Mastercard, Visa and American Express have begun to exert influence on interbank payments from different angles. This could potentially result into big changes in the way things work, given the status, operational strength and huge customer base of these companies.

The goal of the industry’s giants is to develop innovative payment solutions that would help businesses better respond to ever-evolving client needs and demands. The areas covered include P2P payments, clearing, e-billing, foreign exchange, physical and virtual cards, transfers and much more.

Cross border payments are also receiving substantial attention. For instance, Visa has recently launched Visa B2B Connect, which is a payments system created specifically for B2B transactions. Interestingly, Visa B2B Connect is partially based on blockchain.

While traditional banking institutions are still challenged by the process of integrating digital services into their operation and market offering, card firms are moving even further ahead. They are leveraging their technological opportunities for delivering services that bring more value to customers’ payments, such as authentication, tokenization and data analytics.

It seems like card providers have set their minds on redefining their role in the world of financial services They are moving towards new innovative business models and products that will change the life of individuals and businesses around the world. Immense technological opportunities combined with access to vast amounts of data are the secret key towards not only responding to customers’ needs but predicting them. The payments marketplace is evolving fast and so does the approach of card companies that are not ready to lose to fintech newcomers.

In a nutshell, we can anticipate some considerable changes in the payments industry in 2020. Digital payments technology will continue to evolve and so will the security regulations, making competition in this volatile market even more challenging.