History is full of products nobody asked for – New Coke, the Segway, Google Glass, the Amazon Fire Phone. Each launched with hype, only to become cautionary tales. The question everyone ends up asking is: who was this for? Too often, businesses think of
a product before they think of a market.
The payments industry is no different. Plenty of early-stage companies have failed because they didn’t solve a real merchant problem. As technology continues to evolve, PSPs, acquirers, PayFacs and others run the risk of falling out of sync with what merchants
actually need.
The question stands, what do merchants really want from their payment technology and how can infrastructure providers close the gap between merchant expectations and product delivery?
Are Payments Just About Getting Paid?
At first glance, payments may seem like a simple utility: connect the system and money flows in. Merchants just want to get paid quickly, and at the lowest possible cost. But reducing payments to a commodity misses the wider operational and strategic role
they play.
Think of cheap shoes: they may cost less upfront, but if they fall apart after a few months, the true cost is higher. The same applies to payments. The right technology can unlock new revenue streams and efficiencies that far outweigh a slightly higher transaction
fee.
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Visibility across the transaction lifecycle allows merchants to optimize processes, fix false declines, and improve customer experience. Payments are complex — but that complexity can be tuned for success.
Common Merchant Pain Points
From our work with major merchants across industries and geographies, a few recurring frustrations stand out:
Beyond a Commodity: What Merchants Expect Now
If we move past the idea of payments as just a utility, what additional value do merchants expect from providers?
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New payment methods: From account-to-account transfers to BNPL and super-apps, merchants must meet customers where they are. Speed of integration and time to market matter just as much as breadth of options.
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Cross-border capabilities: Regulations, schemes and consumer habits vary widely. Merchants want simplified access to local methods, dynamic currency conversion, and compliance tools that reduce friction when expanding internationally.
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Payment orchestration: Merchants increasingly work with multiple s and acquirers. An orchestration layer intelligently routes each payment to the best option – faster, cheaper, more reliable. This requires strong infrastructure, not just patchwork connections.
What’s Holding Payments Back?
If these solutions exist, why isn’t every merchant already benefiting from them? The problem isn’t the features themselves but it’s the systems they’re bolted onto.
Many providers are still running on infrastructure built decades ago, maintained with patches and workarounds. These systems weren’t designed for today’s global, digital-first economy. Merchants now expect modular, scalable technology that integrates seamlessly
via modern APIs, powering analytics, reporting, and future innovation.
Instead of layering new features onto outdated foundations, the industry needs a new infrastructure layer. One that is cloud-native, flexible, and built for the modern tech stack.
A New Standard for Payments
For PSPs, PayFacs and acquirers to thrive, they must stay laser-focused on what merchants truly want: faster growth, fewer barriers, and future-proof systems. The question isn’t just “What do merchants want from their payments technology?” It’s “Are you
ready to deliver it?”
