We’ve been in our COVID bubble for nearly two years now and many of us, including me, are ready to break free. 2022 ushers in a “start fresh” mindset as we all look ahead to a new year filled with new opportunities.
Let’s kick it off by making some new connections at our beloved trade shows that are returning in person. We’re so excited to see everyone and have our travel bags already packed for the January XBIZ conference in Hollywood, with many others to follow.
Now that the new year has arrived, and we’ve mastered regulatory controls, we can all begin to refocus on growth.
Some have even predicted that 2022 will be the GOAT. While we can’t promise the coming year will be the Greatest of All Time, we can give you our top three 2022 business predictions:
IN-PERSON SHOWS WILL BE IN VOGUE AGAIN
Looking back, it’s hard to believe that I was once attending so many conferences that I wanted a travel break. Boy, did I change my tune! Nearly two years later, I’m counting down the days to get back out there. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed spending time at home with my family and in the office with my colleagues. But this time helped me realize how much I enjoy being with people from all parts of the industry and meeting up with them in places all around the world. This month, we welcome back in-person trade shows and the Segpay team will be hitting the road. We hope you will be too.
I’m thankful for the technology that allowed us to virtually connect these past years. It gave us a wonderful platform to meet and stay informed, but when it comes down to it, nothing beats being together in person. Meeting in person allows us to make connections with both current clients and fresh players in the space, many of whom would be hard to find via an online conference.
Also, much communication between people is nonverbal, and it can be difficult to read those cues through your screen. This can make both online panels and one-on-one conversations feel stilted and awkward. Most importantly, I’ve realized that sitting down face to face to talk business and connect in person is simply way more fun. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that I don’t need to be at every conference to stay connected to our clients. My plan is to strike up a good balance of being in office and traveling for 2022. What’s your travel plan?
REGULATIONS WILL BE FEWER AND LIGHTER
2021 was the year of challenging regulations, especially from a compliance and regulatory standpoint. Just a year ago, everyone in the payments space was making sure they were compliant for Brexit. For us, January 1 marked the deadline when we had to make sure that U.K. merchants were processing through Segpay UK and through a U.K. acquirer. We also had to make sure all EU merchants were processing through Segpay EU and through an EU acquirer. Our acquirers were also struggling to break out their portfolios to be compliant. In fact, many did not become fully compliant by the new year and implementations were delayed well into 2021.
We also had to meet the Strong Customer Authentication requirement of PSD2. As you may remember, this regulation impacted all EU merchants doing business with EU consumers and required that all consumer-initiated transactions be authenticated. This regulation impacted the entire EU, but each country had a different implementation schedule that rolled out over the first six months of 2021, and then of course each acquiring bank also had their own implementations. This created some big challenges. Processors like us had to watch our transactions carefully to make sure merchants were correctly implementing each country and acquirer rollout plan, and that doing so didn’t unnecessarily impact sales.
And who could forget the new Mastercard regulations that went into effect October 15, impacting all merchants in the adult space? Most of the regulations were already standard practice, but new focus was placed on verification requirements for all user-uploaded and peer-to-peer websites. The regulations also required that all merchants have a takedown or complaint link on their website for noncompliant content.
So far, there has not been much noise about any 2022 regulations, but I do expect Visa to come out with their requirements for user-generated content. Hopefully it will closely resemble the Mastercard regulations.
There is one blip on the 2022 radar, however. Mastercard plans to put out an update that will impact negative option trial merchants — free trial offers or exclusive deals that require cancellation before the trial period expires. While it is not far off from what Visa required in April 2020, Mastercard will also require that a reminder be sent prior to rebilling any subscription over six months. This rule is scheduled to go into effect June 8, 2022. We’ve already done the work for our clients to ensure their pay pages are compliant.
PLAN YOUR WORK, WORK YOUR PLAN — BACK AGAIN!
For me, one of the best parts of a new year is implementing and executing our business strategy with the hope of meeting and exceeding our goals for the new year. Last year was a rough one from a regulatory perspective, requiring merchants to put new compliance controls in place. Many times, these controls can impact revenue and throw off your year-end plan. But now that the new year has arrived, and we’ve mastered regulatory controls, we can all begin to refocus on growth.
Finally, after nearly two years filled with concerns over COVID and all its variants, time that required all of us to focus on our health along with the health of our team members, I look forward to reconnecting with everyone in person soon. Everyone has had to make significant changes to how we operate together and apart. Yet now many people are vaccinated and have the option of a booster shot as well as access to more COVID therapies, so as we come back together in person, I feel hope. In fact, I can’t wait to share what we’re going to be working on for 2022.
Cathy Beardsley is president and CEO of Segpay, a merchant services provider offering a wide range of custom financial solutions including payment facilitator, direct merchant accounts and secure gateway services. Under her direction, Segpay has become one of four companies approved by Visa to operate as a high-risk internet payment services provider. Segpay offers secure turnkey solutions to accept online payments, with a guarantee that funds are kept safe and protected with its proprietary Fraud Mitigation System and customer service and support. For any questions or help, contact sales@segpay.com or compliance@segpay.com.
