of U.K. consumers use debit and credit card payments. But there are over 450 significant local payment methods (LPMs) across the globe, accounting for over 75% of global e-commerce transactions.
It seems pretty obvious that simply accepting the global payment networks and PayPal won’t cut it as they look to other countries to get revenue from. It’s kind of a “no brainer” if you think about it. Offer people ways to pay that they have comfort with and they trust. The article made me think about what it takes to make the cut as a payments brand.
That brings me back to the idea of trust.
Trust is earned. Particularly, when it comes to money. Simply stated, people do not want to make a transaction with a payment method that puts their money or PII at risk. Merely launching a payment brand does not demonstrate to me that a company has earned trust. Trust takes time and patience, along with empirical and anecdotal (think word of mouth) proof points.
The article mentions 450 local payment methods across the globe. Each of those will likely have to have already gone through the trust building process, and the introduction of a new brand into this mix is difficult. A new brand must prove that they are at least as trustworthy as the incumbent brands. In other words, new payment brands need to prove why they should be selected over other, more established brands.
Trust is hard won and easily lost. All it takes is one mistake to destroy years’ worth of trust building efforts. Trust me.
Overview by Peter Reville, Director, Primary Research Services at Mercator Advisory Group
