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UK Banking
Point of view series
Issue 3: Autumn 2007




Making payments deliver
Strategies for high performance in a
commoditised payments market
Making payments deliver
Strategies for high performance in a commoditised payments market


The European Payment Services Directive (PSD) will be               The changing landscape
                                                                    of payments
transposed into UK law and come into force in the UK                So far, the target date of November
by November 2009, opening the way for the creation of               2009 for the UK introduction of PSD
                                                                    is not seen as a priority by many UK
the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). Of these two
                                                                    banks, although the majority are now
closely-related developments, only the PSD will apply               preparing for the start of SEPA in
directly to banks operating in the UK, since SEPA applies           January 2008. However, the immediate
                                                                    implications of the PSD for UK banks –
purely to the euro-zone. But both changes bring                     summarised in the accompanying
significant implications for UK banks, because between              information panel on the following
them they will redraw the map of Europe's rapidly-                  page – are substantial, ranging from
                                                                    the regulatory to the commercial to
commoditising – and increasingly consolidated –                     the cultural. And its wider market
payments environment.                                               implications go much further and
                                                                    deeper.
By boosting market transparency and opening up the                  In our view, any bank that views the
European payments processing market to non-bank                     PSD as a purely regulatory change,
                                                                    and which takes a compliance-focused
entrants, the PSD will dramatically concentrate power               approach to it as a result, is running
in the hands of providers with sufficient scale to                  serious strategic risks. Crucially, it may
provide efficient payments processing and value-add at              well end up hampering its own ability
                                                                    to compete in the newly-integrated
lowest cost. Banks face a critical strategic choice about           European payments marketplace – as
where to reposition themselves in this new environment              well as missing out on the substantial
– and specifically whether to invest in their payments              opportunities opened up by the PSD,
                                                                    and also by SEPA for euro-zone
capability and perhaps offer it externally, or get out of           payments.
payments altogether and outsource it to a third-party.              Why? Because PSD is regulation with a
Once they make this choice, there are further key                   difference. Its aim is not about control
                                                                    (as with Sarbanes Oxley), financial
commercial, operational and IT decisions to be taken.
                                                                    stability (Basel II), terrorism or crime
The winners will be those who make the right calls on               (OFAC, FATF and the AML Directive).
each of these critical choices.                                     Instead, PSD is about creating a level
                                                                    playing-field characterised by open
                                                                    competition and transparent pricing
                                                                    for payments services across Europe.
                                                                    Given this objective, the changes to
                                                                    the way payments are regulated is
                                                                    merely the start of the sweeping
                                                                    change that will flow from the PSD.




                                                                                                             1
Implications of the PSD                                                                                 PSD’s impact on competition

                                                                                                        The advent of open competition in          With SEPA, the zoo will break open its
    What will the PSD mean for UK banks?                                                                                                                                                     PayPal: from zero to 35 million
                                                                                                        payments will have several impacts.        cages. The lions (large acquisition-
                                                                                                                                                                                             in Europe in seven years
    The PSD puts into law many of the rules created by the European                                     For example, corporates seeking            hungry regional banks) will continue to
                                                                                                                                                                                             PayPal represents an impressive
    Payments Council, a self-regulatory body set up by European banks                                   improved visibility of their cashflows     dominate wide areas. The elephants        success story in alternative payment
                                                                                                        will be able to turn to non-bank           (major global banks) will lumber          services. Founded in 1998, it has
    to create SEPA. However, the PSD also includes some important                                       Payments Institutions instead of their     around wherever they please. The          now reached revenues of over
    additions, such as a requirement to complete credit transfers within                                banks for cash management services.        undersized and vulnerable gazelles        US$1.5 billion p.a., growing at over
                                                                                                        Corporates may also consolidate all        (savings banks, local banks and state     30% a year.
    one day from November 2009, except where customers explicitly                                       their euro payments and invoicing into     banks), may seek safety in numbers,       In Europe, PayPal has more than 35
    agree to it taking up to three days (but only until 2012). The                                      one pan-European centre or 'factory',      but risk getting picked off by the        million customer accounts, and
    introduction of the PSD in the UK from November 2009 will have                                      and reduce their numbers of banking        predators. And the nimble monkeys         processed total payment volume of
                                                                                                        relationships and accounts as a result.    (new entrants such as PayPal – see        US$8.4 billion in 2006 alone. Of
    three main impacts on UK banks. These are:                                                                                                     information box, opposite) will keep      those 35 million accounts, 15
                                                                                                        The move towards payments factories
                                                                                                                                                   their distance while thriving in the      million are in the UK _ equivalent
    • Prohibition of value dating – Under the           cost base than banks due to lighter             processing, combined with greater
                                                                                                                                                   more open environment.                    to over a third of adults and half of
      PSD, the practice of 'value dating' payments      regulatory requirements. The effect will        ease of payments across Europe, will                                                 all internet users.
      to the detriment of account holders will be       be to intensify competition by creating         significantly change the pattern of        The effect on the payments market will
      outlawed. The intention is that the               opportunities not just for established non-     payments flows across Europe and           be nothing short of revolutionary.
      customer receiving the payment will have          bank Payments Institutions such as PayPal,      boost cross-border euro payments           European Banks have long been able to
      immediate use of – and interest on – the          but for a vast array of other potential         from their current low level. And at the   regard their payments offering as an
      money from the moment it is credited to           entrants such as technology and telecoms        consumer level there will be increased     annuity protected by national borders.
      the account. This provision will prevent the      companies.                                      cross-border payments by debit card,       Under SEPA, the payments offering will
      practice of giving value to customer                                                              especially for online transactions.        be new, unprotected and no longer
                                                      • Increased European participation and
      accounts later than when the bank receives                                                        While debit card usage across Europe is    national. So banks will face a choice
                                                        engagement – While Ireland's presence in
      their funds – a change which will result in                                                       high, many debit cards are not             between getting out of payments as a
                                                        the eurozone means both the PSD and SEPA
      banks losing a source of interest income,                                                         interoperable across borders in Europe.    managed business; climbing higher
                                                        will apply directly to banks based there, UK
      with the threat of criminal charges should                                                        Under the PSD, SEPA-compliant debit        up the payments value chain; or
                                                        banks will also find themselves having to
      they transgress. More positively, as the                                                          cards will overcome this hurdle.           escalating their payments capabilities
                                                        think and act with a far more pan-European
      permitted timeframe for credit transfers                                                                                                     with enough commitment to compete
                                                        perspective than before. In a trend already     Breaking open the 'Payments Zoo'
      narrows to one day by 2012, UK banks'                                                                                                        on a pan-European basis (see
                                                        anticipated by recent consolidation activity,   The jungle, and its associated
      move to near real-time Faster Payments will                                                                                                  information panel on 'Do payments fit
                                                        UK banks will be operating in a wider and       opportunities and dangers, are often
      put them well beyond compliance.                                                                                                             into banking – or outside it?)
                                                        more open market with a wider range of          used as a metaphor for market
    • Liability - the PSD prescribes liability          customers across Europe. For example,           competition. However, with the PSD a
      requirements which mean UK banks will             cross-border payments will continue to          more appropriate analogy is a zoo; one
      need to revisit their terms and conditions        increase in importance – whether they be        where the different types of bank –
      with both consumers and corporates (where         remittances home by Polish workers abroad,      domestic, regional and global – are
      individual, bilaterally agreed contracts will     payments to pension payments to UK              currently in separate cages within the
      need to be checked and renegotiated               retirees in southern Spain, to corporate        zoo's grounds.
      where necessary)                                  transfers around Europe. National
    • New non-bank payments institutions –              governments may implement the PSD
      The PSD also opens the way for non-banks          with varying degrees of regulation – a
      to provide payment services across Europe.        lighter regulatory environment in the UK
      So called 'Payments Institutions', subject to     will give banks and non-bank Payments
      minimum capital requirements, will be             Institutions an advantage over their
      allowed to process payment transactions           European counterparts and an opportunity
      from November 2009, and new entrants can          to attract European business. There is
      be expected to compete with banks and             opportunity for UK and Irish banks to
      existing institutions such as automated           lobby their governments e.g. through the
      clearing houses. These Payments Institutions      UK Payments Council or the Irish National
      are likely to be able to operate with a lower     Payments Plan, to implement the PSD with
                                                        a light touch.


2                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    3
Payments Outsourcing                                                                                               European Consolidation

    Do payments fit into banking – or outside it?                                                                  Competitive Repositioning in Europe
    In simple terms, banking is about borrowing short, lending long,                                               M&A activity is strongly evident in Europe. The acquisition of ABN
    and managing the risks involved in both. Managing payments                                                     Amro gives the Royal Bank of Scotland a significant transaction
    transactions is a related but secondary activity that banks have                                               banking capability and is a major milestone in its journey to
    taken to be naturally theirs. By collecting fees for these transactions,                                       becoming a global bank. Banks are transforming themselves as
    banks have turned payments into a good revenue-earner in its own                                               they reposition in the changing European and global banking and
    right, typically accounting for between 25% and 50% of revenues.                                               payments landscape. The process has started and will continue
     However, post-PSD the opportunity to make             cost and with greater capabilities, then it
                                                                                                                   over the next five years.
     money from commodity payments transactions            may make sense to outsource it to them. If a
                                                                                                                    This transformation is taking place not just in        relative minnows with annual revenues of less
     will shrink dramatically. So banks need to ask        bank is sensitive about another bank seeing its
                                                                                                                    banks, but in processors as well. Interpay in the      than US$200m in most cases, compared to – say
     themselves whether they really need to 'own'          transaction flows, it can choose a non-bank
                                                                                                                    Netherlands has merged with TAI in Germany to          – commercial processors in the cards domain
     payments to support customer accounts –               Payment Institution instead.
                                                                                                                    form Equens, which has now acquired SECETI in          such as First Data Corporation with global
     especially given the growing availability of
                                                           There is a clear precedent for this shift. In            Italy; Voca has merged with Link in the UK; and        revenues of over US$7bn. Further consolidation
     transaction banks and other third parties who
                                                           the US, the 1994 Riegle-Neal Act enabled US              SIA and SSB have merged, also in Italy. These are      among payments processors is inevitable.
     can provide these services innovatively and
                                                           banks to expand across borders, triggering a             some recent examples, and more consolidation is
     at scale.
                                                           consolidation process that resulted in the handful       sure to follow. In ACH processing, the key
     Banks will still want to manage their interactions    of US transaction banks (Bank of America, La             European processors are Equens, VocaLink, Stet,
     with account-holders. But if third-parties can        Salle, JPMorgan Chase) we see today.                     SIA-SSB and EBA Step 2. However, these are still
     provide payment processing invisibly, at lower



                         The new food chain                                                                                             This new food chain will have                 To thrive in the open zoo, the lions will
                         Banks will be making these critical           As well as experiencing strong                                   different impacts on each of the main         need to win more corporate customers,
                         choices against a background of               growth over the next few years,                                  types of bank – local, regional and           and to acquire other European banks
                         continuing strong growth in European          Europe's payments industry will also                             global – requiring each to adopt              to achieve scale. If they have no
                         payments. The ECB reckons there are           see a transformation in its competitive                          different strategies.                         realistic chance of claiming a place as
                         around 360bn cash payments made in            dynamics as a result of headlong                                                                               a top-five/ten transaction bank, they
                                                                                                                                        1. Local banks – the gazelles
                         Europe every year, and 70bn non-cash          consolidation. We believe that possibly                                                                        too should outsource their payments
                                                                                                                                        Local banks have historically processed
                         payments (the majority electronic and         within five years, and certainly within                                                                        transaction processing.
                                                                                                                                        large volumes of domestic payments,
                         card payments, but also including             ten, there will be only five to ten major
                                                                                                                                        giving them access to low-cost retail         3. Global Banks – the elephants
                         cheques). Non-cash payments are               transaction banks offering payments
                                                                                                                                        funds. These banks will face                  Historically, global banks have found it
                         growing at 7% a year, which means             services in Europe, each claiming
                                                                                                                                        diminishing transaction revenues from         difficult to attract retail payments and
                         that these volumes will be 50%                market share of 10% to 15%, plus a
                                                                                                                                        existing national payments, coupled           deposits in Europe, except in their
                         bigger in five years' time if the current     similar number of non-bank Payments
                                                                                                                                        with intensifying competition. To             home countries. Under the PSD, they
                         growth rate is maintained. If growth          Institutions providing elements of the
                                                                                                                                        prosper in a post-PSD world, they need        will continue to struggle in this regard
                         accelerates as a result of increasing use     processing chain (see information
                                                                                                                                        to consider M&A with other banks in           unless they acquire local or regional
                         of contactless and other new payment          panel on European consolidation). All
                                                                                                                                        Europe, or to focus on their retail           banks. However they are better placed
                         methods displacing cash, then non-            the other banks – if they have not
                                                                                                                                        customers and local corporates to             for organic growth with corporates.
                         cash volumes could easily double by           been consolidated – will outsource
                                                                                                                                        avoid losing them to the expanding            So these elephants should focus on
                         2012. However, it is worth noting that        payments.
                                                                                                                                        regional players – the lions. They            poaching corporate business from sub-
                         if all payments volumes grow in line
                                                                                                                                        should also consider outsourcing all          scale banks, and/or acquiring other
                         with GDP, then non-cash volumes
                                                                                                                                        payments processing to a transaction          banks to penetrate retail markets.
                         need to grow at about 10% a year
                                                                                                                                        bank and/or non-bank Payments                 Crucially, global banks' scale, reach and
                         before cash volumes actually start
                                                                                                                                        Institution.                                  capabilities make them well-positioned
                         declining. So cash is still very
                                                                                                                                                                                      to become the dominant transaction
                         important – and its usage is likely to                                                                         2. Regional banks – the lions
                                                                                                                                                                                      banks in Europe.
                         continue to grow in the near term.                                                                             Despite strong domestic volumes, the
                                                                                                                                        regional banks will still be sub-scale on
                                                                                                                                        a European level, both in payments
4
                                                                                                                                        volumes and corporate market share.                                                       5
Winning payments strategies for the PSD world

        As banks make their critical choice over which species                                                      National Champions -                       Global Champions -                         IT choices
                                                                                                                    'gazelles': Payments                       'elephants': Payments                      Global banks should aim to have a
        of bank they are, or which to turn into, they face one                                                      strategic choices                          strategic choices                          single platform covering multiple
        key question: what will constitute a winning payments                                                       Commercial choices                         Commercial choices                         domestic, international, corporate and
                                                                                                                                                                                                          retail payments, built on a SOA
        strategy – and how can a payments business remain                                                           In the PSD zoo, gazelles are essentially   These giants of the PSD zoo can
                                                                                                                                                                                                          architecture to maximise re-use of
                                                                                                                    undersized and vulnerable. So they         become the dominant transaction
        profitable amid headlong commoditisation?                                                                   should act as niche players, defining      banks in European payments. But first      system components common across
                                                                                                                    and selecting their target market          they face critical choices around how      different payment types. Common
        While the parameters for this strategy will vary between the three categories
                                                                                                                    segments carefully – SMEs, savings         to increase their market penetration,      standards will increase efficiency and
        of bank, there are some core groundrules that they will all need to apply.
                                                                                                                    offerings, public sector – and focusing    scale and market share.                    support a single global view for
        These can be divided into commercial, operational and IT principles, and are
                                                                                                                    on relationship management and                                                        managing liquidity and anti-money
        outlined in the accompanying information panel. Beneath these overarching                                                                              • In terms of market penetration,
                                                                                                                    customer service. This means retaining                                                laundering obligations.
        principles, each type of bank faces specific choices.                                                                                                    medium-to-larger companies
                                                                                                                    front-office payments distribution,
                                                                                                                                                                 sourcing and selling outside their       Regional Consolidators -
                                                                                                                    viewing payments as a critical service
                                                                                                                                                                 local markets are an attractive          'lions': Payments
           Guiding Principles for all banks                     • Use partnering and/or outsourcing to              rather than a core business, and
                                                                                                                                                                 target segment for global banks.         strategic choices
           Commercial Principles                                  achieve benefits in both costs and scale –        deciding whether to act as a payments
                                                                                                                                                                 They can also tempt corporate
                                                                                                                    consolidator or agency for local banks.                                               The choices facing regional
           • Know and meet customer needs - under                 owning production will be a differentiator                                                     customers away from national
                                                                                                                                                                                                          consolidators lie between those of
             PSD, banks will need to understand                   only for players with enough scale to be          Operational choices                          banks lacking European-level scale,
                                                                                                                                                                                                          the national and global champions.
             customers' new and changing needs, and               lowest-cost providers.                            Outsourcing some elements of                 and develop propositions for
                                                                                                                                                                                                          They need to jump one way or another,
             develop products which add value for them.         • Rationalise external infrastructures/             payments processing – especially             corporates' own pan-European
                                                                                                                                                                                                          becoming either a niche player and
           • Extend the value proposition 'up' the                interfaces and correspondent bank                 transaction processing and the               payments and invoicing 'factories'.
                                                                                                                                                                                                          outsourcing their payments, or a
             value chain – this means using their                 relationships – to reduce the complexity of       payments back office – should be high      • To build scale, global banks should      regional transaction bank with beefed-
             payments capability to add value for                 processing payments into and out of the           on the PSD agenda for national               consider acquiring other banks and       up operational and IT capability. In
             corporate customers, for example by                  bank, thereby improving customer service          champions. Rather than worrying              leveraging their operating model to      parallel, the 'lions' need either to
             providing new payment methods at                     and revenue opportunities, and reducing cost.     about loss of control, they should           create value.                            acquire other banks, or to build a
             point of sale and helping them improve                                                                 focus on the quality, pricing, and
                                                                IT principles                                                                                  • For growing market share, global         defence strategy through extensive
             their financial efficiency.                                                                            flexibility of the third-party contract.
                                                                • Implement a 'one-of-everything' approach –                                                     transaction banks have an                outsourcing and/or partnering with
                                                                                                                    Many national champions participate
           • Retain and strengthen the customer                    to minimise the number of payments systems,                                                   opportunity to insource payments         other banks to share infrastructure.
                                                                                                                    in their local clearing infrastructures,
             relationship across the payments ecosystem            based on buying capabilities rather than                                                      from national champions. It is
                                                                                                                    and as these consolidate they face a
             through value-added services – perhaps                building them.                                                                                critical that the value proposition is
                                                                                                                    decision on which clearing
             maximising convenience for consumers                                                                                                                clearly defined – the challenges
                                                                • Develop a modular, service-oriented               infrastructures to use.
             through prepaid cards and real-time                                                                                                                 include working out how to provide
                                                                  architecture(SOA) – re-using and optimising IT
             information on their finances at the point                                                             IT choices                                   a 1-to-many service with consistent
                                                                  through a portfolio, enterprise-wide view
             of payment.                                                                                            IT choices will be driven by the             boundaries.
                                                                  across all payments channels and services.
                                                                                                                    choice and scope of any outsourcing.
           Operational Principles                               • Use real-time, rules-based, message-based                                                    Operational choice
                                                                                                                    However, a service oriented
           • Separate production from distribution and            and parameterised components – to maximise                                                   A critical choice for the global
                                                                                                                    architecture (SOA) will be important to
             information management – reducing                    performance, throughput and scalability, and                                                 'elephants' is to move to a global
                                                                                                                    allow 'plug and play' flexibility with
             complexity and cost, and improving flexibility,      achieve 'one-touch' straight-through-                                                        operating model as against a
                                                                                                                    third party outsourcers, and to avoid
             by keeping transaction processing separate           processing.                                                                                  regional/European one. This creates
                                                                                                                    getting locked in over time.
             from marketing and sales.                                                                                                                         opportunities to share workload
                                                                • Maximise customer self-service capabilities –
           • Implement a single, common, generic process                                                                                                       globally between processing centres for
                                                                  thereby driving cost reduction and market
             for payments – supported by a standard                                                                                                            daily load balancing, 24x7 customer
                                                                  differentiation.
             transaction data structure, to replace                                                                                                            service and business continuity.
                                                                • Implement track-and-trace capabilities for                                                   Channels, products and product
             fragmented vertical stove-pipes.
                                                                  operational control – to reduce investigations,                                              processing can all be standardised
           • Create parameterised 'rules-based' customer-         improve customer service, and enable features                                                globally, while still enabling mass
             centric service – to support customisation           such as intra-day interest calculation.                                                      customisation to meet local and
             and help meet regulatory requirements.
                                                                                                                                                               customer-specific needs. Other
                                                                                                                                                               operational choices include which
                                                                                                                                                               payments and electronic invoicing
                                                                                                                                                               infrastructures to use across Europe.
6                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  7
Customer Propositions and Market
Adoption under PSD
Without a winning strategy for PSD supported by the right choices,
banks ultimately face being forced involuntarily out of the payments
business by intensifying competition and commoditisation. However,
success will not only need the right strategy – but an ability to
underpin it with the right customer propositions, and to innovate to
generate new revenue streams.
Many other industries have thrived in   Merchant enablement                        Many retailers across the world are                                              Supply chain/e-invoicing                  Payments insourcing
                                                                                                                             'Faster Payments' may give UK
the face of headlong commoditisation.   Merchant enablement allows                 dissatisfied with the cost of accepting                                          Invoice processing and payments           Payments insourcing from other
                                                                                                                             competitive edge
One is investment banking, where the    merchants to sell more at lower cost.      cards, and merchant-focused card                                                 across Europe remain complex,             banks is a business opportunity for tier
                                                                                                                             In Europe's borderless payments
most significant revenues today come    For many years, credit cards have done     propositions such as Revolution in the    market under the PSD, UK banks'        expensive and lacking in standards.       1 banks and global transaction banks.
from recently-developed products such   this by making it easier for consumers     US and Payfair in Europe are starting     decision to go for near real-time      However, growing corporate usage of       To enter this market, banks need an
as credit derivatives. Another is the   to pay and providing a credit facility.    to appear. These present a further        faster payments from May 2008          electronic invoicing hubs such as Xign,   efficient, industrialised internal
semiconductor industry, where, for      Prepaid cards are also proving good at     threat to bank revenues, but also serve   may provide them with a                Burns, and OB10 is now creating an        payments operation that can then be
example, a leading chipmaker claims     increasing impulse buys, with some         to demonstrate the opportunity to         competitive edge in the battle for     electronic supply chain ecosystem,        opened externally. Providers will also
almost 90% of the revenue it receives   merchants citing sales increases of        meet merchant demand through new          payments transaction processing        including e-invoicing hubs, corporate     need to ensure both payments
in December is from products launched   around 40%.                                merchant enablement propositions.         business across Europe. Through the    shared service centres for payments       operations and IT can support multiple
since the previous January.                                                                                                  EBA Step2 PrieEuro payments            and invoicing, corporate-to-corporate     banks on a re-usable basis without
                                        Banks need to build on this experience     Consumer fulfilment                       scheme, continental European banks     electronic connectivity for invoice and   customisation, and will need to allow
Routes to added value                   and take merchant enablement to the        Ideally, consumer fulfilment will         are currently aiming for a four-hour   remittance information, and bank-to-      for the costs of business acquisition
For banks involved in payments, these   next level by innovating – something       enable consumers to pay over multiple     settlement cycle, which would not –
                                                                                                                                                                    corporate electronic connectivity for     and management.
examples point to one imperative:       that new entrants such as PayPal are       channels, wherever and whenever they      for example – be able to support
                                                                                                                             consumer fulfilment enabling           payments, cash management and so
adding value, by extending the          already doing. This means embedding        want. This means mobile payments –                                                                                         The business case for offering
                                                                                                                             payment to be conducted and            on. E-invoicing offerings will exploit
proposition 'up' the value chain. For   payments capability into merchant          whose mass-adoption will finally be                                                                                        insourced payments services will
                                                                                                                             settled on the spot in a retail        this emerging ecosystem via
example, two areas where banks can      processes, and providing merchants         driven by the combination of the                                                                                           depend on the provider's ability to
                                                                                                                             location or restaurant. Similarly,     partnerships between banks, ERP
add value for their corporate           with market and consumer intelligence      mobile phone with Near Field                                                                                               provide core payment operations at
                                                                                                                             VocaLink, the UK payment               vendors and corporates. As electronic
customers through payments are:         to drive sales, across websites, vending   Communication (NFC) technology for                                                                                         below market-level costs, and above
                                                                                                                             processing provider which will         invoicing takes off, it will form the
                                        machines, mobile devices and more.         contactless payments. Real-time                                                                                            market-par customer products. The
• Marketing and Sales – where banks                                                                                          operate Faster Payments, has a         anchor for supply chain propositions
                                                                                   payments will add even more value to                                                                                       customer will benefit by being able
  can help corporates sell more and     To succeed, merchant enablement                                                      strategy for entering the European     giving corporates visibility of their
                                                                                   this combination, so UK banks' access     market; it is expected to claim a                                                to drop a non-core competence, cut
  lower their cost of sales;            programmes will need to:                                                                                                    cashflows and providing finance.
                                                                                   to Faster Payments in near real-time      position as one of the two or three                                              costs and become more efficient
• Financial and Supply Chain            • drive consumers to the merchant;
                                                                                   may well give them an edge against        pan-European automated clearing                                                  and effective.
  Operations – where banks can help     • allow merchants to target                their continental competitors (see        houses (ACHs) that banks will hook
  corporates improve their financial      specific consumers with specific         information panel). Consumers also        up to in the PSD world, and with its
  efficiency, and – where appropriate     propositions using consumer              want convenience in managing their        Faster Payments capability, it will
  – physical supply chain efficiency.     intelligence;                            finances, by having access to real-time   have a clear competitive advantage.
The customer propositions within a      • make it faster and easier for            information on their account balances
winning strategy can be categorised       consumers to pay/buy anywhere,           and outgoing commitments.
as follows:                               anytime;
                                                                                   To provide this convenience, retail
• Merchant enablement                   • capture consumer impulses,               versions of the cash management
                                          because consumers can commit and         applications typically used by
• Consumer fulfilment
                                          pay immediately;                         corporates will be offered to
• Supply chain/e-invoicing
                                        • provide security and reduce risks for    consumers through internet and
• Payments insourcing.                    both merchants and consumers.            mobile banking. Consistency across
                                                                                   channels will be vital, with internet,
                                                                                   mobile, ATM, branch and call centre
                                                                                   having the same functions and
                                                                                   information.



8                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    9
A Transformation Roadmap

        Overall, it is clear that in five years' time the European                             • The Business programme has              Achieving payments transformation:
                                                                                                 primarily a revenue agenda, and         key success factors
        payments industry and its customer propositions will                                     focuses on customers, products,         For many, re-positioning for the
        be very different – and that developing and delivering                                   pricing and revenue generation,         new payments landscape will not be
                                                                                                 possibly split between retail and       easy. The change required is pervasive
        these propositions will require serious investment in                                    corporate. It should establish a        – and the winners will need to be bold
        innovation. To compete, banks will need to reposition                                    middle office function and recruit      and highly-committed. Crucially,
        and transform their payments business, requiring key                                     the new product development             transformation on this scale requires
                                                                                                 and management team that will           partnerships, to gain access to
        strategic decisions, such as whether to remain in the                                    define customer propositions.           specialist know-how, share risks and
        payments business at all.                                                                This programme is the ultimate          make it happen. It will be critical to
                                                                                                 driver, owner and arbiter of the        choose a partner who can assemble
                                                                                                 business requirements needed by         the right global capabilities to help
        Our experience and research in            One key question for many banks is             the Operations and IT programmes.       drive the transformation forward.
        the payments industry has enabled         how to decide what to outsource and                                                    At Accenture, we believe our
                                                                                               • The Operations programme
        us to create a roadmap for the            how to choose a supplier. The starting                                                 combination of Consulting,
                                                                                                 focuses primarily on cost
        transformation necessary to create a      point is to identify the cost distribution                                             Technology and Outsourcing services
                                                                                                 optimisation and business
        successful payments business under        of payment services, and focus on                                                      complemented by deep expertise in
                                                                                                 enablement. It should take any
        the PSD. Neither 'big bang' nor           high-cost, low value-adding tasks –                                                    the payments industry, makes us
                                                                                                 outsourcing decisions early and
        incremental change is likely to work.     such as investigations – that a third-                                                 ideally positioned and qualified to
                                                                                                 set about rationalising and
        Instead, the expectation should be        party might handle better and more                                                     be your partner of choice.
                                                                                                 consolidating operations and
        geared towards a heavy-duty change        cheaply. The task then is to engage
                                                                                                 interfaces to external
        programme sustained over several          with suitable third parties.
                                                                                                 infrastructures.
        years. We will now look at the key
                                                  External infrastructures
        components of the roadmap.                                                             • The IT programme also has a cost
                                                  At root, payments is – and will
                                                                                                 and business enablement focus.
        Regulatory compliance                     remain – a network business. So
                                                                                                 It is likely to have the longest
        The current priority for many banks is    external infrastructures are critical,
                                                                                                 gestation and incur the highest
        compliance – with PSD, SEPA, MiFID,       especially correspondent banking
                                                                                                 cost, but is dependent on the
        and so on. However, this work should      networks and ACHs. The major
                                                                                                 other two programmes. This
        be aligned to a long-term payments        transaction banks need to drive the
                                                                                                 programme starts by defining the
        strategy. This alignment should include   rationalisation of ACHs to reduce
                                                                                                 overall (SOA) IT architecture, making
        making changes once, while avoiding       overcapacity and complexity. Non-
                                                                                                 build-versus-buy decisions, and
        throwaway solutions or solutions that     transaction banks need to decide
                                                                                                 selecting the most appropriate core
        might hinder future actions, for          whether to participate directly in an
                                                                                                 payments platform. Renewal of the
        example around outsourcing.               ACH, or outsource to a transaction
                                                                                                 systems infrastructure may have to
                                                  bank or specialist payments institution.
        Strategy and operating models                                                            extend to core account
        Each bank's strategy needs to be          The transformation programme                   management systems.
        based on a realistic view of the future   The next step is to press ahead with
        payments landscape, enabling it to        planning and executing the payments
        choose a position within that             transformation. A proven approach is
        landscape – as a national champion,       to run three parallel programmes for
        regional consolidator, or global          all payments, covering the Business, IT
        champion. Then several critical           and Operations.
        strategic choices – commercial,
        operational and IT – need to be
        made, and a target operating model
        for the payments business defined
        and created.




10                                                                                                                                                                                11
Contact details

Jeremy Light
Global Banking Industry Team –
Programme Director
Accenture Financial Services
Jeremy.light@accenture.com
+44 (0)20 7844 2917
Julian Skan
Head of Payments UK&I
Accenture Financial Services
Julian.skan@accenture.com
+44 (0)20 7844 5125


About the author
Jeremy Light is a member of our
Global Banking Industry Team. His
responsibilities include setting the
strategy for our payments work in
Europe for our practices in each
geography, and providing thought
leadership for them on payments in
Europe and on SEPA. He has over 20
years of consulting experience and has
worked with banks, card processors
and ACHs on payments strategies,
operating models, requirements
analysis and systems implementations.
He also led the work for and wrote our
recent European Payments Survey.
The Banking Point of Views Series
This is a series of articles aimed at
providing insight into topical issues
facing the UK banking industry. If you
would like to learn more about the
series and other articles issued, please
contact Geetika Rai.
Tel: +44 207 844 5982 or
geetika.rai@accenture.com




12
Copyright © 2007 Accenture     About Accenture
All rights reserved.           Accenture is a global management consulting, technology
                               services and outsourcing company. Committed to delivering
Accenture, its logo, and       innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them
High Performance Delivered     become high-performance businesses and governments. With
are trademarks of Accenture.   deep industry and business process expertise, broad global
                               resources and a proven track record, Accenture can mobilize
                               the right people, skills and technologies to help clients improve
                               their performance. With approximately 170,000 people in 49
                               countries, the company generated net revenues of US$19.70
                               billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2007. Its home page is
                               www.accenture.com.

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Nov 2007 accenture making payments deliver

  • 1. UK Banking Point of view series Issue 3: Autumn 2007 Making payments deliver Strategies for high performance in a commoditised payments market
  • 2. Making payments deliver Strategies for high performance in a commoditised payments market The European Payment Services Directive (PSD) will be The changing landscape of payments transposed into UK law and come into force in the UK So far, the target date of November by November 2009, opening the way for the creation of 2009 for the UK introduction of PSD is not seen as a priority by many UK the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). Of these two banks, although the majority are now closely-related developments, only the PSD will apply preparing for the start of SEPA in directly to banks operating in the UK, since SEPA applies January 2008. However, the immediate implications of the PSD for UK banks – purely to the euro-zone. But both changes bring summarised in the accompanying significant implications for UK banks, because between information panel on the following them they will redraw the map of Europe's rapidly- page – are substantial, ranging from the regulatory to the commercial to commoditising – and increasingly consolidated – the cultural. And its wider market payments environment. implications go much further and deeper. By boosting market transparency and opening up the In our view, any bank that views the European payments processing market to non-bank PSD as a purely regulatory change, and which takes a compliance-focused entrants, the PSD will dramatically concentrate power approach to it as a result, is running in the hands of providers with sufficient scale to serious strategic risks. Crucially, it may provide efficient payments processing and value-add at well end up hampering its own ability to compete in the newly-integrated lowest cost. Banks face a critical strategic choice about European payments marketplace – as where to reposition themselves in this new environment well as missing out on the substantial – and specifically whether to invest in their payments opportunities opened up by the PSD, and also by SEPA for euro-zone capability and perhaps offer it externally, or get out of payments. payments altogether and outsource it to a third-party. Why? Because PSD is regulation with a Once they make this choice, there are further key difference. Its aim is not about control (as with Sarbanes Oxley), financial commercial, operational and IT decisions to be taken. stability (Basel II), terrorism or crime The winners will be those who make the right calls on (OFAC, FATF and the AML Directive). each of these critical choices. Instead, PSD is about creating a level playing-field characterised by open competition and transparent pricing for payments services across Europe. Given this objective, the changes to the way payments are regulated is merely the start of the sweeping change that will flow from the PSD. 1
  • 3. Implications of the PSD PSD’s impact on competition The advent of open competition in With SEPA, the zoo will break open its What will the PSD mean for UK banks? PayPal: from zero to 35 million payments will have several impacts. cages. The lions (large acquisition- in Europe in seven years The PSD puts into law many of the rules created by the European For example, corporates seeking hungry regional banks) will continue to PayPal represents an impressive Payments Council, a self-regulatory body set up by European banks improved visibility of their cashflows dominate wide areas. The elephants success story in alternative payment will be able to turn to non-bank (major global banks) will lumber services. Founded in 1998, it has to create SEPA. However, the PSD also includes some important Payments Institutions instead of their around wherever they please. The now reached revenues of over additions, such as a requirement to complete credit transfers within banks for cash management services. undersized and vulnerable gazelles US$1.5 billion p.a., growing at over Corporates may also consolidate all (savings banks, local banks and state 30% a year. one day from November 2009, except where customers explicitly their euro payments and invoicing into banks), may seek safety in numbers, In Europe, PayPal has more than 35 agree to it taking up to three days (but only until 2012). The one pan-European centre or 'factory', but risk getting picked off by the million customer accounts, and introduction of the PSD in the UK from November 2009 will have and reduce their numbers of banking predators. And the nimble monkeys processed total payment volume of relationships and accounts as a result. (new entrants such as PayPal – see US$8.4 billion in 2006 alone. Of three main impacts on UK banks. These are: information box, opposite) will keep those 35 million accounts, 15 The move towards payments factories their distance while thriving in the million are in the UK _ equivalent • Prohibition of value dating – Under the cost base than banks due to lighter processing, combined with greater more open environment. to over a third of adults and half of PSD, the practice of 'value dating' payments regulatory requirements. The effect will ease of payments across Europe, will all internet users. to the detriment of account holders will be be to intensify competition by creating significantly change the pattern of The effect on the payments market will outlawed. The intention is that the opportunities not just for established non- payments flows across Europe and be nothing short of revolutionary. customer receiving the payment will have bank Payments Institutions such as PayPal, boost cross-border euro payments European Banks have long been able to immediate use of – and interest on – the but for a vast array of other potential from their current low level. And at the regard their payments offering as an money from the moment it is credited to entrants such as technology and telecoms consumer level there will be increased annuity protected by national borders. the account. This provision will prevent the companies. cross-border payments by debit card, Under SEPA, the payments offering will practice of giving value to customer especially for online transactions. be new, unprotected and no longer • Increased European participation and accounts later than when the bank receives While debit card usage across Europe is national. So banks will face a choice engagement – While Ireland's presence in their funds – a change which will result in high, many debit cards are not between getting out of payments as a the eurozone means both the PSD and SEPA banks losing a source of interest income, interoperable across borders in Europe. managed business; climbing higher will apply directly to banks based there, UK with the threat of criminal charges should Under the PSD, SEPA-compliant debit up the payments value chain; or banks will also find themselves having to they transgress. More positively, as the cards will overcome this hurdle. escalating their payments capabilities think and act with a far more pan-European permitted timeframe for credit transfers with enough commitment to compete perspective than before. In a trend already Breaking open the 'Payments Zoo' narrows to one day by 2012, UK banks' on a pan-European basis (see anticipated by recent consolidation activity, The jungle, and its associated move to near real-time Faster Payments will information panel on 'Do payments fit UK banks will be operating in a wider and opportunities and dangers, are often put them well beyond compliance. into banking – or outside it?) more open market with a wider range of used as a metaphor for market • Liability - the PSD prescribes liability customers across Europe. For example, competition. However, with the PSD a requirements which mean UK banks will cross-border payments will continue to more appropriate analogy is a zoo; one need to revisit their terms and conditions increase in importance – whether they be where the different types of bank – with both consumers and corporates (where remittances home by Polish workers abroad, domestic, regional and global – are individual, bilaterally agreed contracts will payments to pension payments to UK currently in separate cages within the need to be checked and renegotiated retirees in southern Spain, to corporate zoo's grounds. where necessary) transfers around Europe. National • New non-bank payments institutions – governments may implement the PSD The PSD also opens the way for non-banks with varying degrees of regulation – a to provide payment services across Europe. lighter regulatory environment in the UK So called 'Payments Institutions', subject to will give banks and non-bank Payments minimum capital requirements, will be Institutions an advantage over their allowed to process payment transactions European counterparts and an opportunity from November 2009, and new entrants can to attract European business. There is be expected to compete with banks and opportunity for UK and Irish banks to existing institutions such as automated lobby their governments e.g. through the clearing houses. These Payments Institutions UK Payments Council or the Irish National are likely to be able to operate with a lower Payments Plan, to implement the PSD with a light touch. 2 3
  • 4. Payments Outsourcing European Consolidation Do payments fit into banking – or outside it? Competitive Repositioning in Europe In simple terms, banking is about borrowing short, lending long, M&A activity is strongly evident in Europe. The acquisition of ABN and managing the risks involved in both. Managing payments Amro gives the Royal Bank of Scotland a significant transaction transactions is a related but secondary activity that banks have banking capability and is a major milestone in its journey to taken to be naturally theirs. By collecting fees for these transactions, becoming a global bank. Banks are transforming themselves as banks have turned payments into a good revenue-earner in its own they reposition in the changing European and global banking and right, typically accounting for between 25% and 50% of revenues. payments landscape. The process has started and will continue However, post-PSD the opportunity to make cost and with greater capabilities, then it over the next five years. money from commodity payments transactions may make sense to outsource it to them. If a This transformation is taking place not just in relative minnows with annual revenues of less will shrink dramatically. So banks need to ask bank is sensitive about another bank seeing its banks, but in processors as well. Interpay in the than US$200m in most cases, compared to – say themselves whether they really need to 'own' transaction flows, it can choose a non-bank Netherlands has merged with TAI in Germany to – commercial processors in the cards domain payments to support customer accounts – Payment Institution instead. form Equens, which has now acquired SECETI in such as First Data Corporation with global especially given the growing availability of There is a clear precedent for this shift. In Italy; Voca has merged with Link in the UK; and revenues of over US$7bn. Further consolidation transaction banks and other third parties who the US, the 1994 Riegle-Neal Act enabled US SIA and SSB have merged, also in Italy. These are among payments processors is inevitable. can provide these services innovatively and banks to expand across borders, triggering a some recent examples, and more consolidation is at scale. consolidation process that resulted in the handful sure to follow. In ACH processing, the key Banks will still want to manage their interactions of US transaction banks (Bank of America, La European processors are Equens, VocaLink, Stet, with account-holders. But if third-parties can Salle, JPMorgan Chase) we see today. SIA-SSB and EBA Step 2. However, these are still provide payment processing invisibly, at lower The new food chain This new food chain will have To thrive in the open zoo, the lions will Banks will be making these critical As well as experiencing strong different impacts on each of the main need to win more corporate customers, choices against a background of growth over the next few years, types of bank – local, regional and and to acquire other European banks continuing strong growth in European Europe's payments industry will also global – requiring each to adopt to achieve scale. If they have no payments. The ECB reckons there are see a transformation in its competitive different strategies. realistic chance of claiming a place as around 360bn cash payments made in dynamics as a result of headlong a top-five/ten transaction bank, they 1. Local banks – the gazelles Europe every year, and 70bn non-cash consolidation. We believe that possibly too should outsource their payments Local banks have historically processed payments (the majority electronic and within five years, and certainly within transaction processing. large volumes of domestic payments, card payments, but also including ten, there will be only five to ten major giving them access to low-cost retail 3. Global Banks – the elephants cheques). Non-cash payments are transaction banks offering payments funds. These banks will face Historically, global banks have found it growing at 7% a year, which means services in Europe, each claiming diminishing transaction revenues from difficult to attract retail payments and that these volumes will be 50% market share of 10% to 15%, plus a existing national payments, coupled deposits in Europe, except in their bigger in five years' time if the current similar number of non-bank Payments with intensifying competition. To home countries. Under the PSD, they growth rate is maintained. If growth Institutions providing elements of the prosper in a post-PSD world, they need will continue to struggle in this regard accelerates as a result of increasing use processing chain (see information to consider M&A with other banks in unless they acquire local or regional of contactless and other new payment panel on European consolidation). All Europe, or to focus on their retail banks. However they are better placed methods displacing cash, then non- the other banks – if they have not customers and local corporates to for organic growth with corporates. cash volumes could easily double by been consolidated – will outsource avoid losing them to the expanding So these elephants should focus on 2012. However, it is worth noting that payments. regional players – the lions. They poaching corporate business from sub- if all payments volumes grow in line should also consider outsourcing all scale banks, and/or acquiring other with GDP, then non-cash volumes payments processing to a transaction banks to penetrate retail markets. need to grow at about 10% a year bank and/or non-bank Payments Crucially, global banks' scale, reach and before cash volumes actually start Institution. capabilities make them well-positioned declining. So cash is still very to become the dominant transaction important – and its usage is likely to 2. Regional banks – the lions banks in Europe. continue to grow in the near term. Despite strong domestic volumes, the regional banks will still be sub-scale on a European level, both in payments 4 volumes and corporate market share. 5
  • 5. Winning payments strategies for the PSD world As banks make their critical choice over which species National Champions - Global Champions - IT choices 'gazelles': Payments 'elephants': Payments Global banks should aim to have a of bank they are, or which to turn into, they face one strategic choices strategic choices single platform covering multiple key question: what will constitute a winning payments Commercial choices Commercial choices domestic, international, corporate and retail payments, built on a SOA strategy – and how can a payments business remain In the PSD zoo, gazelles are essentially These giants of the PSD zoo can architecture to maximise re-use of undersized and vulnerable. So they become the dominant transaction profitable amid headlong commoditisation? should act as niche players, defining banks in European payments. But first system components common across and selecting their target market they face critical choices around how different payment types. Common While the parameters for this strategy will vary between the three categories segments carefully – SMEs, savings to increase their market penetration, standards will increase efficiency and of bank, there are some core groundrules that they will all need to apply. offerings, public sector – and focusing scale and market share. support a single global view for These can be divided into commercial, operational and IT principles, and are on relationship management and managing liquidity and anti-money outlined in the accompanying information panel. Beneath these overarching • In terms of market penetration, customer service. This means retaining laundering obligations. principles, each type of bank faces specific choices. medium-to-larger companies front-office payments distribution, sourcing and selling outside their Regional Consolidators - viewing payments as a critical service local markets are an attractive 'lions': Payments Guiding Principles for all banks • Use partnering and/or outsourcing to rather than a core business, and target segment for global banks. strategic choices Commercial Principles achieve benefits in both costs and scale – deciding whether to act as a payments They can also tempt corporate consolidator or agency for local banks. The choices facing regional • Know and meet customer needs - under owning production will be a differentiator customers away from national consolidators lie between those of PSD, banks will need to understand only for players with enough scale to be Operational choices banks lacking European-level scale, the national and global champions. customers' new and changing needs, and lowest-cost providers. Outsourcing some elements of and develop propositions for They need to jump one way or another, develop products which add value for them. • Rationalise external infrastructures/ payments processing – especially corporates' own pan-European becoming either a niche player and • Extend the value proposition 'up' the interfaces and correspondent bank transaction processing and the payments and invoicing 'factories'. outsourcing their payments, or a value chain – this means using their relationships – to reduce the complexity of payments back office – should be high • To build scale, global banks should regional transaction bank with beefed- payments capability to add value for processing payments into and out of the on the PSD agenda for national consider acquiring other banks and up operational and IT capability. In corporate customers, for example by bank, thereby improving customer service champions. Rather than worrying leveraging their operating model to parallel, the 'lions' need either to providing new payment methods at and revenue opportunities, and reducing cost. about loss of control, they should create value. acquire other banks, or to build a point of sale and helping them improve focus on the quality, pricing, and IT principles • For growing market share, global defence strategy through extensive their financial efficiency. flexibility of the third-party contract. • Implement a 'one-of-everything' approach – transaction banks have an outsourcing and/or partnering with Many national champions participate • Retain and strengthen the customer to minimise the number of payments systems, opportunity to insource payments other banks to share infrastructure. in their local clearing infrastructures, relationship across the payments ecosystem based on buying capabilities rather than from national champions. It is and as these consolidate they face a through value-added services – perhaps building them. critical that the value proposition is decision on which clearing maximising convenience for consumers clearly defined – the challenges • Develop a modular, service-oriented infrastructures to use. through prepaid cards and real-time include working out how to provide architecture(SOA) – re-using and optimising IT information on their finances at the point IT choices a 1-to-many service with consistent through a portfolio, enterprise-wide view of payment. IT choices will be driven by the boundaries. across all payments channels and services. choice and scope of any outsourcing. Operational Principles • Use real-time, rules-based, message-based Operational choice However, a service oriented • Separate production from distribution and and parameterised components – to maximise A critical choice for the global architecture (SOA) will be important to information management – reducing performance, throughput and scalability, and 'elephants' is to move to a global allow 'plug and play' flexibility with complexity and cost, and improving flexibility, achieve 'one-touch' straight-through- operating model as against a third party outsourcers, and to avoid by keeping transaction processing separate processing. regional/European one. This creates getting locked in over time. from marketing and sales. opportunities to share workload • Maximise customer self-service capabilities – • Implement a single, common, generic process globally between processing centres for thereby driving cost reduction and market for payments – supported by a standard daily load balancing, 24x7 customer differentiation. transaction data structure, to replace service and business continuity. • Implement track-and-trace capabilities for Channels, products and product fragmented vertical stove-pipes. operational control – to reduce investigations, processing can all be standardised • Create parameterised 'rules-based' customer- improve customer service, and enable features globally, while still enabling mass centric service – to support customisation such as intra-day interest calculation. customisation to meet local and and help meet regulatory requirements. customer-specific needs. Other operational choices include which payments and electronic invoicing infrastructures to use across Europe. 6 7
  • 6. Customer Propositions and Market Adoption under PSD Without a winning strategy for PSD supported by the right choices, banks ultimately face being forced involuntarily out of the payments business by intensifying competition and commoditisation. However, success will not only need the right strategy – but an ability to underpin it with the right customer propositions, and to innovate to generate new revenue streams. Many other industries have thrived in Merchant enablement Many retailers across the world are Supply chain/e-invoicing Payments insourcing 'Faster Payments' may give UK the face of headlong commoditisation. Merchant enablement allows dissatisfied with the cost of accepting Invoice processing and payments Payments insourcing from other competitive edge One is investment banking, where the merchants to sell more at lower cost. cards, and merchant-focused card across Europe remain complex, banks is a business opportunity for tier In Europe's borderless payments most significant revenues today come For many years, credit cards have done propositions such as Revolution in the market under the PSD, UK banks' expensive and lacking in standards. 1 banks and global transaction banks. from recently-developed products such this by making it easier for consumers US and Payfair in Europe are starting decision to go for near real-time However, growing corporate usage of To enter this market, banks need an as credit derivatives. Another is the to pay and providing a credit facility. to appear. These present a further faster payments from May 2008 electronic invoicing hubs such as Xign, efficient, industrialised internal semiconductor industry, where, for Prepaid cards are also proving good at threat to bank revenues, but also serve may provide them with a Burns, and OB10 is now creating an payments operation that can then be example, a leading chipmaker claims increasing impulse buys, with some to demonstrate the opportunity to competitive edge in the battle for electronic supply chain ecosystem, opened externally. Providers will also almost 90% of the revenue it receives merchants citing sales increases of meet merchant demand through new payments transaction processing including e-invoicing hubs, corporate need to ensure both payments in December is from products launched around 40%. merchant enablement propositions. business across Europe. Through the shared service centres for payments operations and IT can support multiple since the previous January. EBA Step2 PrieEuro payments and invoicing, corporate-to-corporate banks on a re-usable basis without Banks need to build on this experience Consumer fulfilment scheme, continental European banks electronic connectivity for invoice and customisation, and will need to allow Routes to added value and take merchant enablement to the Ideally, consumer fulfilment will are currently aiming for a four-hour remittance information, and bank-to- for the costs of business acquisition For banks involved in payments, these next level by innovating – something enable consumers to pay over multiple settlement cycle, which would not – corporate electronic connectivity for and management. examples point to one imperative: that new entrants such as PayPal are channels, wherever and whenever they for example – be able to support consumer fulfilment enabling payments, cash management and so adding value, by extending the already doing. This means embedding want. This means mobile payments – The business case for offering payment to be conducted and on. E-invoicing offerings will exploit proposition 'up' the value chain. For payments capability into merchant whose mass-adoption will finally be insourced payments services will settled on the spot in a retail this emerging ecosystem via example, two areas where banks can processes, and providing merchants driven by the combination of the depend on the provider's ability to location or restaurant. Similarly, partnerships between banks, ERP add value for their corporate with market and consumer intelligence mobile phone with Near Field provide core payment operations at VocaLink, the UK payment vendors and corporates. As electronic customers through payments are: to drive sales, across websites, vending Communication (NFC) technology for below market-level costs, and above processing provider which will invoicing takes off, it will form the machines, mobile devices and more. contactless payments. Real-time market-par customer products. The • Marketing and Sales – where banks operate Faster Payments, has a anchor for supply chain propositions payments will add even more value to customer will benefit by being able can help corporates sell more and To succeed, merchant enablement strategy for entering the European giving corporates visibility of their this combination, so UK banks' access market; it is expected to claim a to drop a non-core competence, cut lower their cost of sales; programmes will need to: cashflows and providing finance. to Faster Payments in near real-time position as one of the two or three costs and become more efficient • Financial and Supply Chain • drive consumers to the merchant; may well give them an edge against pan-European automated clearing and effective. Operations – where banks can help • allow merchants to target their continental competitors (see houses (ACHs) that banks will hook corporates improve their financial specific consumers with specific information panel). Consumers also up to in the PSD world, and with its efficiency, and – where appropriate propositions using consumer want convenience in managing their Faster Payments capability, it will – physical supply chain efficiency. intelligence; finances, by having access to real-time have a clear competitive advantage. The customer propositions within a • make it faster and easier for information on their account balances winning strategy can be categorised consumers to pay/buy anywhere, and outgoing commitments. as follows: anytime; To provide this convenience, retail • Merchant enablement • capture consumer impulses, versions of the cash management because consumers can commit and applications typically used by • Consumer fulfilment pay immediately; corporates will be offered to • Supply chain/e-invoicing • provide security and reduce risks for consumers through internet and • Payments insourcing. both merchants and consumers. mobile banking. Consistency across channels will be vital, with internet, mobile, ATM, branch and call centre having the same functions and information. 8 9
  • 7. A Transformation Roadmap Overall, it is clear that in five years' time the European • The Business programme has Achieving payments transformation: primarily a revenue agenda, and key success factors payments industry and its customer propositions will focuses on customers, products, For many, re-positioning for the be very different – and that developing and delivering pricing and revenue generation, new payments landscape will not be possibly split between retail and easy. The change required is pervasive these propositions will require serious investment in corporate. It should establish a – and the winners will need to be bold innovation. To compete, banks will need to reposition middle office function and recruit and highly-committed. Crucially, and transform their payments business, requiring key the new product development transformation on this scale requires and management team that will partnerships, to gain access to strategic decisions, such as whether to remain in the define customer propositions. specialist know-how, share risks and payments business at all. This programme is the ultimate make it happen. It will be critical to driver, owner and arbiter of the choose a partner who can assemble business requirements needed by the right global capabilities to help Our experience and research in One key question for many banks is the Operations and IT programmes. drive the transformation forward. the payments industry has enabled how to decide what to outsource and At Accenture, we believe our • The Operations programme us to create a roadmap for the how to choose a supplier. The starting combination of Consulting, focuses primarily on cost transformation necessary to create a point is to identify the cost distribution Technology and Outsourcing services optimisation and business successful payments business under of payment services, and focus on complemented by deep expertise in enablement. It should take any the PSD. Neither 'big bang' nor high-cost, low value-adding tasks – the payments industry, makes us outsourcing decisions early and incremental change is likely to work. such as investigations – that a third- ideally positioned and qualified to set about rationalising and Instead, the expectation should be party might handle better and more be your partner of choice. consolidating operations and geared towards a heavy-duty change cheaply. The task then is to engage interfaces to external programme sustained over several with suitable third parties. infrastructures. years. We will now look at the key External infrastructures components of the roadmap. • The IT programme also has a cost At root, payments is – and will and business enablement focus. Regulatory compliance remain – a network business. So It is likely to have the longest The current priority for many banks is external infrastructures are critical, gestation and incur the highest compliance – with PSD, SEPA, MiFID, especially correspondent banking cost, but is dependent on the and so on. However, this work should networks and ACHs. The major other two programmes. This be aligned to a long-term payments transaction banks need to drive the programme starts by defining the strategy. This alignment should include rationalisation of ACHs to reduce overall (SOA) IT architecture, making making changes once, while avoiding overcapacity and complexity. Non- build-versus-buy decisions, and throwaway solutions or solutions that transaction banks need to decide selecting the most appropriate core might hinder future actions, for whether to participate directly in an payments platform. Renewal of the example around outsourcing. ACH, or outsource to a transaction systems infrastructure may have to bank or specialist payments institution. Strategy and operating models extend to core account Each bank's strategy needs to be The transformation programme management systems. based on a realistic view of the future The next step is to press ahead with payments landscape, enabling it to planning and executing the payments choose a position within that transformation. A proven approach is landscape – as a national champion, to run three parallel programmes for regional consolidator, or global all payments, covering the Business, IT champion. Then several critical and Operations. strategic choices – commercial, operational and IT – need to be made, and a target operating model for the payments business defined and created. 10 11
  • 8. Contact details Jeremy Light Global Banking Industry Team – Programme Director Accenture Financial Services Jeremy.light@accenture.com +44 (0)20 7844 2917 Julian Skan Head of Payments UK&I Accenture Financial Services Julian.skan@accenture.com +44 (0)20 7844 5125 About the author Jeremy Light is a member of our Global Banking Industry Team. His responsibilities include setting the strategy for our payments work in Europe for our practices in each geography, and providing thought leadership for them on payments in Europe and on SEPA. He has over 20 years of consulting experience and has worked with banks, card processors and ACHs on payments strategies, operating models, requirements analysis and systems implementations. He also led the work for and wrote our recent European Payments Survey. The Banking Point of Views Series This is a series of articles aimed at providing insight into topical issues facing the UK banking industry. If you would like to learn more about the series and other articles issued, please contact Geetika Rai. Tel: +44 207 844 5982 or geetika.rai@accenture.com 12
  • 9. Copyright © 2007 Accenture About Accenture All rights reserved. Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Committed to delivering Accenture, its logo, and innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them High Performance Delivered become high-performance businesses and governments. With are trademarks of Accenture. deep industry and business process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track record, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills and technologies to help clients improve their performance. With approximately 170,000 people in 49 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$19.70 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2007. Its home page is www.accenture.com.