Warren Hayashi, a results-oriented payments executive with 18 years of experience, has been at the forefront of driving innovation in the payments industry. With proven on-the-ground experience in both the United States and Asia-Pacific, Warren’s deep understanding of language and cultural nuances across Asia has enabled him to lead teams in solving complex business challenges. As the President of APAC at Adyen, he leverages his expertise in developing and executing business strategies, bringing innovative products to market, and fostering strong partnerships to transform the retail landscape in Singapore and beyond.
With nearly half of Singaporeans happy using QR codes and 31% not even carrying a wallet, what specific factors are driving this shift towards contactless and mobile payments? How should businesses adapt their payment strategies to accommodate these trends?
It’s all about convenience and customer experience. For many consumers nowadays that means being able to do everything with their phone or being able to pay with the one tap of a card. In fact our latest Adyen Retail Report showed that more than half of shoppers (52%) favoured Tap-to-Pay and nearly half (47%) QR Codes.
Modern shoppers are also demanding greater personalisation. They not only want to be recognised as returning customers, they also want to be offered personalised promotions as a reward for their loyalty. By adopting the right technological infrastructure, businesses can leverage customer data and insights to personalise offers, recommendations and promotions while, with innovations like tap-to-pay on mobile devices, enabling fast, hassle-free transactions.
Given that 40% of retailers find it increasingly difficult to categorize customer behaviors and needs, what technological solutions would you recommend to help businesses personalize the shopping experience? Can you share examples of retailers in Singapore that have effectively implemented such solutions?
We recommend retailers to connect payments to their backend systems, where data from all channels and systems feed into one centralized platform for a more unified view of inventory, customers, and payments. This is what we call unified commerce, which is one step up from omnichannel.
With unified commerce, retailers are able to offer customers flexible shopping experiences and hence increase customer loyalty. Our report shows that retailers who are using Unified Commerce experienced average revenue growth 14% higher in 2023 compared to those who did not.
Many of our customers operate in the retail, F&B and hospitality and tourism sectors. Given their high volume of transactions across multiple sales channels, they need a solution that breaks down data silos and provides a unified understanding of their consumers.
Take for instance, omnichannel retailer UNIQLO. By using Unified Commerce with Adyen, they have been able to consolidate and reconcile payments information across multiple channels. This single platform gives UNIQLO the flexibility to do faster rollouts of omnichannel services, providing shoppers with the same checkout experience across different markets.
Elsewhere in Asia, Decathlon also uses our payments technology in Hong Kong to streamline their operations. The sporting goods company has a lifetime customer returns policy in Hong Kong and really needed a payments provider that can handle this efficiently. With all payments data consolidated on a single platform, Adyen helps Decathlon Hong Kong offer referenced refunds to shoppers, which essentially refunds the funds to the payment method that was used for the original payment – allowing for greater customer satisfaction and better fraud protection.
More than half of Singaporean businesses report an uptick in fraud attempts, significantly higher than the global average. What are the primary types of fraud observed in the region, and how can businesses protect themselves from these threats?
With the rise of digitalisation, online payments fraud has become the fastest-growing form of fraud. There is a tension between consumers wanting to transact quickly and conveniently, versus retailers implementing overly strict security measures that introduces friction to the shopper journey. Adding on to the mix is the growing sophistication of payments fraud. Common types of fraud include:
- Card-not-present fraud: This is when a purchase is made over the telephone or online and fraudsters buy or steal card details on the dark web or via phishing or spyware. Once they have these card numbers they conduct card testing via small purchases or free subscription sign-ups, to see if the card is approved. They will then make larger purchases or resell the card details of those that work on the dark web.
- Triangulation fraud: Typically the fraudster will act as a merchant, take orders, and then use stolen cardholder data to buy goods from a third party which they’ll ship to the buyer. This type of fraud is often used to buy higher-value items.
- Chargeback fraud: An increasingly prevalent tactic where fraudsters make an online purchase and then challenge the payment on receipt of the goods. 52% of retail businesses reported an increase in fraud attacks in our survey over the past year, primarily driven by chargebacks (31%).
The cornerstone of a good risk management strategy is data. If you are capturing the right data, you can begin to recognise genuine customers and spot fraudsters by using network-wide insights.
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It’s important to recognise that there is no silver bullet to fraud, as every business is different and faces unique risks. Therefore at Adyen, we work with customers to identify their unique risks, and implement solutions like RevenueProtect. The risk management toolkit combines machine learning with customisable risk rules so that businesses can refine and automate risk management that is best suited for their business.
How can technology, particularly in the form of data analytics and artificial intelligence, aid businesses in gaining better insights into consumer behavior? How does this impact their strategies across both online and offline retail channels?
With Adyen, merchants can identify each individual transaction using their unique payment identifiers. Because all payments data flow into our single platform, means that even if a particular customer shops online and then goes to a physical store as well, the shopper can be identified as long as they are transacting with the same payments card.
Having the ability to link the purchases to the individual customers is but the first step in reaping actionable insights. With the data glut, the challenge lies in making sense of the patterns and trends from the data. This is where data analytics and artificial intelligence come into the picture, by extracting hidden patterns and correlations that may not be immediately obvious from complex data sets.
Arming with the information, marketing teams can better unlock valuable insights to construct more comprehensive customer profiles, thereby empowering them to customise marketing strategies, product offerings and experiences to better meet customer needs and preferences in the long run.
Could you share some insights into emerging trends and developments in the payments industry that are likely to drive retail growth in Singapore and the broader Asia-Pacific region? What are the key challenges and opportunities that retailers should be aware of in 2024 and beyond?
Consumers want convenience, efficiency, choice and security in their payment experiences whether that’s online or offline. With the increasing use of digital payments in Singapore and the wider Asia-Pacific region, retailers have an opportunity to improve their payment systems and offer new solutions that cater to changing consumer needs.
However, amidst these opportunities, retailers must also tackle important challenges, particularly in ensuring strong security measures. The rise in fraudulent activities underscores the need for robust fraud prevention measures, like network tokenisation or chargeback management to protect transactions and foster consumer trust.
In summary, retailers that focus on meeting consumer expectations for seamless, personalised payment experiences while maintaining strong security measures will be well-positioned to drive growth in the dynamic payments landscape of 2024 and beyond.
Under Warren Hayashi’s leadership, Adyen continues to set new benchmarks in the payments industry, particularly in the rapidly evolving Asia-Pacific region. His strategic vision and commitment to innovation have empowered businesses to adapt to the growing demand for contactless payments and personalized customer experiences. As Singapore’s retail sector embraces these changes, Warren’s insights and expertise will undoubtedly play a pivotal role in shaping the future of commerce in the region, driving growth and success in 2024 and beyond.
