The CTO of Collctiv says he will champion consumers when he joins an array of big names on the Bank of England’s Payments End User Forum.
Pete Casson, who co-founded the Manchester FinTech with CEO Amy Whitell, has been appointed to one of three forums set to shape the future of retail payments in the UK.
Part of the BoE’s National Payments Vision, the other two forums are the Payments Innovation Design Group and Payments Academic Advisory Group.
Joining Casson on the Payments End User Forum are organisations including Tesco plc, the Federation of Small Businesses, Which? and The Pennies Foundation. The others forums include figures from the likes of Google, GoCardless, PayPoint, Amazon, Worldpay and Revolut.
“Essentially [the Bank of England] is trying to make sure that the UK, at a minimum, keeps up to date with what’s going on in global FinTech and finance – but also stays ahead and keeps leading,” Casson told BusinessCloud.
“In Europe there are a number of alternative payment methods – such as Pay by Bank – and other wallet-based applications, which are popular. But they haven’t taken off in the UK.
“The likes of eBay, Amazon and Ryanair have added in Pay by Bank, which is powered by the Open Banking standard which has been around since 2018, but – to be completely honest – hasn’t done very well.
“It is cheaper for the merchants to process payments that way – and you get the cash instantly, rather than waiting for payments to clear with cards – so the logical benefits are there. But there are practicalities limiting that rollout, and friction in the process.
“So it’s looking at trying to modernise the dated, legacy infrastructure. There are a number of systems that need improving.”
Casson describes the current situation as an “a la carte shopping list of payment methods”.
“There’s Apple Pay, Google Pay, Mastercard, pay by card, pay by Link, Pay by Bank, Klarna… and many more. But there is no orchestrator that tells a consumer: ‘Actually, pay by this method – this works better for you.’
“That’s where it will end up in five to 10 years’ time: the Apple and Google wallets will advise a payment method because it gives the user points back, a better interest rate or certain protections [depending on the situation].”
Collctiv, which made the top five our of most recent FinTech 50 ranking, is an app and now web platform that helps group organisers collect money for activities and large gifts through simplifying the money collection and payment process – enabling them to send just one link and receive payments in less than five seconds, regardless of the banking or payments platform their group uses.
Casson says he is approaching the forum from two standpoints: as a provider of payment tech “on the coalface” but also to fight for protections for consumers.
“For me, the biggest problem with Open Banking is the complete lack of consumer protection: I personally would not buy anything substantial using it because I know I’m not protected if anything goes wrong,” he said.
“Hopefully the Bank of England and the regulators will learn from the lessons and the challenges that come from Open Banking, and then apply new methods so that when you pay, it’s as simple as paying contactlessly by your card.
“That’s the vision. They are looking at the digital pound – which we’re a member of the advisory on that as well – effectively a digital version of cash that will be held by the Bank of England and is interchangeable with physical money.
“But we need to make sure that everyone is protected, and taken on the journey on how to use this new tech: we don’t just assume that everyone’s got a phone, that everyone is tech savvy, that everyone is Gen Z.
“The Bank of England’s got a tough challenge on its hands. It’s not a small project: they’re building new infrastructure.”
Collctiv – Group payments. Sorted
As for Collctiv’s involvement in the National Payments Vision, he says: “It’s testament to what we’ve built over the past seven years.
“We’ve got over two million customers and have an awful lot of experience and a very unique perspective – we’re not peer-to-peer payments, we’re not eCommerce, we’re a new niche area, a new kind of payments mechanism that people don’t traditionally have access to.
“To be in that room with those more traditional bigger names is great – but then also to be seen as an equal. We’re not treated as the new little fintech who doesn’t have any clue. We know what we’re talking about, and our voice is considered, and it is listened to.”
Collctiv moved into profitability last year and is looking to roll out B2B products as it is used in 40,000 businesses on an individual level. Its focus for now is the UK market.
“The first version will be a co-branded application – Collctiv, alongside your company – before we produce a full white-label version in the future,” said Casson.
“HR teams in particular use a number of different platforms to manage celebration of people’s birthdays and anniversaries; events when people leave the company; charity fundraisers; and other social events.
“They see improvements to the culture when they celebrate them, but also the value of showing employees that the company actually cares about them – they aren’t just a figure on the balance sheet.”
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