Ep. 121 - Local Payments, Global Scale: Why One Size Doesn’t Work in Payments, with PPRO

Nicole Asling (0:00)

If Apple Pay isn't available, I will almost never make the transaction because I'm so lazy, I can't be bothered to go dig out my purse and get my card. And it's the same concept, right? If you've grown up in another market and that is the way that you always pay and it's not available, why would you go to that effort? You wouldn't. In some markets, it absolutely is card-first, but it doesn't mean it's a global branded card that we're used to. Over 75% of e-commerce transactions in the Netherlands are utilizing ideal rails. It's definitely not an alternative. It's the way that people are wanting to pay. If you're ignoring this, or if you're not embracing it, as a merchant, you're leaving money on the table. Europe feels like an evolution, and Latam feels like a revolution when you look at payments and kind of the approach that they're taking. You hit senior management, you hit SPPs, you hit C-suites and you hit boards, and the numbers change drastically. If you're going direct, that's already four different rails that you need to manage for one market. If you're operating in 20 markets, that's 80

Justin Hanna (0:56)

Welcome back to The Payments Shed Podcast. Today, we are joined by Nicole Asling, SVP of Global Relationship Management at PPRO. Nicole, thank you for joining us. Bit weird interviewing a friend.

Tell us a little bit more about yourself and about PPRO.

Nicole Asling (1:10)

Sure. Firstly, thanks for having me, guys. I have been at PPRO for the last 18 months, so heading up our Global Relationship Management team, which actually I joined doing a regional role and then it stepped into a global role at the start of this year. If anything's true, it's that payments is constantly changing along with the roles that you apply for. I've worked in payments since, well, I made the very wise decision of joining actually the payments industry right at the financial crash, so 2008, 2009 So pretty 18 years in payments, I spent the majority of that at Worldpay or an iteration of the company, which is where I had the pleasure of meeting both of you as well as many other people in the industry.

I've always been in customer-facing roles, so whether that be sales, account management, partnerships, etc.

And I made the transition to join PPRO because I could really see the growth trajectory that local payments were taking. And I wanted to make sure I got in at the right time. I've made pretty good jumps in my career when I've noticed some trends and transitioned into different areas, trying to make sure I get the benefit of learning at the right time and then being able to utilize that expertise. So I had a great opportunity to go and work with some previous colleagues in the industry and snapped up the opportunity to move over to PPRO. At the end of 2024

Justin Hanna (2:28)

Amazing. We talk about the shift in local paint preferences, as you mentioned, and Europe is far from a single market, as we're all aware.

From your perspective, how are these local preferences shifting across Europe as we move into 2026 and beyond?

Nicole Asling (2:43)

I think it's a great question. We talk about Europe as a whole, but realistically it's a patchwork. You cross one border and you have different architecture, different preferences, different cultures, and along with that, different preferred ways of spending and consumerism. So when we look at Europe and we talk about we've got the euro, there are also other currencies that come into Europe. There are different ways of paying. I think we have this traditional sense, especially in Western payments of thinking card-first.

In some markets, it absolutely is card-first, but it doesn't mean it's a global branded card that we're used to.

Then in other markets, in the prime old example of ideal, over 75 percent of e-commerce transactions in the Netherlands are utilizing ideal rails. It's definitely not an alternative. It's the way that people are wanting to pay.

I think the main thing is, if you're ignoring this or if you're not embracing it, as a merchant, you're leaving money on the table, and that's what we're here to try and make sure that we're not doing maximizing growth across the board.

Jasmine Chana (3:49)

For sure. I think one of the conversations that's come up frequently with merchants is open banking. Open banking payments have been the next big thing for a while now.

Do you think we're genuinely seeing real adoption at scale, or do you think there's still more to come?

Nicole Asling (4:03)

Yeah, it's funny because I think like six years back, it was like open banking is coming and it's going to take five years later. Open banking is coming. No, I 100% think we're in the execution phase and not in like the hype phase. I think you guys have been in payments a long time as well. We love hype, right? We all do. Every conference, whatever the latest hype thing is, it's what everyone's talking about on stage. But no, I would say with open banking absolutely is here. It's in the market.