Relevantz at MPC23: Insights and Innovations in Digital Commerce
Fresh from MPC23: The Digital Commerce Event in Atlanta, the theme “movement of money” deeply resonated throughout. As one of the platinum sponsors, Relevantz was excited to be part of such a vibrant exchange on the future of digital commerce.
The event wasn’t just about predictions — it offered a comprehensive overview of the evolving landscape of the payment and financial sectors, with experts from across the board presenting their real-world applications and ambitious plans for the future. Among the array of topics, certain key takeaways stood out:
- Super Apps: As digital services continue to intertwine, super apps emerge as the future of integrated digital experiences, offering consumers a one-stop digital hub for various needs.
- Artificial Intelligence: With the capacity to analyze vast amounts of data in real-time, AI is set to revolutionize the payment landscape, enhancing efficiency and user experience.
- Instant Payments: The push towards instant payments is becoming a reality, with initiatives like FedNow leading the charge.
- Tokenization Beyond Cryptocurrency: While cryptocurrencies gain mainstream attention, the underlying concept of tokenization is proving to be the next frontier, with potential beyond just digital currencies.
Our team actively immersed themselves in sessions that tackled these subjects, returning both enlightened and inspired by the possibilities.
We also had the privilege of hosting several sessions, which we hope you had the chance to attend:
Day One
On the first day, our blockchain practice leader, Ganeshram Ramamurthy, steered the conversation on “Exploring New Frontiers of Digital Asset Tokenization.” The panel delved into the nuances of tokenization, touching on its applications, benefits, and the emerging role of stablecoins and fractionalized assets.
A heartfelt thanks to our esteemed panelists Nitin Gaur from State Street and Micah Kerr from Discover Global Network.
Key Quotes from the Session:
Nitin Gaur – “The world that I live in, which is largely capital markets, we are looking into tokenizing money market funds, looking into ETFs, private markets, private equities, all the asset classes.”
Micah Kerr – “Today, with the current payment systems, we have real-time payments, same day… but nothing really gives us that instant or programmable capability. With stable coins, you bring in the ability to enforce rules… so when an event happens, it triggers the payment… and you know the rules for that payment are specifically adhered to.”
Day Two
Day two brought Rich Napoli, CEO Emeritus of Relevantz, to the stage with a dynamic discussion titled “Reshaping the Payment Landscape: The Rise of Contactless Payments, Digital Wallets, and RTP Toward a Cashless and Cardless Economy.” He was accompanied by esteemed industry leaders Yogaraj Jayaprakasam from Deluxe, Elizabeth Hoemeke from One Inc, and Ravi Venkatesan from Cantaloupe. Together, they delved deep into the intricacies of modern payment technologies, discussing both their benefits and challenges. We’re grateful for their insights on the evolution of payment methods.
Key Quotes from the Session:
Elizabeth Hoemeke – “We had to make the [newer payment methods] more accessible and more interesting and… continue to educate the insurance companies about the benefits of those other payment methods as well. So there’s some barriers probably on the consumer side.”
Yogaraj (Yogs) Jayaprakasam – “We have three principles when it comes to adopting new technologies. One is, you have to first start with experimentation, so you don’t jump against the end customer. Two is you’re really focused on trust and the privacy of the customer’s data. Three is that you are actually testing it inside before you unleash it on your customers. But for all of this to really work, it also comes back to your costing model, too. You can’t keep spending more money on new technology unless you are very clear on the outcome that you are going to generate.”
Ravi Venkatesan – “[AI] is going to make a difference in customer service… in accounting… in legal, marketing, everywhere. It’s not just technology. What we need to do is have a policy in place and the guardrails in place in a manner where we don’t kill that innovation, but at the same time it’s not the wild wild wild west, which it’ll be if left completely unchecked.”
Day Three
Wrapping up our sessions, Arun Radhakrishnan, Director of Engineering at Relevantz, delivered a keynote on “Transforming Banking and Payment Services Through Cloud-Enabled Innovation and Differentiation.” His insights centered on the transformative role of autonomous payments, real-time payments, and super apps, emphasizing the strategic importance of the public cloud.
Key Quote from the Session:
Arun Radhakrishnan – “In my personal experience, the infrastructure leveraged by financial institutions is the major concern, limiting the ability to support real-time payment processing… but there’s no need to jump right into this real-time processing in one giant leap. We can always start with something small.”
Reflecting on MPC23, we’re both humbled and invigorated by the chance to share and gain knowledge in such a collaborative environment.
About Relevantz Technology Services Inc.
Relevantz Technology Services Inc. has been delivering relevant technology solutions to help improve lives for 25 years. We streamline and modernize legacy processes, enabling financial services organizations to swiftly transition to digital platforms. With our expertise, you can smoothly integrate real-time payments, BNPL, tokenization, super apps, and more.
Our team of 1200+ software engineers across 3 global offices serves customers across the finance, healthcare, insurance, media, telecom, retail, and technology sectors. Learn how Relevantz helps improve lives at www.relevantz.com or @relevantztech