For Payments Businesses, Profitability will ultimately remain more important – John Chaplin, Founder of Global Payment Innovation Jury

Earlier this week in  Nairobi, Kenya Interswitch Group, one of Africa’s most influential payment players formally unveiled their 2024 Global Payments Innovation Jury Report, a significant research effort into the outlook for innovation in payments globally, conducted in partnership with  The World Bank, and notable international payment operators, namely HPS and Fime. This is sequel to the 1st unveil of the report in Lagos, Nigeria, where Interswitch is Headquartered in mid-March

Presenting the latest report titled: “Market meltdown – impacts on infrastructure, regulation and innovation” at Interswitch’s offices in Nairobi, East Africa’s key hub for payments and fintech, John Chaplin, Senior Adviser/Board Director at Interswitch, and also the Founder and Chairman of the Global Jury unpacked some major insights encapsulated in the report, which analyses the in-depth perspectives of over 130 payment experts spanning all continents of the globe. 

At the media presentation, which represented an opportunity to engage with key stakeholders in the region, Chaplin, whose career trajectory spans over 4 decades in the payment industry across leading payment companies including Interswitch, Visa, First Data Corporation and Global Processing Services reflected on the last 2 years of dynamic market activity in the global fintech and payments space, stressing that the unique insights of industry leaders across various markets has never been more needed than at a time such as this. 

He particularly highlighted the jury’s depth of understanding of the causes and effects of macroeconomic changes and their impact on the long-term direction of the payments industry which helps the industry as a collective to understand how to navigate the turbulence of the times.

Asked which findings from the report findings were somewhat unexpected, Chaplin cited the general views expressed by the payments innovation jury alluding to banks being seen to have potential as long-term players in the mobile wallet space. According to the report, which plays up the growing importance of compliance and risk management as pivotal considerations as payment volumes grow exponentially, “Most of the mobile wallet buzz is around new market entrants (mainly MNOs in developing markets and fintechs everywhere) but the Jury thinks that the banks are not finished yet and that they are best placed for success once the market for wallets becomes more regulated, as they have so much experience managing compliance at scale…”

From a perspective of profitability versus growth, Chaplin opined “I think that profitability will remain much more important than hyper growth. Over the past few years, investors and the broader market have tended to believe that high growth automatically leads to profitability. I don’t think that is always right. Business leaders should always be seeking to generate a return for shareholders in the not-too-distant future.”

With research undertaken in collaboration with World Bank and supported by Interswitch, FIME and HPS, the 2024 Payments Innovation Jury is the most diverse in its 16-year history. 136 Jurors from all over the world participated in the research, all in senior roles at national payments companies, banks, fintechs, payments policy bodies, central banks and investors. This year, the number of central bank & regulators and investors each increased by 25%, enabling an even more representative picture of the challenges and opportunities ahead. The Jury was also delighted to welcome several Jury members from South and Central America for the first time, making the insights gathered truly global. 

High-profile crypto exchanges failures, such as FTX in the US, can impact confidence in global markets – not just where the failures occurred. This is clearly a concern for national regulators but remains complex to address. 

APAC retains its crown as the region with the most payment innovations, but perhaps more surprisingly, Africa & the Middle East was a clear second favourite despite Africa’s macro-

economic challenges, relatively low levels of investment funding and now a talent drain – a clear tribute to the resourcefulness of the continent’s entrepreneurs and policy makers.

Importantly, it is a foundational practice of the Payments Innovation Jury that all members participate on an anonymous basis, as this allows them to speak freely – unencumbered by the commercial priorities of their current organisation. 

Download Market meltdown – impacts on infrastructure, regulation and innovation and all previous Payments Innovation Jury reports at innovationjury.com.