In the payments industry we regularly hear rumors about the next big disrupter. Some of these disrupters materialize, some take a while (cough, cough, contactless card acceptance[1]) and some fizzle as fast as the rumors start. One of the latest and more interesting disrupter discussions is Facebook’s proposed cryptocurrency, Libra. There are a bevy of…
Author: wcapra
Circumventing Mobile Fraud Protections
With many payment channels, bad actors seek to take advantage of vulnerabilities to secure goods or funds at little to no cost to them; the same holds true for mobile payment applications. With each merchant mobile app implementation, different combinations and permutations of entry points for fraudsters arise, and in my experience, it’s the combination…
Agile Project Delivery – How Do I Know If It’s Right For My Organization?
The retail world is changing more rapidly than ever, and organizations need to deliver solutions to market faster than at any point in history. This need has driven a push to adopt Agile delivery methodologies such as Scrum, Lean and Kanban. What are the benefits and drawbacks of migrating toward Agile? The appeal of Agile…
EMV 3DS - Going to the store? Not really!
From the first moment that humanity started to identify its primary needs, it was clear that many tasks required more than one individual to complete them. The first humans had to make teams, organize, and eventually, exchange with other teams… So began payment transactions. Many years later, money was invented; and many (many, many) years…
Effective Questioning: Answering the Unasked
Communication is a challenge at all ages. As babies, we learn to read the body language and listen to the tone of voice. As kids, we respond to how peers act and must judge between right and wrong. As working adults, the challenge is perhaps greatest; the interpretation of what another person is saying or…
Has Success Made You Overlook the Threat of Digital Disruption?
20 Questions to Help You Get Past Success Bias Industry after industry has faced digital disruption. None have been immune, yet companies can continue to enjoy industry leading success while a competitor or start-up builds a disruptive product or business model. For example, Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft, famously said that the iPhone wouldn’t…
End-to-End Mobile Service or Technology Facilitator?
My family’s recent ordering experience was straightforward and easy – 45 minutes after we placed a food delivery order through an app, our food arrived – the food I wanted was included while my wife’s food was missing completely. At that moment, our incomplete order made us part of an ongoing debate without our realizing…
Friction in the Frictionless Journey
The following has been re-posted from Convenience Store Decisions. The original post can be found here. There is still so much that needs to be changed in the quest to eliminate friction in the customer experience and lessons to be learned that the c-store/petro industry should consider as it ventures into making the forecourt stop…
Conexxus: Solve Forward Takeaways
The following has been re-posted from Convenience Store Decisions. The original post can be found here. It’s not that you had to be there, but you should have been there. The 2019 Conexxus Annual Conference, held April 28 to May 2 in Nashville, Tenn., was compelling, action-oriented, and a step forward for the convenience store…
POS Systems Advance
The following has been re-posted from the April 2019 edition of Convenience Store Decisions. Don’t blink. It’s only been two months since NRF’s Big Show, where I thought I had learned everything happening with point-of-sale (POS) systems that could possibly impact the convenience and petroleum industry. Well, as time moves on, I’ve learned even more…
How C-stores Can Ward Off the Infiltration of Amazon
The following has been re-posted from Convenience Store News. The original article can be found here. By Tammy Mastroberte, Convenience Store News – 03/21/2019 An Amazon Go store NATIONAL REPORT — Debuting its cashierless store concept in December 2016, Amazon entered the convenience space with Amazon Go. Now, with 10 locations open in Seattle, Chicago…
Should You Bring Payments In-House?
Over the past 5-10 years, the retail payments ecosystem has become increasingly complex. New channels and payment tenders have continued to expand promising consumer usage growth and loyalty. Issuing banks have begun offering incentive programs for merchants to prioritize routing and avoid interchange fees. All the while, regulations tighten to ensure compliance and protect consumer…