Ep. 129 - More Isn't Better: Rethinking Global APM Strategy, with Checkout.com

Justin Hanna (0:05)

Welcome back to The Payments Shed Live here at Fintech Meetup Europe. We are joined by Manika Singh, VP of Product at Checkout. Manika, thank you so much for joining us.

Tell us how you got into the payments industry.

Manika Singh (0:15)

Thank you, Justin, for having me.

I've been in payments for over 20 years, and no one chooses payments. You kind of fall into it. I started as a consultant in payments, and I worked with so many startups, so many established companies, schemes, et cetera, and then decided to leave consulting and go into industry. So, I've been in payments since.

Justin Hanna (0:37)

Now, when we think about checkout, we look at that kind of global acquiring, APMs, payouts. How does that all come together? How do you approach APMs or LPMs at a global scale?

Manika Singh (0:47)

That's a really good question. I think when you start thinking about local payment methods or alternative payment methods, I think the basis of how we think about it always starts from a market perspective. What does the market want? Or what is the market trend towards? So you're thinking about like a Brazil or a Netherlands. They're very different markets. They have different customer base. They have different cultural acceptance. So we think about what are the market trends? How are they growing? Then we look at, layer that on top of merchants in terms of merchant demand, consumer demand, but also the segments we play in.

And so we look at local payment methods or alternative payments in terms of the market growth.

Justin Hanna (1:30)

And is that kind of driven by consumers, merchants, or kind of the providers themselves?

Manika Singh (1:35)

I think it's all three. I don't think it's one. Like I said, the...

So if you think about somewhere like Germany, right? We know culturally, they are very risk-averse, and they prefer sort of, you know, debit products. But you look at somewhere like Brazil, they've taken up on an instant account-to-account type payment. That's driven by consumer behavior.

You have to layer that on with the merchant demand. So if you look at different merchant segments, you know, if you look at something like retail versus gaming or airlines or lodging, they all have different requirements. One might want a buy now pay later versus one wants something that is recurring and has the necessary guardrails around it. So I think it's driven by both. It's not just the one.

Justin Hanna (2:25)

And what decides how it makes checkouts roadmap?

Manika Singh (2:29)

Great question. Again, it's that combination, right? So for example, we're launching in Brazil. You can't compete in that market without a PIX, right? It's just such an ingrained payment method. Both the consumer and the merchant are going to demand it. So you need to go in with that sort of strategy.

But you know, it also, from our perspective, we approach alternative payments in a couple of different ways. One is a direct integration. So somewhere like, something like PIX that is growing and that is, you know, a moat in that market, you want to go direct. But equally, you have long tail of payment methods. And it's not always feasible to sort of integrate directly or has a decent ROI.

So you use partners, especially where we don't have our licenses in those markets.

Justin Hanna (3:19)

PIX aside, what payment method do you think has kind of surprised you about how quick it's taken off? Also, we understand Brazil with PIX and the way the government has been really, really involved in that. What others have surprised you?

Manika Singh (3:32)

I don't think there's one single global one, just because of the nature of the payment methods. Some are government driven, like you said. So you have PIX, you have J1 in UAE.

But equally, you have something like Cash App in the US. It's become so big, but it's a niche market, right? When I say niche, like there's a certain merchant segment and consumer type that has really progressed that acceptance of that product. Equally, if you go into Asia, you have Alipay and WeChat because of the way they've introduced the QR code, the acceptance, the ubiquity of it. I think that's also increased the acceptance of those kinds of products.

Justin Hanna (4:13)

Now, the big piece we always come against when you're selling APMs as commercial leads, is the pushback when merchants say they want all 300 APMs or LPMs. How do you manage them conversation from a product perspective when merchants are demanding they want everything, but actually maybe it's quality over quantity?

Manika Singh (4:29)

No, it's something we come across a lot. For us, it's not about just adding more logos on a page. I think equally, you have to look at it in a balanced act.