MPE 2024 Recap
Merchant Payments Ecosystem has a decisive influence on the trends of the coming year. We asked Adam, Sofiia, Thomas and Yanita for their impressions from this year's MPE in Berlin from 12-14 March 2024.
"The importance of multiple payment rails to merchants is undeniable"
Yanita Karailieva, Sales Manager
We already knew that payment orchestration was becoming a hot topic - we listed it in our payment trends to look out for in 2024 - but this point was really hammered home at MPE. Everyone is offering payment orchestration. PSPs are adding it to their propositions - though to what extent they can really deliver is debatable - and the importance of multiple payment rails to merchants is undeniable. We saw many new startups also pitching payment orchestration and trying to attract merchants’ attention. It’s great to see so much competition in our field. Competition spurs innovation and keeps us on our toes!
MPE also brought home how the payments industry is constantly in flux, with acquisitions reshaping the industry and the pool of potential providers. Rumors of mergers and buyouts abound, which introduces an element of uncertainty for merchants.
Meeting other attendees also drove home the feeling that the 2024 RFP season has truly begun. Not only were merchants in attendance, the sheer number of consultants attending MPE paints a clear picture of the size of potential clients you can meet there. The German-speaking markets were well represented - as you’d expect from an event held in Berlin - but this year, the event felt more international than ever before.
"A great opportunity to connect and reconnect with clients and colleagues across the industry."
Sofiia Oleinik, Sales Assistant
MPE was a great opportunity to connect and reconnect with clients and colleagues across the industry. We had a lot of friendly visitors to our booth and networking continued after hours - social events are a big part of the appeal of these events and key to building lasting relationships. I’m sure many conversations begun during the 3-day period will continue now that everyone is back at their day job.
A particular highlight was being invited out by Mastercard for amazing avant garde food. The portions may have been small, but each morsel was an explosion of tasty pleasure and whetted your appetite for more. Thanks to Mastercard for the invitation!
But for me, the biggest highlight was Adam’s presentation on payment orchestration and the panel discussion that followed. Adam has a great sense of humor, which not only makes him great to work with, but also means he engages well with the audience and keeps their attention. His presentation was very well received!
"Most noticeable of all was the complete absence of AI"
Thomas Beinhart, Senior Relationship & Partner Manager
Lots of topics drew interest at MPE, from open banking - where adoption is still lagging behind expectation but the interest is genuine - to payment orchestration gaining in popularity, to cross-border payments and handling payouts. But most noticeable of all was the complete absence of AI - it’s like it was completely invisible and suggests that the hype is just that: hype.
The event was well attended, and I felt like there was more going on than in previous years, with lots of big merchants like LVMH, booking.com and IKEA present. Of course, the people I talk to are generally not merchants looking for a payment solution, but the payment providers themselves. These providers are either looking to partner with IXOPAY to integrate their solutions in our platform, or already work with IXOPAY clients and want to strengthen our cooperation to benefit our mutual clients. We had many productive discussions and I look forward to following up on those opportunities.
I was unfortunately unable to attend most of the presentation and panel discussions, as I was busy at the booth. There were a fair number of merchant-only panel discussions that I would not have been able to attend anyway, but I did find time to watch Adam’s presentation on payment orchestration. He really captivated the audience, delivering a great presentation with eye-catching graphics and just the right amount of sarcastic humor. I’ve never seen a presentation at MPE be the topic of so much discussion - it was a resounding success and helped put payment orchestration at the forefront of many attendees’ minds.
The only real downside was the strike at Berlin airport, which left many attendees scrambling to find a way home. We ended up having to come back by train. But after a hectic 3 days, it was wonderful to be able to relax on the way back and finally have some downtime.
"Everyone is now an orchestrator"
Adam Vissing, VP Sales & Business Development
MPE was a great experience. There were many large brands in attendance from various sectors, including the NBA, Louis Vuitton and IKEA, and many opportunities for insightful discussions with both merchants and providers.
The key takeaways for me from MPE were that AI was underrepresented and payment orchestration was overrepresented. Everyone is now an orchestrator and the hype cycle is going into overdrive. Large merchants are exploring their payment orchestration options, although the overall tone of these conversations is still cautious. The investment climate is not the best right now, with many larger enterprises going through reorganization processes. This means any discussions about budgets are typically tight-lipped. But therein also lies the opportunity for payment orchestration - for many merchants, orchestration is seen as an opportunity for cost optimization and to streamline internal processes.
Payment orchestration was also at the forefront of one of the panel discussions. I was fortunate enough to be invited to deliver a presentation and be on the panel, along with my colleagues from ACI and TNS, as well as Andrzej Tomaszewski from Prezi who represented the merchant’s perspective. The full recording of the presentations and panel discussion should be available online in the near future, so stay tuned. I was very pleased to receive so much positive feedback on my presentation from both providers and merchants. It proved a good conversation starter. They seemed to appreciate me being frank and open, as well as not taking myself too seriously. Hopefully I will get a similar opportunity in future, and am already brainstorming ideas for my next presentation!
About IXOPAY
IXOPAY is a best-of-breed payment orchestration platform offering flexible and independent global payment processing options. Fully PCI-DSS Level 1 certified and highly scalable, IXOPAY caters to the needs of enterprise merchants and white label clients, including payment service providers (PSPs), acquirers and independent sales organizations (ISOs). Built upon modern, easily extendable architecture, IXOPAY provides smart transaction routing with cascading, state-of-the-art risk and fraud management, fully automated reconciliation and settlements processing, comprehensive reporting and access to hundreds of acquirers, payment service providers and alternative payment methods.
IXOPAY is trusted by national and international enterprises and has offices in Austria and the USA. The owner-led and financed company has grown from 2 to nearly 100 employees by delivering innovative eCommerce solutions.
For more information, visit: https://www.ixopay.com