The world of payment methods has changed radically in the last decade. Terms such as tokens, contactlessIn fact, fintech and blockchain are now commonplace in the world, but do you know how they can work in favour of your business?
Each of these terms would give rise to an article, but today we're just going to focus on fintech and fintech payment trends.
Let's start by defining what fintechs are and what they do.
What are fintechs?
In general terms, fintech is short for the English-speaking expression "financial technology" and, in practice, brings modern financial technology to the market, which takes the form of the development of new payment products and processes that will subsequently enable companies to offer their customers innovative ways of completing a transaction.
The various areas in which fintechs operate include the banking sector, the financial market, data analysis and, as we've already mentioned, companies.
In the case, for example, of the relationship between fintech and banks, this includes the development of mobile applications that allow customers to check their balance and move their account, and credit and payment intermediation services.
In the case of data analysis, the services provided by fintech are related to Big Data and blockchain technology, enabling faster processing of payments in crypto-assets, while in the area of financial markets, it speeds up the process of investment advice through algorithms and analysis of a large volume of data.
Regulation and security of fintech payments
Although relatively new, these payment start-ups operate in strict compliance with the fintech regulations and financial supervision of the area in which they operate, i.e. they are obliged to comply with the rules of organisations such as the Bank of Portugal or the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM).
In this regard, the Bank of Portugal, the CMVM, the Insurance and Pension Funds Supervisory Authority (ASF) and Portugal Fintech have joined forces and created the platform Portugal FinLab which bridges the gap between payment startups and national regulators.
In addition to regulation, security is not left out either, as these regulatory bodies monitor and control threats to the cybersecurity of fintech digital payments and the protection of consumer data.
Fintech: innovations
In addition to the speed and convenience of instant payments, fintechs have launched innovative payment methods, such as the payment instalments purchasing.
Fintech payment solutions such as Parcela Já com UNICRE which, as the name suggests, allows payments to be made in instalments, is undoubtedly one of the biggest revolutions the Portuguese transaction system has ever seen.
This is a service that enables retailers to offer their customers the payment instalments for your purchases between two and six interest-free monthly instalments. All this without the business having to wait for the money or pay additional commissions, as the return is immediate.
To have access to this innovation in the payments area, a business just has to equip its premises with a TPA Android REDUNIQ Smart which not only gives you the opportunity to start accepting payments by PIN or contactless through national and international cards, Google Pay, Apple Pay e MB WAYas well as installing mobile applications, such as the App Parcela Já con UNICRE.
After equipping your shop with the REDUNIQ Smart POS with the Parcela Já app with integrated UNICRE, the process of charging in instalments is very simple and quick, or take a look:
- enter the amount to be paid by the customer in the application Parcela Já com UNICRE;
- ask the customer to select the instalment option they want (between 2 and 6 monthly instalments);
- ask the customer to select the "Insert ID card" option on the REDUNIQ Smart terminal;
- the customer swipes their credit/debit card through the magnetic stripe reader and enters their mobile phone number;
- after receiving the code by SMS, the customer must enter the code into the terminal.
Once the transaction has been approved, the purchase will be finalised and your business will receive the amount of the approved payment transactions (minus commissions) on a daily basis within 48 hours.
The first instalment will be charged at the time of purchase (minimum instalment of 20 euros, interest free) and only debit or credit cards can pay for purchases in instalments.
This way, in a very simple way and at no extra cost, the business will have a competitive advantage that will enable it to retain more customers and boost higher value sales.
EN 
PT