Agile Processing: It’s Time for a Better Credit Card Payment Processing Model

While the payments landscape continues to evolve through innovation in mobile wallets and “Pay” branded products, regulation and compliance changes driven by EMV and PSD2, and continued interest in non-traditional credit options, one thing remains constant: consumers expect relevant payment solutions that make their financial lives better.

For financial institutions and credit card issuers, the risk of not meeting consumer expectations is growing over time. Market dynamics are changing rapidly in the credit space. Credit card issuers are facing intense competition from rival financial institutions, FinTech, and alternative lenders, and fundamental change is being fueled by the demands of increasingly savvy consumers who have grown accustomed to highly responsive and tailored financial and digital services.

To win– and quite frankly retain– customers while growing their business, issuers need to meet the challenge of delivering differentiated credit products quickly and cost effectively. The truth is, however, that all too often credit card issuers struggle to deliver innovative solutions suited for these new market realities and tailored to the needs of today’s consumers.

Most of Today’s Card Processing Platforms Solve Yesterday’s Problems

There are thousands of credit products in the market, but they are essentially “me-to” offerings with little differentiation. The last time consumers saw a major card product evolution was the introduction of reward programs– which occurred well over ten years ago.

Why is this so? Most financial institutions and card issuers are forced to conform to the constraints of their payment processing providers’ platforms, many of which were built decades ago and are no longer suited for today’s dynamic market needs. This results in lengthy and expensive product rollouts and “me too” solutions that fail to meet cardholders’ expectations.

Agile Processing Gives Control to Issuers So They Can Execute Their Product Roadmap Vision

Payment processing technology should help card issuers create credit programs that delight their customers – not get in the way.

Card issuers need a payment processing platform built for today, one that gives control back to card issuers so they can build and execute their product roadmap vision and quickly make changes to programs based on business needs, customer demands, and market feedback.

i2c’s Agile Processing platform gives card issuers the control and flexibility to quickly and cost-effectively create, test, and introduce differentiated card programs that today’s customers want, delivered on a single, global platform with the configurability, reliability, and scalability that card issuers expect.

Agile Processing affords card issuers several critical advantages:

• Speed to Market – Configure portfolios with products that meet their unique business requirements, including the ability to innovate from sandbox to scale
• Market Responsiveness – Respond quickly and cost-effectively to make product changes based on market needs
• Engagement – Grow deeper and more profitable customer relationships by leveraging more engaging features such as advanced digital functionality, personalized card controls and alerts, and integrated loyalty and rewards that deliver meaningful interactions.

Agile Processing can be at the heart of card issuers’ credit offerings and act as a hub for a broad range of transactions from different channels, devices, and payment instruments.

Agile Processing empowers card issuers to take control of their business. Learn more about Agile Processing by visiting our microsite, where you’ll also find a range of pertinent insights, white papers, videos, web seminars, and references specifically curated to help card issuers and program managers understand how to face today’s demanding market challenges and move ahead of the competition.