While payments are often seen as a commoditised service – the reality in the back end is much more complex. Form3 talks us through providing payments as a service for financial institutions and regulated FinTechs.

Payments processing isn’t a new sector – what sets Form3 apart?

Form3 provides cloud-native, real-time payment technology to enable financial institutions to create amazing products and experiences. As a fully managed payment technology service we combine a powerful cloud processing platform and multiple-scheme payment gateways with a fully managed 24×7 service model.

Our micro-services architecture and API’s provide a single point of simple access to the full universe of payment schemes. Future-proofed at the point of delivery for complete peace of mind, the result is a straight-forward, easy to use and hassle-free Payments as a Service.

Form3 provides a complete end-to-end Payments as a Service for financial institutions and regulated Fintech’s. Reliable and secure cloud-based access and processing for FPS, BACS, CHAPS, SEPA, SEPA Instant & SWIFT with no hardware or software required by our customers.

In short, Form3 is powering the future of payments.

Form3 has been working with UK challenger banks – Tandem, Starling – Your team is founded and staffed by industry veterans – how does the ‘challenger’ approach to banking differ from the incumbents?

We strongly believe that the provision of banking services is changing quite fundamentally and that a monolithic, completely vertically integrated, home built product proposition will soon become a thing of the past. Combining proprietary and non-proprietary services effectively will require the use of a component-based technology stack with an API-first integration approach.

Also, customers are increasingly demanding an always-on, real-time banking experience with instant fulfilment of product contracts and settlement – for most of their products and services.

UK and European challenger banks have clearly identified these trends and developed cloud-native architecture that allows them to build exciting end-customer propositions more effectively than legacy providers. Together with a great app design and intelligent use of customer data, this has resulted in better user experiences, a lower cost operating base, better security and more flexibility to respond to changing consumer requirements.

However, incumbent banks are catching up and transferring their technology estate into cloud-native environments – either step-by-step or by way of establishing new digital banking proposition that they will transition entire customer portfolios onto.

Payments is one of those sectors that seems simple from the outside – but relies on a series of complicated, multi-layered pipes and regulations in the back end – what are some of the most pressing ‘payments challenges’ do you see within your client base?

Yes, payments are largely seen as a ‘commodity product’ by many, but the reality is quite different. Managing complex end-to-end payment workflows in milliseconds in a safe and cost efficient way across a number of clearing and settlement systems is our main area of expertise and we are passionate about helping our customers to build exciting end-customer propositions based on our platform.

Key challenges on the customer side incl. the complexity of their existing settlement arrangements, the move to a true, real-time environment, connecting to clearing settlement systems directly and removing the complexities, costs and risks within their existing environments.

As a pure-play technology provider we are supporting a wide range of settlement options and we allow our customers to migrate, such as from in-direct to direct models to optimise the cost base as they scale their own business.

What next for Form3?

We are currently providing a comprehensive set of products in the UK and Europe through integration with a single API layer and a multitude of settlement options. Moving forward we are looking to expand our service to include direct and indirect connectivity with settlement systems in other geographies. We are also going to add more functionality to the platform, such as allowing our customers make better use of data – all in real time, 24/7/365.

At Form3, we are firmly committed to becoming the leading provider of payment back-office technology, globally.

You may have heard about our ongoing FinTECHTalents Spotify Playlist – What would you like to add?  

ACDC, Thunderstruck

Jessie J, Ariana Grand, Nicki Manaj, Bang Bang

David Guetta feat Sia, Titanium

Shakira, Hips Don’t Lie

Robbie Williams, Let me entertain you