3 June 2021
The coronavirus crisis has accelerated the demand for contactless payment applications. Currently, 86% of debit card transactions are contactless payments, of which 15% are paid using Google Pay, Apple Pay and wearables. Clients want to be able to pay as quickly and easily as possible. That is why payment innovation is high on ABN AMRO's agenda. As the first major bank in the Netherlands, ABN AMRO recently introduced Google Pay for Android users. It definitely won't stop there, as technology and ongoing digitalisation offer us unprecedented opportunities.'
Maarten van Rutte is Business Developer for Digital Payments at ABN AMRO. He studied International Business and Marketing Management and made the switch from a B2B environment to ABN AMRO three years ago. 'Implementing convenience for our clients is a great challenge. Working with business partners and internal partners to come up with payment solutions that make our clients' everyday lives a little more enjoyable gives me enormous energy. Personally, I enjoy being involved as a product manager in that process with both internal and external stakeholders. This ranges from contact with big techs such as Google, Apple, Samsung and Mastercard, to contract negotiations, e-commerce and marketing campaigns and the setup of (fraud) systems. As a product manager, you feel the responsibility and struggle with setbacks, but what you enjoy even more is a successful launch enabled by collaboration with many ABN AMRO departments.'
Tokenization
'Convenience and simplicity can make consumers wonder whether something is safe. What if the retailer is hacked and transaction details are revealed? The solution is a technology called tokenization, which is essentially a technical solution for securing mobile card payments. This is done by encrypting data, replacing the card number with an alternative code. This encrypted data is called a token.
Tokenization opens the door to countless options. It enables phone payment and can also be built into an electric car so that a charging station recognises the car and automatically settles the amount due after charging.
Technology is booming and offers unprecedented opportunities for payment transactions. For me, the challenge is to translate these into client needs. We pay special attention to senior citizens and vulnerable clients with the aim of supporting them as best as possible and allowing them to manage their banking independently and add value for as long as possible. We are happy to help clients who need extra help, so they can do it themselves next time.
All developments in tokenization are an exciting journey, because we are often working on payment options that the client does not yet know about. Tokenization is still very much in the development stage and we are only at the beginning. And that inspires me!
