Risk Teams All Over The Map When It Comes To PFs

Compliance and risk leaders in the Americas, Europe, and Asia exhibit a polarity in their attitudes about payment facilitators. First, there are those who either endorse or oppose. Second, there are PFs that are either fit or unfit for partnership. This yields three observations: Risk teams see PFs in general as either "friends" or "foes"; Risk teams categorize PFs into "safe bets" or "wild cards"; Risk teams demand oversight rights when working with PFs.

G2 recently conducted a survey with acquirers globally. The results showed a greater willingness among banks and processors to work with PFs in EMEA and APAC. In the Americas, one-half of respondents actively work with PFs. In EMEA and APAC, the numbers were closer to two-thirds. When asked if they knew if there were PFs in their portfolios, there was some doubt. A significant number of acquirers in all regions had either discovered a merchant unknowingly acting as a PF in the past year or did not know if that activity was occurring.