The sheer volume of payments data creates a unique challenge for BIN Sponsors, Issuer Processors and Card Programs. Cambrist recently hosted a breakfast panel event in London to discuss the data issues created in scaling a payment card program, featuring contributions from Tim Chong (CEO – Yonder), Lucy Mounter (Director – Intercash), Richard Ney (CEO – Lerex Technology) and Suresh Vaghjiani (CEO – Clowd9), , and.

This challenge only increases as payment card businesses scale, expanding their offerings to include new processors, schemes and products. As Suresh Vaghjiani (CEO – Clowd9), noted: "The volume of payments data has exploded and account issuers now need to contend with data from open banking, physical card transactions, online transactions, account transactions and in some cases, crypto." The discussion noted both the challenges and the opportunities inherent in that data in what is a fiercely competitive landscape.

As businesses scale, navigating transactional records, financial details and the operational processes required to manage a payment card program becomes ever more intricate. The discussion highlighted automation as a crucial tool, not just for cost reduction as Richard Ney (CEO – Lerex Technology), emphasizes, but "for enhanced speed, efficiency, quality, and freeing teams for higher value work."

Implementing data management automation unlocks significant benefits:
Reduced Costs: Repetitive tasks, such as reconciliation, are automated, freeing resources and streamlining processes
Enhanced Accuracy: Manual errors are minimized, ensuring robust data integrity and consistency across applications, fostering informed decision-making.
Improved Efficiency: Data processing accelerates, bolstering operational efficiency and enabling companies to focus on strategic initiatives.
Scalability: Automated solutions seamlessly adapt to business growth, ensuring efficient data management even as complexities escalate.

However, card programs can’t rely on a single investment in data automation. They must continually invest to adapt to new data and standards, ensuring agility and efficiency. Tim Chong (CEO – Yonder) noted that “We all talk about the power of data and how it can be harnessed - but most companies aren’t willing to do the hard work to make data work for them. The hard work like maintaining clean and standardising it or making sure your data pipelines are all working - these aren’t fun; but it’s crucial if you want to make the most of your data assets”.

As a result, the panel discussion then delved into the importance of partnerships, recognising that successful Fintechs have always focused on what they do best and partnered with others to access areas of expertise. Lucy Mounter (Director – Intercash) highlighted that in her experience, “As Payment Service Providers expand their global business to become multi-scheme, multi-processor or multi-currency, it is essential that they select the right partner to support them in managing the increasing complexity and volume of data across multiple third-party channels.”.

The panel closed out with each participant giving a one-word answer on the key data challenges faced by payment card programs with the key words being:

“Ownership”
“Origination”
“Data Definition”, and
“Global Reach”

Contact us if you’d like to learn more about how Cambrist automates the reconciliation of complex payments data from multiple sources, or how Fintechs and Banks are leveraging our innovative platform to save time, reduce costs and eliminate manual errors. We host events like this regularly and always open to new locations – if you’d like to suggest a similar event to discuss card payments data insights in your city please let us know your suggestions by emailing info@cambrist.com

Mastering Data Complexity in Card Payments