Staying Ahead of the Payment Game: Interview with Kevin Hart, CEO of CatalystPay

In today's fast-paced digital world, payment trends are constantly evolving. Recently we have published our top picks on what would be the biggest payment trends for 2023. To stay ahead of the game, payment service providers must focus on the latest technology and industry developments to ensure that they can meet the needs of their customers. 

In today’s interview we will be speaking with Kevin Hart, CEO of CatalystPay. We will be discussing his perspective on what he believes is important to focus on in 2023 for payment service providers and online businesses respectively to stay up to date with the latest payments trends.

Q: What would be the one trend/thing that will impact the industry the most? 

KH: I believe one major trend of 2023 we be social networks adopting and heavily promoting payment methods in both fiat and crypto. This will further accelerate growth in mobile payments.  With 90% of social media users accessing these platforms with their phone, this opens up a tremendous opportunity for micropayments across social networks and beyond existing solutions such as Venmo and PayPal.  At CatalystPay we are building payment solutions that will enable this type of transaction not only for social media but for any business that wants to embed payments within their operations.

Q: How would you assess the development of the payment industry in recent years?

KH: The payment industry is being disrupted as businesses find alternative B2B and B2C payment solutions outside of their traditional bank relationship. We are accelerating into an era where new solutions for payments are arising from areas that are far more efficient and dynamic than the solutions that exist at traditional business banks.  

Take the gig economy as one example, the needs and expectations of these new generation businesses models expect fast, efficient, and trustworthy payment solutions that can be tailored specifically to their business. This same demand can also be found in long standing businesses such as insurance companies where industry leaders are exploring efficient payment solutions that can lower cost and increase speed. 

Q: What would be the one major trend that PSPs should embark on?

KH: In merchant processing, it is essential that PSP expand their network. We are seeing continued acceleration with merchants that are making sales with alternative payment methods. We no longer live in a credit and debit card world dominated by two card networks. It is essential that PSP’s have a complete spectrum of payment options for their merchants. From Klarna to cryptocurrency, a PSP in processing must be able to provide their merchants with the maximum possible solutions available.

Q: How do you anticipate the growth of mobile payments to evolve in 2023, and what would be crucial for payment service providers to ensure to leverage this trend? 

KH:  The data and the trends are clear. Mobile payments will only continue to increase. 80% of mobile phone owners made at least one payment on their phone in 2022.  We have reached mass adoption for mobile payments. The frequency of mobile payments will continue to accelerate the total volume of mobile payments (The global mobile payment market size was valued at USD 52.21 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 36.2% from 2023 to 2030). The key for providers of mobile payments is to ensure merchants of a fast and reliable user experience. Speed and trust. Those are the two primary factors that we focus on at CatalystPay.  

Q: How do you see the growth of crypto payments? What would merchants want to see from their PSPs as service in this area?

KH:  Even as crypto currency values declined sharply in 2022, crypto payments continued to grow and will continue to grow.  It’s estimated that today we have 420 million crypto users worldwide.  The largest obstacle to mainstream usage of crypto as a form of payment is that businesses and consumers have not had the option to use cryptocurrency at the point of sale.  We see legacy entities such as Visa and Mastercard now accepting crypto payments on their networks, which is encouraging for widespread adoption.  But looking beyond these legacy networks, we see innovation that provides businesses and consumers the ability to use crypto for many different types of payments.  

Today at CatalystPay we offer merchants the option to accept most major cryptocurrencies and have that payment instantly converted into the fiat currency of the merchant’s choice.  With instant settlement, this offers zero exchange rate risk to the merchant.  This solves for the two main blockers for crypto as a form of payment – for buyers that want to use crypto, they are now being given the option to make the purchase.  For the merchant accepting the sale, they carry no risk of the underlying coin as it is immediately converted into the fiat currency of their choice. 

Q: How are you taking advantage of open banking and API integration to create new products and services and connect with other players in the payment ecosystem?

KH:  We are taking advantage of open banking specifically with B2B ecommerce. In 2023 we intend to roll out an embedded finance product which will target the $1.5 Trillion dollar market of B2B payments occurring in Europe alone.  We are capitalizing on this market opportunity by providing businesses and consumers payment solutions in ways that are more cost efficient and provide more dynamic functionality.   API integration is central to creating a dynamic product.  One size does not fit all but API integration allows us to specifically tailor solutions that fit any businesses unique needs and interests.  The API we are utilizing with our acquiring and payment services can be integrated into any business that conducts online transactions.

 

We at Catalystpay thrive to enable online businesses by providing a complete payment solution in line with the latest trends and technologies. Contact Us to find out how we can help you take your business to the next level.