The importance of secure payments in retail

We sit down with Petter Sehlin, founder of Ping Payments and one of Sweden’s leading experts in financial transaction management, to learn more about the importance of secure payments in the retail industry. 

Ping Payments helps marketplaces, platforms, and SaaS companies to acquire payments, manage client funds and handle payouts. Impulso and Ping Payments have joined forces to make sure that all payments and transactions are not only verified and secure, but also fast and reliable. 

See a transcription of the full video interview below.

***

Hi, my name is Petter Sehlin. I am the founder and CEO of Ping Payments, a licensed financial institution regulated by the F.S.A. of Sweden. Together with Impulso, Ping delivers a payment service platform that is uniquely adapted to the needs of the retail industry. It is developed in collaboration with the industry and has a proven model that really contributes to innovation in retail.

“Payment flows in the retail industry are to a large extent still manual with large elements of subsequent accounting and costly reconciliations.”

Why is it important for brands and retailers to have reliable payment systems?

Payment flows in the retail industry are to a large extent still manual with large elements of subsequent accounting and costly reconciliations. Many are looking for ways to streamline their payments, lower risk and improve their liquidity. All this is possible but for it to be safe, legal, and efficient a licensed service provider with strong banking agreements is required.

“There are requirements by law to have certain controls and routines that guarantee that the client’s money cannot be misused or disappear in bankruptcy.”

What is your view on the current state of independent retail?

Independent retail must digitize its processes as soon as possible to have a chance to compete against the big companies and international e-commerce. Independent retail in the traditional style, with small shops and warehouses that burden the balance sheet to 100%, will have a very difficult time surviving in the future.

“It is a very big risk to use a payment service provider that is not licensed”

Why is it so important that payments are verified by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority?

It is a very big risk to use a payment service provider that is not licensed, the fact is that you risk all the money that is transferred if you choose to go with such a provider. In order to be able to handle and convey someone else’s money, there are requirements by law to have certain controls and routines that guarantee that the client’s money cannot be misused or disappear in bankruptcy.

These controls and routines are covered by several different types of licenses that are tested and whose compliance is checked by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority, the F.S.A.

What bank services and business systems are you connected with?

Ping has a number of different licenses and agreements with banks such as SEB and Handelsbanken in Sweden, and DNB in Norway. We are also a payment facilitator for Visa and Mastercard as well as have connections to the major gyro systems. We integrate with all major financial systems and have European licenses for client funds management and no transfer services.