How state-of-the-art technologies are enabling payment platforms to establish deeper Customer Relationships

* By César Garcia, CEO at OneKey Payments

Want to know the future of digital payments? Two words: ‘deep payments’. And what are deep payments? To put it simply, it’s using state-of-the-art technologies to establish deeper customer relationships. Let me explain why this is important and how we can make it a reality.

When you work in a highly dynamic industry such as digital payment platforms, you often find yourself inundated with buzzwords and stories that are pushing new technologies. It can be hard to work out which among this long list of latest technologies is truly a ‘game changer’ and which is a non-starter. But with the right combination of exciting state-of-the-art technologies available today, we can deliver a new kind of service to our customers starting tomorrow: safer, faster, friendlier and easier to use. And through this impeccable delivery and service, we can enable our payment platforms to form more profound customer relationships than we ever thought possible.

With the advent of AI combined with the current most valuable technologies for digital payment platforms, such as , Blockchain, Open Finance, and instant payments methods, I believe we can unlock a new era of hyper-personalized digital payments solutions, which is the essence of deep payments.

This exciting evolution in what was once seen as a purely transactional relationship opens the door to deep payments, a new provider-consumer relationship that allows payment providers to build relationships with each customer and construct a brand that is no longer seen as transnational but relational. Banks are a great example of a once-transactional industry that is already identifying and capitalizing on this shift. Through providing a more personalized, friendly, easy-to-use service - while ensuring speed and security - the most innovative banks and fintechs are winning a whole new customer base in Gen Z, a generation that places a high demand on personalization, belonging, and community.

Deep payments will provide customers with tailored experiences, relevant offers, and increased satisfaction, while offering providers enhanced customer loyalty, higher engagement, and better data insights. Not only does AI make these advances possible, but this new technology also allows payment providers to ensure its services are the most secure they can be, both for an enhanced user experience and improved fraud detection, as two-way security and trust are the foundation of any meaningful and mutually beneficial relationship.?

To ensure we deliver the best service possible, companies can also take advantage of two more increasingly available technologies: blockchain and Open Finance.

Blockchain provides payment platforms and their users with enhanced security, transparency, and efficiency, while Open Finance creates an extra layer of security by guaranteeing identity and traceability of operations, also helping deepen relationships by allowing payment providers to integrate other financial services seamlessly within the same app or API, offering enhanced consumer choice, more competitive services, and a better all around customer experience.

The final technological step to true deep payments, which isn’t quite here yet, but looks more likely than ever, is Pix Internacional. In other words, we need an international payment system that incorporates the Brazilian success story of Pix. The Bank Of International Settlements (BIS) is developing a platform that could integrate instant payment in 60 countries, including Pix in Brazil. This prototype, called Nexus, is currently being tested in Malaysia, Singapore, and by the Bank of Italy in the Eurozone. Because while Pix has won so many fans for its zero cost, speed and absence of bureaucracy, Brazil is still waiting for cross-border transactions to achieve the same low-cost velocity while maintaining client safety and satisfaction. Whether powered by blockchain, Pix, some combination of the two or even a third technology, a truly international instant payment system would help payment providers further boost customer loyalty by broadening options for international transactions and remittances.?

The collective emergence of technologies presents a truly transformative opportunity for our digital payment platforms. Just like the most successful and innovative banks have already done, we can employ these tools to achieve a level of hyper-personalization that not only enhances the user experience but also builds deeper, more meaningful customer relationships. With new technologies that allow us to deliver safer, faster, and more user-friendly payment solutions, we can shift towards a new model of deep payments, and a future where transactional interactions evolve into relational ones, empowering a more connected, confident and satisfied customer base.

About OneKey Payments

OneKey Payments specializes in IP in global payment technology authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil, offering a complete BaaS ('banking as a service') that allows companies to scale their inbound and outbound transactions simply and securely, with full performance optimization. The company provides a complete international gateway solution with easy plug-and-play integration and payment solutions in Brazil and worldwide using PIX, bank slip, or credit card.