Competitive differentiation versus commoditisation: The role of Big Data in the European payments industry

The European payments market is undergoing disruptive changes. The interplay between changes in regulatory, technology and consumer behaviour is driving ongoing transformation and reshaping the competitive environment. With the opening of the European payment market to third-party providers, the industry faces the advent of unprecedented competition. This paper describes the phenomenon of payments commoditisation as a consequence of these changes and possible responses to achieve successful competitive differentiation. It acknowledges data and the outcome of respective analysis as one of the key assets to competitive differentiation through value-added services. The paper discusses opportunities to leverage the significant amounts of valuable data possessed by incumbent banks and payment providers in order to ensure future competitiveness. The reader will learn about the relevance of Big Data analytics in the payments industry and the need to put powerful IT at the centre of future business operations. With payments moving to the core of digital user experiences, incumbent banks and payment providers are advised to position themselves as digital partners in their customers’ lives beyond payment transaction processing.