In the realm of modern payment systems, resilience is no longer just a buzzword thrown around by IT professionals. It has evolved into a crucial business problem that requires strategic planning and implementation. Gone are the days when resilience meant having a disaster recovery plan tucked away in a drawer and a backup data center waiting in the wings. The landscape of payment methods is changing rapidly, with the rise of fraud, stricter regulations, and the need for global expansion pushing companies to rethink their approach to resilience.
A recent survey conducted by BR-DGE sheds light on the importance of payments resilience in today’s digital age. The research, which involved 50 decision-makers at enterprise e-commerce merchants, revealed that resilience gaps are prevalent and directly tied to the design of payment technology stacks. Outages and disruptions in payment systems are all too common, with a staggering 92% of enterprise e-commerce merchants experiencing such issues in the past two years. The financial impact of these disruptions is significant, with many companies reporting losses ranging from £100,000 to £10 million.
Despite the clear financial implications of payment outages, resilience is not always top of mind for many organisations. In a survey of priorities over the next two years, only 28% of merchants listed resilience as a key focus, with customer experience, cost optimization, and new market entry taking precedence. However, the research suggests that resilience is not just a technical concern but a crucial component of customer experience and expansion strategies.
The study identifies five key building blocks of modern payments resilience that enterprise leaders should consider:
1. Redundancy: Utilizing multiple payment service providers to protect against outages and revenue loss.
2. Flexibility: Adapting payment methods and configurations to support global expansion and customer preferences.
3. Interoperability: Building platform-agnostic systems that can seamlessly integrate with different providers.
4. Optimization: Using data and analytics to fine-tune routing and fraud controls for maximum efficiency.
5. Future-readiness: Building infrastructure that can adapt to new technologies and customer behaviors without the need for extensive redesign.
By prioritizing payments resilience, companies can mitigate the impact of outages, adapt to changing regulations and customer preferences, improve authorization rates, and expand into new markets more efficiently. Ultimately, resilience should be viewed as a growth enabler rather than a compliance burden, with a focus on building dynamic, personalized checkout experiences that cater to the evolving needs of customers.
