B2B E-Commerce Expert Brandon Spear Shares Trends Impacting the Industry Going into 2019

Today’s business world is one of rampant change. While technology is driving much of this disruption, evolving customer expectations are dramatically altering the face of the financial services, payments and fintech industries.

As we move through the second half of 2018 and into 2019, B2B e-commerce expert Brandon Spear, president of TreviPay, a global B2B payment and credit solutions provider, shares with PaymentsJournal readers several insights and perspectives he believes will impact fintech in the near future.

What do you see as the leading fintech trend this year?

The leading trend is clearly the “Amazon effect”. With 100 million Amazon Prime members, a strong foothold into the smart speaker category and a deservedly solid reputation for customer service, what industry isn’t impacted by the “Amazon effect?” With reports saying the company is talking to banks about Amazon-branded checking accounts, financial services institutions and the payments industry are the newest members of the B2C ecosystem that are worried about Amazon. Millions of people already trust Amazon to facilitate their payments, so it is only natural to wonder whether Amazon is a large enough community that it does not need traditional credit cards at all. Could we see a credit card that works exclusively at Amazon?

How will the B2B market be impacted in the coming months?

You’ll see more “consumerization” of B2B purchasing in the next 6-18 months. Every employee is a consumer, and as many of them – particularly Millennials – hit the workforce, they are wondering why B2B purchasing is so complicated. While it’s true that B2B purchases are more complex than B2C purchases, with more approvals and procedures that need to be followed, this is not an acceptable excuse to not make the experience as frictionless as possible. In 2018, many payment and fintech companies are working hard to meet this challenge, though few have been able to produce a true consumer-like experience for business customers.

Read the full Payments Journal Interview, here.