In October , I had the alwaysthrilling experience of being stuck at a large airport hub due tosevere weather in the area.Flight after flight was delayed, moved,cancelled, rebooked – you know the drill if you travel on a regularbasis.What never fails to puzzle me though is how flights getcancelled on one airline, but another airline flies into that samedestination.This is exactly what happened to me this week – I endedup on a completely different airline to the samedestination.
It struck me as I was workingthrough all the chaos of the day that this experience is a lot likethe current payments market environment.Unknowns are around everycorner and there is a chaotic feel in the air as organizations big,medium, and small try to figure out how to recalibrate, integrate,align, and anticipate new business models in the middle of thebiggest wind storm of the last 100 years.It’s easy to get off trackand simply cancel all your flights.
In this market though, it’s goingto be the financial institutions that are identifying opportunitiesthat lie within a rapidly changing payments environment andposition themselves to leverage these opportunities who will takeoff.What are some of those opportunities?
- Offering consumers electronic payment methods where cash andchecks rule – small business personal and household services.
- Creating personal payment accounts that bundle together debit,credit, and prepaid cards under one brand with one statement andone online usage toolset.
- Building a personal financial management toolset which allowsconsumers to define how deeply they want to manage theirfinances.
- Developing “responsible borrowing” lines of credit thatincorporate fixed pay/closed end strategies.
- Considering the emerging subprime class which will be verylarge and less willing to accept lesser account functionality asthey emerge from bankruptcy, foreclosure, or prolonged periods ofunemployment, underemployment.
These are just a few of the waysthat financial institutions can approach an uncertain market withconfidence – buckle your seat belts, we’re ready for takeoff.