Payments:Unpacked from Mike Chambers

Rowenna is sharing her story about how she (nearly) got scammed in the hope that it might help others and to assuage her “total embarrassment by doing something positive”.

UK Finance report that in 2022, criminals stole a total of £1.2billion through authorised and unauthorised fraud and scams.

During 2022 criminals have continued to focus activity mainly on socially engineering their victims, usually with the intention of tricking them into authorising a payment to an account within their control (known as Authorised Push Payment (APP) Fraud).

The tactics that criminals use include scam phone calls, text messages and emails, as well as fake websites and social media posts. Their aim is to trick people into handing over personal details and passwords. This information is then used to target victims and convince them to authorise payments.

Rowenna Fielding writes about data protection, ePrivacy and data ethics - you’ll find her blog here: MissIGGeek - and this is Rowenna’s story about how she (nearly) got scammed.

This is Rowenna’s story……..

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Making it easy to issue and pay bills - when you want, how you want.

Request to Pay (RtP) is a messaging ecosystem that provides the necessary interconnecting communications required to make secure payment requests possible.

It allows billers to initiate a payment request, and enables customers to choose when and how they pay.

RTP can be overlaid on top of existing infrastructure, saving you costs and increasing ROI. By connecting to RTP through Answer Pay, banks and other payment service providers can refocus their resources on building differentiated customer experiences in their apps.

Join us as we hear Peter Cornforth from Answer Pay unpack Request to Pay.

Make sure you subscribe to the Payments:Unpacked podcast with your favourite podcast app or via Spotify.

Has the penny had its day?

"In terms of the coins in your pocket, it's useless" - the National Consumer Council 1983 talking about the half penny coin in the 1980's.

Like many of us over a number of years I had accumulated a bag full of Euro denominated coins so last week I took the opportunity of repatriating my bag full of Euro Cents by feeding a number of car park ticket machines along Germany’s Baltic Coast. 

As I “fed” the machines with these small strange coins I wondered whether the UK’s “penny” might have also had its day. Just 13 years after 1971’s Decimalisation the National Consumer Council stated that the half (new) penny was “useless” - now some 52 years after Decimalisation do we need to ask whether the one, two, and perhaps even the five pence pieces have also had their day?

Last month a consultation was launched on the Isle of Man (IOM) on whether low value coins should be removed from circulation and how this could lead to the introduction of a rounding system for all cash transactions.

Just 13 years after 1971’s Decimalisation the UK’s National Consumer Council stated that the half (new) penny was “useless” and some 52 years after Decimalisation do we need to ask whether the one, two, and perhaps the five pence pieces have also had their day?

Make sure you subscribe to the Payments:Unpacked podcast with your favourite podcast app or via Spotify.

A moment of decision is a noun defined as: A climactic, decisive or critical moment in an event or period.

With the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) stating in its recently published 2023/24 plan that it is keen to see progress on delivery “without further delay” and the potential for the white smoke of a vendor decision in the coming weeks it really is a moment of decision for the New Payment Architecture or NPA.

A key element of the PSR’s latest work programme is the proposed New Payments Architecture (NPA).

As we approach the end of the first third of 2023 it is clear that we have reached a climactic, decisive and critical moment for the NPA.

The PSR's recently published annual plan does provide some helpful insights into the regulatory focus into the NPA that we can expect to see over the coming 12 months.

Make sure you subscribe to the Payments:Unpacked podcast with your favourite podcast app or via Spotify.

Teresa Connors from Payment Matters joins us for our latest Payments:Unpacked video.

In this episode Teresa unpacks the topic of Consumer Duty.

Helpfully, Teresa provides this introduction:

We’re at an inflexion point, as firms are becoming aware / coming out of denial / realising it’s not just a compliance thing and tackling the enormity of the task to embed and prove embedment of the FCA Consumer Duty.   The FCA suggests that at this stage, firms should be 80% through implementation, while some firms are making tangible progress, many firms are not as advanced as they would like to be in readiness for the on sale product deadline of 31 July this year.  

Crucially, discussion and activity are turning from “why” to “how” as firms create and implement plans to prove that customers are at the heart of their business, demonstrating that they meet the Consumer Duty cross cutting principles of:

•               Acting in good faith 

•               Avoiding foreseeable harm

•               Enabling and supporting retail customers to pursue their financial objectives.

Make sure you subscribe to the Payments:Unpacked podcast with your favourite podcast app or via Spotify.

Lee McNabb from NatWest joins us for our latest Payments:Unpacked video podcast.

In this episode Lee unpacks:

• The current state of play of A2A payments and explores what expectations we should place on the future expansion of this new payment mechanism.
• Why the New Payments Architecture (NPA) is important to the future of payments for NatWest (and the wider market).
• What innovative features can we expect at the launch to the NPA and over the longer term.
• How A2A payments and the NPA link together to drive innovation and competition in payments.
• How can and should banks protect their customers and how can people protect themselves when making a payment.

Make sure you subscribe to the Payments:Unpacked podcast with your favourite podcast app or via Spotify.

Nick Davey from the Payment Systems Regulator joins us for our latest Payments:Unpacked video podcast.

In this podcast Nick answers questions that have been asked by readers of the Payments:Unpacked newsletter and Mike’s Linked In connections.

Hear Nick’s answers to:

·  What are the biggest near-term challenges for New Payments Architecture? Teresa Connors, Payment Matters

·  During the pandemic a number of banks introduced measures such as mortgage holidays to help people cope with the extraordinary circumstances they found themselves in.  Given the impact of the cost of living crisis and recent surveys highlighting customer frustrations with banking support, will the regulators consider intervening to ensure the necessary payment flexibility?  Peter Cornforth, Answer Pay

·  How big is the risk of a catastrophic payments hack by a bad actor supported by quantum computers, and how can that risk be minimised ? John Wisbey, Entrepreneur and Innovator

·  Will you please take a close look at ‘pay by link’ (initiating a payment or payment request via SMS or Email) and either legislate against it, or insist of additional measures to protect against APP scams initiated through ‘pay by link’. Ideally, perhaps you should outlaw it AND tell the banks to adopt Pay.UK’s much more secure request to pay messaging scheme. Chris Vincent, Exela Technologies

·  Who are the influential stakeholders in the fraud chain?  Teresa explains that harm is in play before the payment journey is made, what discussion / progress is being made in combining preventative effort with other non FI stakeholders? Teresa Connors, Payment Matters

·  Why do the PSR only recruit in London? Stephen Moore

·  Supported by Chris Higham: “Seconded! Forward thinking financial institutions are tapping into the talent across the country (as indeed are government departments) - it feels like the regulators should be taking advantage as well

Make sure you subscribe to the Payments:Unpacked podcast with your favourite podcast app or via Spotify.

Alex Preece from Tillo joins us for our latest Payments:Unpacked video podcast.

Alex unpacks:

- How rewards, incentives and gifts network for the digital age are transforming the gift card market.

- How Tillo helps companies build loyalty, both attracts and retains customers and brings value to payments.

- How the Tillo loyalty platform can integrated into banks (via API integration).

- When the gift card is not a gift card: exploring using the gift card in a promotional tool or to facilitate programmable money.

Make sure you subscribe to the Payments:Unpacked podcast with your favourite podcast app or via Spotify.

Teresa Connors from Payment Matters joins us for our latest Payments:Unpacked video podcast.  

If you have not met Teresa yet here is an endorsement from her Linked In profile:  “…simply superb, a wealth of experience in the financial services industry and with a huge network to call upon – a true payments professional with infectious passion, a practical approach, an authentic approach to leadership and above all else a great personality.”  

With this endorsement in mind here we asked Teresa for her views on trading conditions, payment fraud and sustainability:  

- We all know that trading conditions are never perfect but Teresa shares her views on the challenges we will all face in the current trading environment.  

- Confirmation of Payee (CoP) might not be a "silver bullet" but it is making a difference in thwarting the fraudster, Teresa outlines the current state of CoP adoption and explores how else consumers can be protected.  

- Sustainability has long been a centra focus for Teresa and here Teresa shares her passionate view on what progress has been made and what more should  be done.   

Make sure you subscribe to the Payments:Unpacked podcast with your favourite podcast app or via Spotify.  

We are back with Series 2 of the Payments:Unpacked podcast.