Merchants Orchestration PSPs

Demystifying Payments Orchestration: Part 3 - Defining the Payments Orchestration Landscape

The 5 payments orchestration implementation models explored in this post reflect a spectrum of control, customization, and complexity. Understanding the distinct characteristics and where each orchestration model excels and where it introduces risk or limitations is essential for selecting the right fit.

CFPB Regulation

Payments Post #18: The Year of the Anti-Regulator?

In this Payments Post, we're thinking about the tension that’s emerged in the regulatory space as a result of the recent change in government with an eye on the controversial CFPB. Read our (not legal advice!) thoughts on what we see playing out in Washington, and what it might mean for the payments industry.

Data Fast Payments Fraud Healthcare PaymentsPost Risk Management

Payments Post #12: Lessons from Change

In this month's Payments Post, we want to draw your attention to several recent fraud incidents that underscore the criticality of effective risk management to your business and the safety and soundness of the payments industry.

Tags: Fintech

B2B BNPL Consumers Economic Outlook PaymentsPost

Payments Post #8: Glenbrook's October Roundup

At Glenbrook, we’ve been watching rising interest rates and vacillating economic conditions over the course of the year; while economists debate the likelihood of further rate hikes and the odds of a near-term recession, we dig into the real impact of these uncertain conditions on the U.S. payments landscape. Samantha Gordon joins us this month […]

Tags: Fintech

B2B Payments

B2B: Why the Pain?

B2B payments keep commerce moving, but B2B transactions can be incredibly painful for both senders and receivers. Check usage remains stubbornly high in the B2B space, even post-lockdown. Manual processes abound. So what makes B2B transactions so difficult, even as digitization transforms other business processes and areas of the payments world? And what technologies are […]

Tags: Real-time Payments

Customer Relationship Management Merchants PSPs

Poor Account Management: The Silent Killer of Payment Service Providers

The major global payment service providers (PSPs) are in perpetual competition to provide their target merchants with the highest quality of payments acceptance technology. However, one of the most common reasons that Glenbrook sees merchants leave their PSP has nothing to do with technology. They leave due to poor account management. Account management is the […]

BNPL Open Banking Security

2023: A Big Year for Regulation in the US?

As we dive into the new year, we at Glenbrook reflect on the key themes and learnings within payments from 2022 and assess what we believe will emerge as key trends in 2023. My colleague Chris Uriarte recently shared his 8 Payments and Fintech trends for 2023 on LinkedIn, where he discussed fraud and embedded […]

Merchant Payments

The Payments Playbook for Challenging Churn

By: Justin Pituch and Drew Edmond Time to Read: 7 minutes If you read Apple’s Q3 earnings report, you may have noticed that the company’s Services business has grown to $19 billion in quarterly revenue. That’s a staggering number, and it represents a complex recurring billing operation. With 860 million paid subscriptions, Apple’s payments team […]

Open Banking

The Open Banking Phenomenon, Explained

Time to Read: 9 minutes Highlights: An introduction to open banking, its key concepts, and implications for payments industry participants  A framework for understanding open banking principles Adoption and usage statistics   What is Open Banking and Why Does it Matter? Over the last few years, the concept of open banking has gained popularity with […]

Carol Coye Benson Glenbrook Payments Views

Celebrate and Congratulate Carol Benson

Carol Benson, one of my fellow founders of Glenbrook Partners, is retiring at the end of June, following our other founder, Scott Loftesness, who retired four years ago. It seems like only a few years ago (certainly less than 20) that the entire company fit in one car with room for my dog sharing the […]

Glenbrook Merchants Payments Views

Merchant Payments Operations: Organization

In Kavita Jiandani’s post Assessing a Merchant’s Payments Operations, she introduced Glenbrook’s methodology for our in-depth assessment of a merchant’s payments operations. In her introductory piece, Kavita highlights the major Key Assessment Areas we evaluate during each engagement. In this continuation, we examine the impact of the payments organization and the company’s “money team.” How a […]

Glenbrook

The Apple Card May Not be Revolutionary—But It Offers a Thoughtful Bundle of Features and a Glimpse into the Post-Card Era

Apple’s March 25th keynote event announced forthcoming offerings to further build out Apple’s Services line—video media streaming, print media subscriptions, gaming, and more. Most interesting to us at Glenbrook (surprise!) was Apple’s co-branded credit card launched in partnership with Goldman Sachs and Mastercard. The Apple Card, to be released in the summer, integrates consumer controls, […]

Regulation

Madness in Marijuana Payments - Part 2

Since my April 2018 post, there’s been a lot of activity in the “land of weed.” Multiple countries and U.S. states have moved toward legalization. Major non-cannabis industries are investing heavily in cannabis related products and cannabis-based companies. With U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions out, his strict stance against marijuana perhaps no longer holding, many are […]

Amazon Amazon Payments B2B Big Data Card Payments ECommerce Ecommerce Payments Merchants Prepaid Russ Jones

Is Amazon Best-in-Class for Online Payments?

Amazon.com is in the news all the time with its continued expansion of markets and fulfillment centers, its focus on innovation and long term R&D, and, recently, some very non-intuitive acquisitions. It’s easy to get swept up in their story. But when a company gets as big and powerful as Amazon has become, it’s helpful […]

Financial Regulators India Mobile Money Technology

Demonetization Roulette: India’s unusual approach to creating a cashless economy

On November 8, 2016, India cancelled 86% of its currency in circulation with a four-hour notice and the move pushed India into a severe currency shortage. In a country where 98% of all consumer payments are in cash, this prolonged currency shortage carries risks: economic destabilization in the short term and irrevocable damages to the […]