Trust Assertions – Identity Will Define the Future of Payment Networks

©Thomas Noyes, May 2022

My blogs last week have me thinking about the changes going around in Identity. This will be a long blog. Typo warning.. I’m still revising. 

The number one thing I look for in payments is change: volume, technology, behavior, data, …etc. Effective networks are notoriously hard to change, but they are also very resilient (see blog). Small changes in data flows, can lead to significant changes in margin and “control”.  Margin and control guide both public and private investment (see Evolution of Visa and Mastercard Beyond Payments). 

Identity is our most important asset — it’s literally who we are

Our complete “identity” is known to no one, as each entity we interact with has a partial view of us based upon what we chose to give them and what they observe. How others accept and validate our identity, and how others share insight about us, is the core of payments (see Trust Networks and Authentication in Value Nets). The structure, exchange, and assertions associated with identity are defining: web3, DeFi, Crypto, CBDCs and the Metaverse. These are not separate silos, but rather overlapping ecosystems that must interact, thus the importance of bridging identity across networks/domains (see Blog – Trust is domain specific). 

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us

Google Wallet Re-Launch

Last week we saw a major relaunch of Google Wallet at Google I/O. See

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us

Secure Remote Commerce – May 2022

Short Blog. I wanted to follow up on the last point I made in Bank ID Service – What Is It?

Some US Banks are refusing to jump on board SRC. As managers of risk, Banks are reluctant to accept network services which level the playing field in both managing risk and “diluting” their brand.… In some respects Authentify is a response to SRC.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us

eCom Innovation Success – Shop Pay

Short blog as follow up to yesterday’s blog on Acceptance Hurdles in eCommerce. Successful innovation requires a great new customer experience and/or economic model. The most recent success in the US is Shopify’s Shop Pay.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us

Authentify – Bank ID Service

Apologize in advance for typos.. did not proof yet

Press Release

Today’s WSJ Article on Zelle.

Congrats to Early Warning and their participating banks in the Launch of the Authentify wallet! A service 6 yrs in the making and driven by my good friend and former EWS president Eric Woodward.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us

Tipping Point for Plastic (Card)?

Will Visa Acceptance Cloud (VAC) be a watershed event that simplifies merchant acceptance and embedding payments into iOT? Changing the merchant side of the network has been a nightmare for all. VAC enables a radical expansion of merchant network capacity with one big asterisk. (Sorry for Typos)

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us

Interchange is going toward 0.. So what?

There are only 3 major markets where credit card interchange is not regulated: US, Japan and Russia. In these markets, Issuers use interchange (US 130bps-270bps) to power consumer reward programs (see Tilting Networks Toward Merchants – 2015) and card marketing.  The ROW has credit interchange regulated to ~30bps and debit 20-30bps, and the reward programs are much different (Barclays UK below). But regulating payment interchange HAS NOT resulted in volume loss for V/MA, to the GREAT frustration regulators.. this is a key point (more later).

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us