Payments innovation jury report 2015

FinTech and payment sector in particular is going through a rich period of innovation. The Payments Innovation Jury Report provides expert insight into the state of the industry, dispels the hype and shows where the greatest opportunities lie.

It is based on interviews with the Payments Innovation Jury, carefully selected individuals from across the world who have all created their own successful payments businesses.

The 2015 edition is the fourth time the report has been published over the last eight years. It is authored by John Chaplin, payments industry insider and Chair of the Payments Innovation Jury, and sponsored by Currency Cloud, Ixaris and WorldRemit.

The Payments Innovation Jury

The Jury is composed of 40 uniquely qualified individuals from 23 countries across six continents. Unlike many payments commentators, every Juror has been there and done it before. They have been kept anonymous, so they are totally forthright in their opinions.

Some of the areas covered

• Where the smart investment money should go, growth and exit options for successful start-ups
• How technology giants can shape the payments landscape
• Where dostart-ups anddisruptors pose the biggest threat to incumbent providers, i.e. Visa/MasterCard, Western Union/MoneyGram, banks, and the big payments processors
• Emerging economies and how payments can support social and economic change
• Whether regulators hold back innovation and how they could better support it
• Mobile money: from financial inclusion in developing countries to Apple Pay in thedeveloped world
• Cryptocurrencies and the blockchain: threats and opportunities
• Which payments innovations are most overhyped

A few of the key findings

On areas in need of innovation: Domestic P2P & international remittances are the areas of payments in most need of innovation. In the B2B space, international SME payments has the most potential for innovation.

On exit options: Acquisition by a technology giant is now the most likely exit option for a successful payments start-up, showing how these firms recognise the commercial potential of the sector

On cryptocurrencies: Cryptocurrencies will not become viable alternatives to fiat currencies in the foreseeable future, but the blockchain architecture has the potential to fundamentally change many areas

On mobile money: Availability of low-cost smartphones will be the single biggest enabler for driving universal adoption of mobile money. Very few mobile money schemes have yet turned profitable.

On the developing world: Of payments innovations from the developed world, virtual card payments are the most likely to find widespread success in emerging economies. It is about time that developed countries accept that they can learn from developing markets. Asia and Afria are in the lead in the payments innovation stakes and Europe is at the bottom of the heap.

Download the complete report in PDF Files here