5 Reasons to Partner at All Payments Expo

All Payments Expo is less than 3 weeks away, and attendees and speakers are already starting to cement their partnering plans for the event.

Here are 5 Reasons Why You Can't Miss The Partnering Opportunities at All Payments Expo:

1) Market Size: All Payments Expo is home to 1,500+ players looking for partners, including card networks, processors, issuers/acquirers, retail banks, start-ups, new technologies and 300+ merchants. Register now and start messaging them immediately to book onsite meetings. 

2) Interoperability: The future of payments relies on an interoperable infrastructure, which can only be achieved by leveraging partnerships with numerous stakeholders, including incumbents and newcomers fresh out of beta testing.

3) Investment Potential: Venture capitalists, banks and major corporations are all on the hunt for the next investment or acquisition. The potential licensing agreements, investments and acquisitions are why so many investors, banks and start-ups attend All Payments Expo.

4) More Merchants: Retailers will continue to play a hugely important role in emerging payments acceptance. Without a frictionless consumer experience and a strategic loyalty play, many new payments types won't find merchant acceptance -- or get off the ground. This is the only payments event with 300+ merchants in attendance.

5) The Future of FinTech: New non-bank companies are reinventing the ways consumers borrow, buy and bank. These newcomers often compete with hefty industry mainstays and grapple with uncertain regulations. With more than two days devoted to FinTech content, you'll meet new companies looking for scale and established firms looking to innovate quickly.

Register now to make a big impact on your 2014 strategy.

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Q&A with Matt Davies, Executive Director, Gift Card Network

2014 All Payments Expo speaker Matt Davies, Executive Director, Gift Card Network sits down with APEX for a brief Q&A about the future of the payments industry. To hear more about the landscape of the payments industry from Matt, make sure you register for APEX today! And remember, blog readers receive a 10% discount - register here.


1) What is the most overheated opportunity for payments players? What is the most overlooked that should get more attention?

Mobile Wallets and its many iterations has dominated the discussion without bothering to define it. There are so many different concepts and approaches that the market is confused and will stay stagnant until a major player comes in and pushes the market in a specific direction with a goal that the public and merchant population has bought into and finds value in.

Education about the payments space is the most important thing for us to focus on. Startups needing merchant support must look at the things that merchants care about, and go about building their own brand and market share prior to asking for support, and educate and market themselves to their potential clients in a comfortable way.

2) What is one thing blocking innovation for payments in the U.S.?

The cultural difference between entrepreneurs, who are have incentive to break the rules, and the decision makers, who have incentive to create new rules or play by them. There is a vast difference between what CAN be done and what SHOULD be done for each particular merchant- we need to break down the psychological barriers and engage in neutral problem-solving conversations.

3) In ten years, what will be the new payment type that’s gotten the most traction?

Flat transaction rate credit and debit card providers. It's an ideal state for retailers to get away from the percentage based model, and it allows consumers to utilize credit.
 
That, or monkey-bucks.

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First Data Releases October 2013 SpendTrend® Analysis

October Consumer Spending Growth up from September

ATLANTA,  Nov. 18, 2013 – First Data Corporation, a global leader in electronic commerce and payment processing, today released its First Data SpendTrend® analysis for Oct.1, 2013 through Oct. 30, 2013 compared to Oct.2, 2012 through Oct.31, 2012.  SpendTrend tracks same-store consumer spending by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks at U.S. merchant locations.

Dollar volume growth in October was 6.8%, a healthy uptick from last month’s growth of 5.3% despite the political strife in Washington. The growth was supported by the onset of cooler temperatures, which drove sales of seasonal merchandise and early holiday advertising attracting shopper foot-traffic. The year-over-year gas price discount continued to widen. This negatively impacted overall spending growth. Gas Station dollar volume growth was -4.9% in October, the lowest growth seen since April 2013. However, strong growth in categories such as Food Services & Drinking places and Leisure, which saw growth of 7.8% and 9.9% helped offset some of that negative growth.

Retail dollar volume growth in October jumped to 5.6% compared to September’s 3.6% growth. Retail spending growth accelerated toward the end of the month as the government shutdown ended and shoppers regained confidence. All retail sub-categories saw positive year-over-year dollar volume growth.

Average ticket growth was 0.5% in October, up from September’s growth of -0.2%. The slowdown in Gas Station average tickets continued to offset the overall growth. Gas Station average ticket growth of -7.9% marked a twelve-month low. However, retail average ticket growth jumped to 1.8% from last month’s growth of 0.8% as discounting activity by retailers eased. Retailers focused on profits in October, as this period is an opportunity to plump up profits between the back-to-school and holiday seasons; periods where retailers may be forced to cut prices to win customers.

“Consumer spending growth gained momentum in October, which should provide retailers with an optimistic outlook heading into the holiday season”, said Krish Mantripragada, SVP, Information and Analytics Solutions, First Data. “Retailers should expect holiday spending to be modestly stronger compared to last year barring any number of external events that could negatively impact sales such as poor weather or geopolitical events at home or abroad.”


October Dollar Volume Growth CHANGE
Credit +7.7%
Signature Debit +6.0%
PIN Debit +6.2%
Check -4.8%
Prepaid +3.8%
Note: All transactions are same-store growth.

To view infographics showing October SpendTrend data, click here

For more information on First Data SpendTrend, visit www.spendtrend.com or call SpendTrend Customer Care at 800-430-0169.

To participate in the SpendTrend conversation, please follow First Data at http://twitter.com/spendtrend.

Around the world, every second of every day, First Data makes payment transactions secure, fast and easy for merchants, financial institutions and their customers. First Data leverages its vast product portfolio and expertise to drive client revenue and profitability. Whether the choice of payment is by debit or credit card, gift card, check or mobile phone, online or at the checkout counter, First Data takes every opportunity to go beyond the transaction. More information about the company is available on FirstData.com as well as on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube.

Media Contact
Cara Crifasi, First Data
303-967-6367
cara.crifasi@firstdata.com

First Data SpendTrend, a macro-economic indicator, is based on aggregate same-store sales activity in the First Data Point of Sale Network. First Data SpendTrend does not represent First Data’s financial performance.

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