Eleni Argyropoulou, Head of Commercial at Nexi Greece, a member of the Nexi Group, Europe’s leading PayTech company, during the 13th Digital Banking Forum.
According to the relevant briefing, her presentation focused on the strategic integration of digital payments into the overall operations of businesses as a means to enhance the customer experience and create measurable benefits for businesses.
During the panel discussion titled "The Present and Future of Digital Payments: Shifting Business Models and New Services, " Ms. Argyropoulou highlighted the new level of maturity the domestic market has reached—noting that the question for businesses has shifted from the ability to accept payments to how these can support and enhance their overall operations.
As he emphasized, this issue is particularly critical for small and medium-sized enterprises, which often lack the infrastructure to manage multiple systems and therefore turn to all-in-one solutions.
“Small and medium-sized enterprises seek, through the POS, to gain access to other products as well. A classic example is financing, as POS transactions become the vehicle that helps them secure cash flow,” she noted.
Referring to the future of the industry, Ms. Argyropoulou emphasized that “beyond technology, the two words that will define payments in the coming years are convenience and security” —with security taking on new critical importance as transactions move to increasingly automated environments.
As he explained, new models of digital transactions require the exchange of personal and transactional data online—a process that consumers have been trained for years to approach with extreme caution.
“Today, we are called upon to further strengthen consumer confidence in digital transactions. Substantial steps need to be taken so that the customer feels secure enough to make purchases this way, but also so that the business is sufficiently protected to be able to offer this service,” he emphasized.
This new reality is also reshaping the role of providers. As he noted, “Customers no longer want to simply call us an acquirer or service provider. They view us as consultants—they now demand it. At Nexi, we see this every day, and it’s a development that fundamentally changes the way we’re called upon to support businesses. But it certainly raises the bar significantly.”