We take a look back on some of the highlights from the PAY360 conference, hosted by The Payments Association.

On day one, Marion King, chair of the Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) discussed the current ‘state of the nation’ and the role open banking has to play.

“What open banking is here for is to get the infrastructure where it needs to be, building in fundamental foundations. Working with regulators, working with consumers and working with SME groups, what can we do more to get it to where it needs to be?”

Louise Hueting, head of payments product, business and commercial banking at Lloyds Bank took centre stage with the event’s first keynote address discussing ‘The future of payments and a response to the cost-of-living crisis ’.

“The payments marketplace continues to evolve and regulation has paved the way for both fintech and paytech providers.”

Hueting also discussed the importance of real-time payments: “Real-time payments and real-time payment infrastructure really denote the future of payments, whereby demand has grown and regulators and customers and innovations in technology can now enable the capability of more payment rails.”

Sustainability’s the word

During a later panel looking at ‘things to watch out for in merchant payments’, Tamerat Gebchara, head of sales at Tietoevry Banking, discussed how card providers should hold environmental issues at the front of their minds in the near future. “There are 10 billion plastic cards in the world. There are so many African and Southeast Asian mobile-first countries, meaning there aren’t many cards there.

“In the rest of the world, we therefore must have far more than one card individually. So we must make sure that the plastic used is sustainable. And if it doesn’t need to be plastic, then we need to consider a metal card. There is sometimes also no need to have any physical form factors – and go virtual instead. That way you make sure that you have a sustainable product from the get-go.”

What can we learn from SVB and Credit Suisse’s ‘situations’?

In the afternoon of day two, the ‘show floor theatre’ welcomed Lord Chris Holmes MBE to discuss reacting decisively in times of crisis, and the potential for financial services to be more accessible and inclusive.

“I think many people would agree that when it comes to the spending of the quid that HSBC spent [to acquire Silicon Valley Bank UK] – that will be the best pound that was spent this year.”

“The Credit Suisse story is different to SVB. Again, the Swiss regulator, the Swiss government, acted quickly with focus, decision and a good result was reached for not just Swiss banking but for financial stability across the world.”