Leaders In Payments and FinTech - The EDC Podcast

About This Episode This week, we meet up with Nico Kersten, CEO of Mercedes Pay. On top of the transformational shift from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles, Mercedes-Benz is also transforming itself into a digital software driven company where digital payments becomes an essential foundational layer. This is the focus of our conversation today. Launched in 2018 Mercedes pay operates the in-house digital Payment platform for Mercedes Benz and acts as the digital payments and fintech knowledge hub for the Group. Mercedes pay platform is now live in more than 40 markets, enabling transaction processing for Mercedes-Benz e-commerce products and services. In addition, Niko also shares his perspective on what it takes to successfully manage fintech innovation at a large traditional industrial company. About Mercedes Pay Mercedes pay GmbH as subsidiary of Mercedes Benz Mobility AG operates our in-house digital ePayment platform. Acting as the knowledge hub around digital payments, it plays an integral role in the mobility and digitalization strategy of Mercedes-Benz Group AG. Mercedes pay was first launched in 2018 in selected markets. The platform is now active in more than 40 markets, where it enables transaction processing for Mercedes-Benz e-commerce products and services on a global scale. Depending on the market, this includes transactions via the Mercedes me connect store, the Mercedes me app, in-car payments or online down payments for vehicles as well as vehicle payments in full.   Episode Links  Nico's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nico-kersten-767500211/ Mercedes Pay Website: https://www.mercedes-benz-mobility.com/en/what-we-do/payment-services/ Mercedes Pay on LinkedIn: ‍https://www.linkedin.com/company/mercedes-pay-gmbh/ Another Of Nico's Recent Interviews: "Why shouldn’t cars be able to do what smartphones have long been able to do?” ‍

This week, we meet up with Barry Levett CEO of Mypinpad. MYPINPAD is a global leader in secure payments acceptance and personal authentication solutions using smartphones and tablets. Their proprietary and globally patented technology secures and protects the input of sensitive information on touchscreens creating a trusted environment. MYPINPAD’s innovative solutions removes the need for specialised hardware thereby reducing cost and complexity, promotes rapid adoption and leverages the connected capabilities of smart devices. Barry was previously founder of SmartPesa which merged with Mypinpad in 2022. In our conversation we discuss the merger and Barry shares his perspective on state of the softPOS payments market including channel convergence and need for deeper integration into workflows and processes.

This week, we meet up with Matthew Steinbrecher, VP Partnerships at Reach. Reach is a Merchant of Record provider which acts as an intermediary between a business and its customers, taking responsibility for the payments process and assuming liability on behalf of that business. This is a great educational episode. Matthew explains what the Merchant of Record model is and how it gives merchants access to local acquiring in foreign markets and the ability to process locally. This eliminates the need to establish expensive local entities, lowering fees, reducing false declines, and outsourcing fraud risks and global tax compliance. Matthew also shares his perspective on the latest trends in the MOR space.    Episode links: https://www.edgardunn.com/theedcpodcast Martin’s contacts: https://linktr.ee/martinkoderisch

This week, we meet up with Jose Manuel Peral, Chief Sales Officers at Devengo -  a Madrid based start-up founded in 2020 that offers embedded payments enabling fast automated pay outs using the latest real time payment infrastructure including SEPA Instant and UK’s Faster Payments service. Jose previously co-founded Easy Payment Gateway in 2013, from which he made a successful exit via a sale to Global Payments in 2020. He is also an active seed stage investor. Lot of tips and advice for payment and fintech founders. Episode links: https://www.edgardunn.com/theedcpodcast Martin's contacts: https://linktr.ee/martinkoderisch ‍

Today’s episode is timely one. We meet up with Scott McInnes, partner in the Brussels office of international law firm Bird & Bird, to deep dive the recently published package of new payments legislation proposed by the European Commission. Scott has more than 15 years' experience of competition law and regulation, with considerable expertise in payments regulation and competition law across Europe. First off we review the much anticipated 3rd Payment Services Directive - PSD3  -  which consists of 2 proposals, the Directive plus the Payment Services Regulation or PSR. Secondly, we take a look at a proposal for a framework for financial data access or FIDA which seeks to extend Open Banking to establish rights and obligations to manage customer data sharing in the broader financial sector beyond payment accounts. And then Thirdly, we discuss the proposed framework to facilitate the possible introduction of a digital euro which is perhaps the most radical and transformative idea on the table. With the EU payments legislation pipeline now chocker block, we also consider the UK’s post Brexit position and the fact that the UK has for the first time in the 20 + years of EU payments regulation, not had any input or say in the drafting of the proposed legislation. Below are Bird & Bird's client alerts on PSD3 and PSR: ‍https://www.twobirds.com/en/insights/2023/global/proposed-psd3-and-payment-services-regulation-psr-bird-and-birds-initial-thoughts And, on FIDA: https://www.twobirds.com/en/insights/2023/global/proposed-open-finance-framework-fida-bird-and-birds-initial-thoughts   Episode links: https://www.edgardunn.com/theedcpodcast Martin's contacts: https://linktr.ee/martinkoderisch  

This week, we meet up with Tom Voaden, Head of Partnerships BR-DGE - a leading independent payment orchestration platform. The Edinburgh Scotland based firm has partnered with over 300 payment providers and technology solutions to build a platform that gives merchants fast access to the latest innovations in the payment sector. We discuss the state of the increasingly busy payment orchestration landscape, and Tom shares his perspective on how orchestration can deliver value to merchants.   Episode links: https://www.edgardunn.com/theedcpodcast Martin's contacts: https://linktr.ee/martinkoderisch  

This week, we meet up with Ohad Maimon, CEO and founder of Hyp - a leading payment company in Israel, processing around 1 in 3 of all merchant transactions in the country. We discuss the Israeli market, how Hyp was born out of the merger of 4 leading payment companies and spun off from its parent company Max which itself is a spin off from Bank Leumi one of Israeli’s largest banks. Ohad also shares his perspective and approach to managing innovation from proactively partnering with start-ups, conducting rapid market experiments, and scaling up the most promising ideas and how to then successfully absorbing them into the core business. A great insight into payment innovation management in market that is synonymous with tech led innovation.   Episode links: https://www.edgardunn.com/theedcpodcast Martin's contacts: https://linktr.ee/martinkoderisch  

This week we meet up with Ed Harries, VP Strategic Partners and Payments at Visual Soft, a leading e-commerce platform in the UK. I think in this episode we get to the very core of what is already and will continue to drive the next wave of innovation and value in payments and FinTech. We discuss how Visual Soft created their own payment solution in partnership with Stripe. And combining issuing and acceptance solutions, traditionally very separate worlds to create fundamentally new value creating opportunities. And when we say value, yes, we are referring to monetisation, but it's more than that. These innovations are transforming the customer experience on the pay inside which translates into happier, more loyal and returning customers, and in turn is triggering a step change in uplift in customer lifetime value, which of course is huge. And then transforming finance operations on the pay-out side through faster and more flexible access to funds. That's why there continues to be so much excitement around this space, more frequently referred to as embedded finance, but I think it's helpful to avoid some of the jargon and explain it as it is.   Episode links: https://www.edgardunn.com/theedcpodcast Martin's contacts: https://linktr.ee/martinkoderisch

In todays episode, we meet up with Olu Akanmu, President and CEO of Nigeria’s OPay whiich is one of Nigeria’s leading fintech companies. With a growing population of more than 200 million, almost twice as large as Ethiopia and Egypt the next 2 largest African countries by population size, not only is Nigeria Africa’s largest economy, but it is also the most important Fintech centre on the continent. It is estimated that there are at least 250 fintech companies in Nigeria, and Opay sits right at the top of this list alongside other well-known Nigerian fintech’s such as Flutterwave and Chippercash. In our conversation, Olu provides his perspective on how technology driven financial services are driving financial inclusion and spreading prosperity across Nigeria’s urban and rural communities. This is a fascinating insight into the power of fintech and how modern digital payments  infrastructure can underpin, enable and catalyse economic growth and transform lives. Episode links: https://www.edgardunn.com/theedcpodcast Martin's contacts: https://linktr.ee/martinkoderisch

This week we are discussing orchestration with Oliver Rajic - Chief Growth Officer at PPRO. PPRO is a leading fintech most well-known for enabling businesses to easily accept alternative payments methods across the globe. The acquisition of Alpha Fintech in 2022 where Oliver was CEO, strengthens PPRO’s position as both a global payments technology leader and trusted infrastructure partner to PSPs, banks and corporates. In our conversation we deep dive into the various orchestration concepts and start off with a helpful definition of the difference between payment, service and product orchestration. Episode links: https://www.edgardunn.com/theedcpodcast Martin's contacts: https://linktr.ee/martinkoderisch