Lost sales, faster payouts and AI shoppers: inside Payments Connect
Why do genuine customers get declined? How fast is fast enough when someone wants their money back? And what happens when your next customer sends an AI agent to do the shopping?
There was plenty to get into when Ecommpay and Visa brought merchants and payments experts together at Visa’s European headquarters in London on 15 September. Payments Connect combined candid panel discussions with merchant roundtables, before the conversation continued over wine tasting.
Ecommpay’s UK Chair and Chief Compliance Officer, Willem Wellinghoff, led a panel that put some familiar payments frustrations under the spotlight. Here’s what stood out.
First, let the customer pay
“If a customer cannot make a payment, we don’t care how quickly you will settle.”
HalalBooking’s Senior Finance Analyst, Amina Huseynli, had a clear answer to the question of what merchants should prioritise. Faster settlement has little value if the sale never happens.
Alessandro Hatami of Pacemakers shared an example of a retailer losing European transactions because of decisions within its acquiring setup. Changing that setup helped payments go through.
The question for merchants: is your provider explaining why genuine customers get declined, and helping you do something about it?
Payment choice matters, too. Drawing on her experience at Amazon, Laura McCracken, Founder and CEO of Blackheath Advisors, explained why businesses need to serve customers who don’t have a credit card.
“You don’t want to lose people at the point of checkout.”
It’s a straightforward business case for inclusive payments: make it easier for more people to buy.
“Where is my money?” is part of your customer experience
Dmitrii Kochnev of Fourdev identified that as his business’s number-one support question. His experience in global payroll highlighted why certainty matters alongside speed: people need to know when their money will arrive.
Amina brought the challenge into travel. A customer pays in one currency, the hotel receives another, exchange rates move, and then comes a cancellation. Who gets refunded what, and when?
Visa’s presentations explored how faster access to funds can help businesses restock, pay suppliers and keep operating. The roundtables reinforced the customer perspective: knowing a payment has been sent is different from knowing when you can use it.
Growing globally shouldn’t mean endless complexity
Laura recalled the challenges of managing multiple acquirers and integrations at Facebook. The lesson was to simplify the setup and improve how payments were routed across borders.
For merchants, adding another connection deserves a clear commercial reason. What will it improve, and what will your team have to manage?
Ecommpay’s Irina Sebeko shared how merchant demand is shaping the company’s expansion roadmap and local payment offering, bringing the conversation back to where businesses want to grow.
Your next shopper could send an agent
Visa’s Adam Moulson explored a future in which AI agents help discover products and complete purchases. For brands, Laura put the challenge succinctly:
“They have to sell to both the agents and the people.”
She expects people to retain the final decision, with agents doing more of the work beforehand. That raises a new question for merchants: can an agent understand what you offer and help someone buy it?
From everyday declines to AI shopping, the evening gave merchants plenty to compare notes on. Those conversations are why we bring people together with partners like Visa – to ask better questions and explore what better payments could make possible.
Look out for the next one!
