Paul McMeekin
Director Marketing, Growth Markets
Follow:
Paul McMeekin
Paul McMeekin is a big believer in the power of payments and how electronic payments can change the world. He currently heads up the market intelligence function at ACI,. Previous roles at ACI include product marketing, analyst relations, and product operations. Outside of payments, Paul is an adjunct professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where he graduated with an MBA. He currently still lives in the Silicon Prairie.
Paul writes about all things payments with a strong focus on the retailer omnichannel, payment processing, virtual currencies, payment regulation, digital banking and payments and the consumer experience. He is also a guest contributor at Bank Systems & Technology. He also loves the Toon.
More articles by Paul McMeekin
-
Alternative Payments, Immediate Payments and Collaboration—Big Initiatives That Will Bring Big Value in the Middle East
Friday, May 12, 2017 Paul McMeekin to Payments and Industry Trends, Immediate PaymentsWe recently wrapped up an exciting Seamless Payments, Middle East conference. Attendees debated about numerous industry topics, with considerable buzz around alternative payments and immediate payments.
-
The Middle East Presents Retailers A Growing Opportunity But Faces Two Challenges
Friday, March 31, 2017 Paul McMeekin to Payments and Industry Trends, eCommerce, Merchant Retail36% of Middle East residents are digital shoppers1 and are expected to spend $19B2 online in 2017; with this spend figure rapidly growing to $34B in 2021. Although cash is the preferred method of transacting, the region is edging toward a digital society. In the UAE and Saudi Arabia, nearly two thirds of the population has smartphones—fueling shopping online growth.3 This prevents retailers new growth opportunities.
-
Seamless Payments Africa and the Region’s Evolving Payments Landscape
Monday, March 27, 2017 Paul McMeekin to Payments and Industry TrendsBlockchain is overhyped and misunderstood; consumers want consistency; and customer centricity and collaboration are not a project. Although they’re not necessarily my own sentiment, these are my three key takeaways from the Seamless Payments – Africa conference, which wrapped up recently in Cape Town.
-
Blockchain for Retailers: Producing Real Business Benefits
Wednesday, March 08, 2017 Paul McMeekin to Merchant Retail, Payments and Industry TrendsWhen I read about blockchain, I typically come across three use cases: cross-border payments, security issuance and digital currency. These have all been proven to work—and they are also finance-related. But the payments ecosystem includes a lot more than just financial institutions. This post explores the potential impact that blockchain will have on retailers and their value chain.
-
The eCommerce Opportunity in South Africa
Thursday, March 02, 2017 Paul McMeekin to eCommerce, Merchant RetailHigh mobile penetration, rising consumer confidence in online transactions, and secure online gateways are driving eCommerce growth globally. However, by international standards, eCommerce penetration across Africa is still relatively low. But it is estimated that 600M consumers will be online by 2025, spending $75B each year, which offers a tremendous opportunity.
-
IoT, Blockchain, Predictive Analytics and Voice First: 2017 Payments Predictions
Friday, January 06, 2017 Paul McMeekin to Payments and Industry TrendsWell, my predictions last year of blockchain, millennials and SaaS will dominate payments was partly true. I missed millennials, I overstated the impact millennials, particularly millennial business owners, would have on the payments. The desires and needs of millennials (e.g. faster processing, mobile first, contextual offers) are built into the roadmaps of providers. Blockchain and SaaS dominated many headlines and will continue to do so. My predictions to stay relevant this year – IoT, Blockchain (with a twist), Predictive Analytics and Voice First.
-
Alternative Payments Will Present New Business Opportunities In The Middle East
Thursday, August 11, 2016 Paul McMeekin to Payments and Industry TrendsThe second survey in our ongoing series took us to Dubai and the Cards and Payments Middle Eastern Conference in early June. Much like the blog from Australia, we had some fascinating results but for entirely different reasons. Whilst 64% of the Australian payment experts we interviewed were concerned about being disrupted by new technologies and entrants, only 38% in Dubai agreed with this sentiment. In fact, 39% disagreed with this and said their business was not going to be disrupted by new technologies or entrants. Hmmm... Let’s try and understand the reasons for this huge difference…
-
South African card fraud trends & risky consumer behavior
Monday, July 25, 2016 Paul McMeekin to Payments and Industry Trends, Payments Risk ManagementIn conjunction with the PASA International Payments Conference this week, we decided to take a look at some recent consumer fraud data from the host nation, South Africa. The market is very similar to the global averages, in that a shockingly high number of consumers continue to experience card fraud. Despite the number of fraud attacks and breaches, consumers in South Africa continue to engage in risky behavior such as providing information in phishing attempts and writing down their PIN numbers.
-
Over 2/3 of Asian payment players see their business being disrupted by new technologies and entrants
Thursday, June 09, 2016 Paul McMeekin to Payments and Industry TrendsOne of the benefits of working for a global company is the ability to speak to clients and colleagues from all over the world. During one of our lively discussions we talked about the commonalities across the globe and the differences. We decided to start testing our hypothesis – that banks, merchants and financial intermediaries have more in common in different locations than they tend to think. Of course, local culture, practices and languages are different but the big strategic forces they are facing are the same.
-
Payments Are Changing: Intermediaries
Thursday, May 05, 2016 Paul McMeekin to Payments and Industry TrendsA proven, reliable and expensive service