The first of our episodes recorded at MPE Berlin 2025, Europe’s largest merchant payments conference. We produced the show in partnership with Ecommpay, a global acquirer, payment gateway and orchestrator that offers fully customisable payments solutions to its clients. Our guests for this episode were: Moshe Winegarten, Chief Revenue Officer, Ecommpay Riccardo Argenta, Global Payment Senior Lead Manager, Back Market Andre Moeller, Payments Manager, Volkswagen Group Charging Zahava Dalin Kaptzan, Product Marketing Manager, Riskified Ruslan Volynets, CFO Booknet Faheem Bakshi, VP Payments, Kinguin Matteo Gamba, Head of Product – Global Payments & Fraud, Wayfair Moshe Winegarten, Chief Revenue Officer at Ecommpay Moshe Winegarten, Chief Revenue Officer at Ecommpay, discussed the company’s growth and operations at MPE. Ecommpay, nearing its 13th year, is a full-stack gateway acquirer and processor regulated in the UK and Europe, with a team of around 500. The company has grown organically, focusing on building a stable and agile tech stack, which allows continuous innovation and modular service offerings like open banking, orchestration, and subscription billing. Moshe highlighted the importance of people in the payments industry, stressing that despite great tech, a company’s success relies on cultivating talent and fostering the right culture. On industry challenges, he pointed to the economic climate’s impact on merchants, limiting their ability to invest in payment infrastructure. He also noted the growing complexity of fraud prevention and evolving regulations, particularly in open banking. Regarding opportunities, Moshe sees continued growth in open banking, variable recurring payments (VRPs), and global payment expansion. Ecommpay has recently implemented click-to-pay, becoming one of the first acquirers in Europe to do so. He also shared his surprise at the fragmented nature of payment methods across different countries, with varying preferences in Europe and beyond, making localisation crucial in the payments sector. Riccardo Argenta, Global Payments Senior Lead Manager at Back Market Riccardo Argenta, Global Payments Senior Lead Manager at Back Market, discussed the company’s mission to promote refurbished electronics as a viable alternative to new products, operating in 18 countries. As they expand globally, the biggest challenge has been finding the right payment service provider (PSP) to balance cost and performance, especially outside Europe. The company has adopted a multi-PSP strategy to cater to different regions and offer local payment methods. At MPE, Riccardo led a roundtable on global payment strategies, focusing on the shift from a single PSP to multi-PSP models and the pros and cons of acquiring an Electronic Money License (EMI). He also discussed how payment orchestration has helped Back Market reduce costs by 30% and better localize payment methods. Looking ahead, Riccardo is watching Pay by Link and stablecoins as emerging trends. The biggest challenge for Back Market this year will be improving payout systems for its 3,000 merchants, ensuring faster and more efficient payments. Andre Moeller, the Payments Manager at Volkswagen Group Charging Andre Moeller, the Payments Manager at Volkswagen Group Charging, discussed the challenges and innovations in payments for the electric vehicle (EV) charging business. He explained that Volkswagen’s charging network, the largest in Europe with 700,000 charging points, operates on a Merchant Initiated Transaction (MIT) model, which differs from the typical Customer Initiated Transaction (CIT) used in e-commerce. The main challenge with MIT is that after a customer charges their vehicle, they leave the station before the payment is captured, leaving the process vulnerable to fraud if something goes wrong. To address this risk, Volkswagen introduced continuous invoicing last November. This means that as soon as a customer charges their car, payment is attempted immediately. If it fails, the customer enters a dunning process to recover the payment. This significantly reduces the time frame for detecting fraud, making the system more secure and efficient. Looking ahead, Andre is keeping an eye on open banking and account-to-account payments as potential innovations that could lower transaction fees and reduce reliance on credit cards. He also expressed excitement about the Wero initiative, which could offer a European payment solution, providing lower fees and greater security. Furthermore, Andre emphasized the importance of strong relationships with payment partners, as they are key to lowering risk, improving transaction quality, and maintaining effective communication to resolve issues. Volkswagen’s approach is to stay closely connected with payment providers and even explore payment orchestration solutions in the future to further streamline and optimize the payment experience for both customers and merchants. Zahava Dalin Kaptzan, Product Marketing Manager at Riskified Zahava Dalin Kaptzan, Product Marketing Manager at Riskified, discussed the company’s evolution from tackling e-commerce fraud to developing an AI-powered platform that addresses a broad spectrum of risks. Founded in 2013, Riskified initially focused on using machine learning to help merchants approve orders without fraud. Today, it helps optimise revenue by preventing emerging fraud and addressing omnichannel abuse for over 50 publicly traded companies. Zahava highlighted the challenge merchants face in balancing fraud prevention with a seamless customer experience. While frictionless checkout can attract fraudsters, excessive friction leads to cart abandonment. The solution, she explained, is customising approaches based on industry risk profiles and individual transactions. She also introduced Riskified’s Adaptive Checkout, which uses AI to evaluate each order’s risk and adjust the checkout flow accordingly. This helps merchants approve legitimate orders and block fraudulent ones, reducing false declines and improving conversion. Zahava concluded by noting that fraud is increasingly affecting various customer touchpoints, such as account takeovers and returns abuse, and Riskified is addressing these growing challenges. Ruslan Volynets, CFO of Booknet Ruslan Volynets, CFO of Booknet, a self-publishing online platform, discussed the company’s mission of connecting readers and authors globally. Booknet operates primarily in Latin America but is planning expansion into Europe, with a focus on markets like Poland and Germany. Ruslan explained that the biggest challenge in expanding into new markets is navigating the diverse payment methods, especially in Latin America. For example, in Mexico, cash-based methods like OXXO are popular, while in other regions, different local payment systems dominate. Ruslan also highlighted a key challenge for Booknet this year: building its own payment infrastructure. As a startup, it’s difficult to access enterprise solutions, so Booknet relies on local payment service providers to remain flexible, cost-effective, and well-covered in expanding markets. When discussing AI, Ruslan shared how Booknet is leveraging it for real-time translation of eBooks, reducing costs compared to traditional translation methods, and enhancing customer support. Additionally, AI is being used to bridge the gap between authors and readers by translating discussions and feedback in real-time, making interactions more engaging and enriching the reading experience. Faheem Bakshi, VP of Payments at Kinguin Faheem Bakshi, VP of Payments at Kinguin, provided insights into the company’s operations and payment strategy in a conversation with Russ. Kinguin is a global gaming marketplace connecting buyers and sellers of digital products like games, software, and prepaid items. Faheem discussed the evolution of e-commerce, focusing on changes in checkout flows and payment methods over the years. He highlighted key developments such as soft POS, network tokens, and how these innovations benefit consumers by enhancing security and user experience. When choosing between payment options, Faheem emphasised the importance of factors like authorisation rates, acceptance rates, fees, and ensuring a competitive market price. Technology, user experience, and compliance with regulations are also crucial considerations. He stressed that seamless payments are essential for retaining customers, as any issues at checkout can drive them away. Faheem also pointed to the growing importance of instant payments, with platforms like Pix in Brazil and BLIK in Poland leading the way. He noted the challenges of faster payment settlements and the need for instant payment solutions in various countries, including Germany with Klarna. The biggest challenge Kinguin faces, according to Faheem, is choosing the right payment options amidst the many available choices, especially as the company expands globally. Understanding regional preferences in markets like Brazil, India, and Thailand is key to delivering a customer-centric payment experience. Matteo Gamba, Head of Product for Global Payments and Fraud at Wayfair Matteo Gamba, Head of Product for Global Payments and Fraud at Wayfair, spoke with Russ about his work at Wayfair, focusing on payments and fraud management. Wayfair, a major e-commerce retailer specializing in furniture and home goods, operates in multiple markets including the US, UK, Canada, and Ireland. Matteo highlighted the company’s growing physical store presence in addition to its strong online platform. During his session at MPE, Matteo discussed tokenization, a key topic for merchants dealing with PCI compliance and payment performance optimization. He outlined three main benefits of tokenization: improving uptime, authorization rates, and cost efficiency by enabling flexibility in working with multiple payment service providers (PSPs). Matteo also emphasized the importance of network tokens, noting that full adoption is still underway, but it’s an essential part of the industry’s future. When asked about the challenges of integrating new payment service providers, Matteo mentioned that Wayfair’s transformation journey included overcoming legacy systems, convincing leadership to invest, and then gradually improving the process for faster and cheaper integrations. Looking ahead, Matteo is particularly focused on digital identity solutions to enhance customer authentication, reduce friction, and improve transaction performance. He noted that frameworks like click-to-pay and the work done by Apple Pay and Google Pay in reducing friction and improving security are steps in the right direction. The biggest challenge Wayfair faces this year, according to Matteo, is navigating the upcoming changes in Visa’s chargeback and dispute programs, which could lead to confusion and additional costs for merchants. In partnership with PRCA members receive 10 CPD points for listening to this podcast if they log it on the CPD programme. View episode
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