We’ve said it before; we’ll say it again. Trekking down the omnichannel path is vital for merchants who want to keep up and stay in lockstep with the consumers’ expectations. But more retailers are beginning to wonder whether omnichannel and EMV are at crossed purposes. Peter Osberg, SVP EVO Payments has a point of view on why omnichannel and EMV don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
Omnichannel is the buzzword that continues to ripple through the payments ecosystem. As merchants strive to stay in lockstep with customers’ expectations, payments solution providers need to be prepared to meet the changing needs of their own customers – the merchants. EVO Snap* is one such provider that might just have the trick. It aims to create a “one stop shop” to help merchants tackle omnichannel as well as software companies who need ways to support those merchants. We spoke with Peter Osberg, SVP EVO Payments, to gain insight on how Snap* is adapting to omnichannel and the EMV migration.
What new services might EVO Snap* expect merchants to need as the market progresses, or what emerging trends are you seeing that might need Snap*’s specialized services?
PO: Software companies are following trends that their customers, or the retailers, are looking for. The big trend we’re seeing is movement toward an omnichannel solution, meaning any point of acceptance that they have a consolidated technology strategy around. This strategy has seen some adoption, but not mass adoption. Up until now omnichannel supported retailers needs to simplify operations, but now with new regulations, this is being impacted by the migration to EMV globally and the need to better understand how payments information connects to customer information – the big data play.
What unique capabilities does Snap* have in addressing the needs of omnichannel merchants?
PO: EVO Snap* is the technology arm of EVO Payments International. We provide to retailers and software companies a one-stop shop for card-present, including EMV, and card-not-present processing in 125 countries. A retailer has the ability to get all services that they need to support global omnichannel requirements.
How is Snap* addressing the needs of software companies who want to support omnichannel merchants?
PO: Omnichannel is not necessarily simple to accomplish from a software company perspective – they need characteristics of Snap*, which acts as the processor, acquirer, technology provider, distributor, and the support group. Software companies get to simplify their integration into the payments world and get all the capabilities globally that retailers are going to need. That includes people to help provide the right solutions, a whole set of APIs that support omnichannel, and the services that provide value to a transaction, including those that protect against fraud, especially as it moves online with the coming of EMV.
How does Snap* improve the developer integration process, and how does omnichannel integration work into that process?
PO: The most important thing for us is to listen to what technology developers want. A couple of things we realized are, for one, they don’t want to necessarily be payment experts. That said, the way that we work with software companies and developers has to respect the fact that we’re just a feature of what they’re building. So we’ve organized our toolkits and prepackaged all payment and value-added services into one integration package so they can get products to market quickly, simply, and compliantly.
Organizing toolkits by vertical is important to meet merchants’ payment needs. Can you describe how Snap* is addressing this need in an omnichannel environment?
PO: Most businesses, within the next 12-18 months, will need new integrations for their software with everything that’s happening with EMV. That creates a great opportunity for retailers and their software companies to take advantage of vertically specific bundles and APIs. For retailers, there is one way of connecting card-not-present capabilities to make sure they’re compliant while reducing fraud and providing an omnichannel solution. Now, they can finally get to a point where they fully understand what’s happening with their customers from an omnichannel perspective – connecting important payments, customers, and marketing information.
For more on how EVO Snap* is taking on omnichannel, listen to the full podcast here.
Peter Osberg
SVP at EVO Payments
Peter is the head of EVO’s new integrated payments group called EVO Snap* and is responsible for defining and executing EVO’s integrated software strategy globally. Prior to joining EVO, Peter spent 25 years managing direct and indirect sales and marketing organizations for high growth B2B and B2C companies, and most recently served as SVP Sales, Business Development & Marketing for IP Commerce. Mr. Osberg is a graduate of Augsburg College and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science.
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