Powerful trends are transforming payments and transaction banking. Amid profound uncertainties about the COVID-19 pandemic’s long-term impact, industry players are seeking to clarify the market outlook. Our payments and transaction banking consulting teams help clients navigate this shifting landscape.
The payments and transaction banking industry can expect revenue growth to be moderate in the near term. But once a sustainable recovery takes hold, revenues could soar—lifted by the ongoing transition away from cash, strong growth in e-commerce and electronic transactions, and greater innovation.
To capture this growth, incumbents will need to overcome the tough competitive landscape, where nontraditional players are jostling with banks and payments service providers to become the issuer, provider, processor, or partner of choice for customers.
Our payments and transaction banking consulting teams are uniquely positioned to advise clients in highly challenging areas.
M&A and Post-Merger Integration
We help our clients engineer successful M&A deals by deploying vital value-creation levers. These include identifying and assessing the most attractive targets, defining integration priorities, maximizing cost synergies, planning for revenue synergies, and minimizing business risks. Results for clients have included preclosing transition service agreements that lower fees by 30% and accelerate exit, as well as swift achievement of significant cost and revenue synergies.
Acquirer Revenue Enhancement
Our experts help acquirers drive fresh growth by creating solutions that address merchants’ toughest commercial issues—boosting sales force productivity throughout the sales funnel across diverse distribution channels and digitally transforming the end-to-end merchant journey. They also help infuse discipline into sales force pricing, which includes determining the right pricing, for product bundles. Impacts include revenue increases through better price realization and retention. Finally, our experts help merchant acquirers review and professionalize their risk management operating model, particularly within the context of succeeding at M&A (and subsequent PMI), realizing their growth agendas, and navigating crises.
Digital Wallets
To address such challenges as changing customer needs and intensifying competition, we work with wholesale transaction banks to redefine their business strategies and operating models. This includes strengthening and digitizing the customer experience, extracting more business value from data, and partnering with ecosystem players to drive revenue and enhance their offerings. Outcomes include reductions of 15% to 25% in costs, improvements of 10% to 15% in sales productivity, and higher-quality service—which lead to faster client onboarding and fewer customer complaints
Collections
We have helped clients swiftly build a customized approach to collections, underpinned by data and analytics. Our teams develop rapid diagnoses, smarter segmentation schemes, stronger digital-outreach techniques, more compelling offers, and effective customer retention strategies. Results include reductions of 3% to 10% in charge-offs and as much as 10% in operating expenses in collections and recoveries. As we at BCG help banks shore up their collections strategies, we also advise them on how to lend a helping hand to their own customers—especially those who have struggled during the pandemic.
BCG’s payments and transaction banking consulting leaders draw on their deep expertise in payments and transaction services, global transaction banking, transaction banking operations, and transaction banking strategy. Our leaders help clients understand and prepare for the future of transaction banking.
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