| |March 20209THE CLOUD IS EVERYWHERE AND IS AN EXTREMELY POWERFUL TECHNOLOGY THAT USES INNOVATION TO HELP BUSINESSES EXPAND THEIR REACHThe payments services industry is going through an unprecedented period of change and companies are constantly revamping services and solutions to suit the current digital environment. Businesses are increasingly adopting and offering products and services based on the demands of the digitally-sav-vy generations. `Swift', `secure' and `convenient' are the buzzword now in payments. In the financial sec-tor, digital is the new frontier and digital payment platforms have become ubiquitous. Cloud-based sys-tems offer users a chance to pay over the internet, using smartphones, computers or wearables. The cloud then accepts and processes these payments. This is leaving the traditional point-of-sale technol-ogy far behind. The payments have now moved from the POS terminals to the internet nodes, which has resulted in a major push for mobility based inclusive service platforms. Cloud-based payment systems integrate into the systems of an organization easily, thus creating better value for organizations and then passing the benefits of better user management to the custom-ers. Cloud-based payments are also far more secure, reliable, and offer better user management.Instant, simple and secure real-time digital pay-ment services have become a necessity for users; thanks to the value that they offer in terms of how they have simplified our lives. Successful digitiza-tion of payments demands a Cloud-based infrastruc-ture. Financial institutions should move away from their redundant established core infrastructure to adopt the benefits of this next-generation technol-ogy. However, this move does not need large invest-ments or disruptive changes in operations that are difficult to incorporate. These institutions merely have to leverage the existing platforms and make investments based on their specific requirements. Businesses must also implement the right balance between new technologies, processes and the em-ployees to align with the new strategies. Moving the payment processing to the Cloud is no exception to these principles. The alternate non­banking players or Fintechs brought this innovative technology to users, and a move to the Cloud has now become essential for leg-acy financial institutions to modernize their sys-tems and to offer further value. This is particular-ly relevant in light of the current trend of payment volumes, the increasing penetration of smartphones and the competition in the industry. The nature of competition in this industry means that any dissat-isfaction with the user experience can lead to cus-tomer churn and a failure to attract new users. This will hurt the bottom line of the institution and the value of the brand. The challenge in any digital infrastructure is to engage users, deliver information to them faster and limit the number of touchpoints by reducing processing time. Adoption of Cloud can help busi-nesses achieve all this and more, which is why it is rapidly turning into a buzzword in today's payments landscape. Praveen T M
< Page 8 | Page 10 >