Get it together: why our partnerships are more important than ever before
It’s not what you know, but who you know…
In a year when many of us have spent months apart, it’s great to reflect on the amazing relationships we have with our friends, colleagues, customers, and business partners. 2020 has seen a renewed and inspiring focus on coming together - as organisations, communities and as fellow human beings. Now more than ever, our partnerships are playing a key role in enabling our business clients to better serve their customers.
To assist our clients in delivering a fully-integrated, seamless proposition for their customers, we’re prioritising key business relationships - ramping up capability, connectivity, and driving growth for the future.
Speaking with 30 years’ experience in the field, Marc Pettican, President, Barclaycard Payments, highlights the significance of these industry-wide alliances – from UK fintechs to merchants, buyers and suppliers: “In the collaboration space, by having its own card acquirer and issuer, Barclays is in a very strong position to serve the full breadth of our clients’ payments needs.”
Here we explore the value of our more recent partnerships, and celebrate the close-knit network instrumental in helping us empower our business clients and their customers:
FreedomPay
Supporting merchants and enterprises on a global scale, commerce platform FreedomPay uses data to give clients a smooth, multi-channel experience. In July 2020, Barclaycard joined forces with FreedomPay in the UK and Europe to further assist businesses operating across borders with a focus on the leisure and hospitality sector. Helping businesses offer the best payment experience possible, Managing Director of Partnerships at Barclaycard Payments Nicole Olbe said “This exciting new partnership shows our ambition to offer customers best-in-class payment solutions that help them grow. The FreedomPay platform complements and enhances our own to benefit our merchants.”
With access to innovative payment methods and technologies, Barclaycard customers will benefit from an array of solutions both overseas and closer to home. From offline and online PIN authorisation, to the integration of sector-specific services such as Pay at Table and Oracle OPERA – a hotel management guest service system – the collaboration will contribute to a more seamless end-to-end experience. Chris Kronenthal, President and CTO of FreedomPay commented “Our global reach is unique in the world of commerce, and working with Barclaycard we will strengthen our capabilities across all continents. We are very excited to see the partnership prosper.”
SAP
Having previously partnered with the commerce cloud platform to incorporate Precisionpay in 2019, Barclaycard Payments has now extended its collaboration with SAP Commerce Cloud to give European customers access to the Smartpay gateway. Not only will this contribute to an enhanced experience overall, but businesses will also benefit from improved fraud defences and a more consistent online and offline payments offering. VP and Head of Strategic Customers at SAP UK, Charlie Platt believes the partnership will continue to broaden the horizon for new and existing clients: “This innovative agreement demonstrates the power of our partnership with Barclaycard and our continued alignment to its long-term strategy. SAP Commerce Cloud customers can now deploy a trusted and market-leading payment gateway solution that can help to grow their businesses.”
Smartpay uses machine learning to detect fraudulent activity so as to reduce false positives and the negative experience of payment declines. For frictionless, flexible transactions, one-click purchases also allow buyers to choose from varying cards, currencies and payments. Offering seamless, cross-channel integration, the implementation of Smartpay means organisations can offer the same payment experience to customers, without the need for multiple providers. On the expansion of the partnership, Marc Pettican explained customers would “gain access to a leading payment gateway and will be able to offer customers a smooth, safe and seamless checkout experience”.
Kount
Giving customers access to award-winning fraud detection software, Barclaycard Payments announced a new partnership with leading fraud prevention provider Kount this summer. Through Barclays Transact – a suite of tools designed to make online transactions both simple and safe – merchants can benefit from advanced eCommerce fraud protection, improving the customer experience and maximising sales. In addition, Kount is the only fraud prevention system with the Identity Trust Global Network, a substantial network of trust and risk signals comprised of 32 billion annual interactions (from more than 6,500 customers).
Using adaptive AI and machine learning, Kount’s technology can detect both existing and emerging fraud on a complex level, minimising chargebacks and false positives – according to Kount, their customers have already reported a reduction of 99 per cent and 70 per cent respectively. For businesses preparing for the introduction of the EU’s Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) regulation, whereby all EEA transactions will have to go through a two-factor authentication process (unless they qualify for an exemption), Kount can also help overcome potential friction in the form of cart abandonment; with the ability to judge what activity is genuine, the SCA-approved Transaction Risk Assessment (TRA) skips the two-factor authentication process to fast-track those authentic transactions.
David Jeffrey, Director of Product at Barclaycard Payments, said “We are really excited to be partnering with Kount, because they share our goal of collaborative innovation, and a drive to deliver best-in-class shopper experiences.” With eCommerce rapidly growing, Kount CEO Brad Wiskirchen added: “This partnership between Barclaycard and Kount brings together both stability and innovation to provide merchants with an innovative solution to combat emerging fraud strategies while providing a seamless payment experience for customers”.
As a key part of our ongoing strategy, our partnerships continue to shape our offering for merchants across the globe – helping our clients evolve and futureproof their businesses, while continuing to offer the most innovative payment experiences for their customers. We are proud of all of them and look forward to strengthening our relationships even more in the months and years to come.