Payments industry outlook 2023: Strategic priorities, operations, regulation and data

The changing payments landscape

The payments industry is no stranger to change. Growing payment methods and volumes, regulatory developments and emerging fintechs continue to drive the evolution of this dynamic sector.

As expected, 2022 has so far been another turbulent year for payments, defined by key trends like fierce competition, innovations on the frontend and unprecedented levels of growth.

Why payments firms struggle with profitability

Despite the far-reaching success of the industry as a whole, our survey reveals that 14% of payments firms are unprofitable and 33% are only breaking even.

Some firms struggle with profitability because the industry had advanced so quickly that operational processes are generally unequipped to match investments made in frontend systems and customer acquisition, which creates efficiency gaps as companies scale.

AutoRek’s global payments survey

To delve deeper into the challenges facing the industry and provide visibility for the road ahead, we surveyed 500 payments executives in late 2022. Respondents were split evenly across the UK and US payments market and consisted of mid-level managers from IT, Finance and Operations.

Our findings revealed insights such as:

• Two-thirds of global payments firms expect the variety of payment methods to grow in the future
• Some 53% of UK firms expect more regulations to hit the payments market in the next 12 months
• Roughly one-third of UK payments firms expect their compliance costs to rise in the next two years
• Around 50% of UK payments firms say that they have the necessary tools and processes to accommodate the widespread adoption of real-time payments
• Nearly 65% of payments organisations globally still use spreadsheets for financial control processes like reconciliations

Download our global payments survey report to learn more about:

• The strategic priorities of payments organisations in 2023
• Expectations for future payments regulation
• How firms feel about growing data volumes and payment methods
• How ISO 20022 migration will impact financial control processes
• The biggest challenges firms face around payment reconciliations
• How real-time and cross-border payments affect back-office operations
• The key to creating an agile back-office

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