Our monthly news roundup collects some of the headlines in payments and fintech to watch, giving leaders across industries (or fintech enthusiasts) a quick glance at some of the news in the space. In Flywire’s 10+ years in delivering the most complex, high value payments, we’ve had a unique opportunity to work with many different organizations in the fintech and payments ecosystem. We’ve seen changes in how clients get paid, how their customers want to pay and how central the payments experience has become – not just across the industries we focus on, but every industry.
Here are some of the fintech and payments headlines from March 2024.
Headlines:
The future of payments will focus on experience – Business Reporter U.K.
Forrester analyst Lily Varon discusses how the payments industry will increasingly prioritize value-added services wrapped around payments.
Are U.S. banks ready for a major ACH outage? – American Banker
As part of a campaign to disrupt the U.S. financial system, fictional hacking group Purple Rain used wiperware to halt ACH payments across multiple banks and credit unions. The total extent of the disruption was not immediately clear, but it raised some red flags.
Beyond borders – a deep dive into cross-border payments – The PAYPERS
Diana Lupuleac, Content Editor at The Paypers, looks at the history of cross-border payments, how they are made today, and current initiatives aimed to tackle their biggest pain points.
Travel on TikTok: Top Trends, Longer Videos and the Future of Booking Trips – Skift
Millions of people look to TikTok every day to plan their next vacation. Airlines, destination marketers, and hotels are taking notice and getting involved.
Countries closing in on digital currencies but US lagging, study shows – Reuters
New research from think tank Atlantic Council looked at the countries furthest along on digital currencies. The U.S. was noted for its lack of progress, especially compared to other G20 countries.
From Flywire:
Flywire survey: Luxury travelers planning to spend more on vacations and take longer trips compared to last year
Flywire’s 3rd annual luxury travel report surveyed approximately 675 luxury travelers in the U.S. to understand how their preferences and plans could impact travel in 2024. The report explores AI in travel, sustainability, hybrid work’s influence on luxury vacations, payment security and more.
The integration enables a seamless payment experience for institutions looking to simplify on-campus transactions, from tuition and enrollment fees, to e-store payments and more. It also supports both international and domestic payment flows, making the reconciliation process easier for school administrators.
With inflation impacting healthcare costs, around half of all Americans are now finding it difficult to afford healthcare costs. It’s easy to assume that affordability affects only hospitals and specialty acute care providers but that’s not in fact the case, the problem is actually much more pervasive.
3 takeaways from Insurtech Insights Europe 2024
Flywire’s Director of Strategic Accounts - Insurance, Matt Teumer, shares the three things attendees at Insurtech Europe 2024 were talking about most.
CTO POV: The yin and yang of a CTO and CISO in harmony
Flywire’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) David King and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Barbara Cousins talk about how their collaboration is critical to delivering the best software that drives value in payments with the highest security standards. Their approach includes a CTO/CISO maturity model that measures their collaborative ability and effectiveness.
Report of the Month:
The Trends Report 2024 – Chronicle of Higher Education
The publication’s annual investigation into the most consequential developments in higher education.
Word of the Month:
According to Conde Nast, coolcationing is one of the "biggest travel trends to expect in 2024" as heat waves make summer vacations in places like the Arctic seem more appealing than one in Sicily or southern France. At least for some. (Italy remains very popular for the majority of travelers.)
Stat of the Month:
$20 billion a year - the cost of claim denials to U.S. hospitals.Conversation Starter:
AI's hot new job now belongs to everyone – Axios
According to reporting from Axios, many organizations have decided that AI is too important and complicated to rely on one executive to develop and manage their strategy.