As Consumers Seek Access to Funds, Look to the D-Suite to Differentiate

As demand for credit grows amid economic challenges, digital capacities provide the differentiation issuers need to stand out, i2c Chief Product Officer Ava Kelly writes in the new PYMNTS eBook, “What’s Your Plan? Payments Strategies for a Strong 2022 Finish.”

With inflation steadily driving prices up it’s safe to say we’re entering a climate where consumers and businesses will be seeking greater access to funds to keep pace with their financial reality.

That being the case, demand for credit products is likely to increase, creating both opportunity as well as a stepped-up competitive landscape for card issuers. With consumers and businesses leaning into the need for more access to credit the opportunity is there. Now issuers need to focus on the go-to-market delivery side of the equation and delivering a relevant and competitive value proposition.

To keep customers either on board with a brand or bring them into the franchise, issuers need to think about strategies and tools that provide consumers with faster access to funds and their ability to spend, to lock in those relationships and speed up their own path to revenue.

As a global issuer-processor servicing over 200 countries and territories, we understand that issuers need to compete on many dimensions of their credit product offering including financial terms, rewards, benefits and now more than ever a suite of digital services that cardholders have come to expect. These digital services can include enabling access to more data through open banking, instant digital issuance of card credentials, automatically pushing those credentials to a mobile wallet, card controls that cardholders can manage independently or management of merchant card on file credentials, to name a few.

Now is a great opportunity to tap into credit, but the playing field to create differentiation has changed. Digital capabilities are now a necessary part of that equation and will continue to evolve as the features and functionality that consumers and businesses are looking for when choosing card products to meet their needs.