There’s a moment Alexander Berrai recalls that sums up how far we’ve come in the world of payments.
“Just a few years ago, you had to dig out your wallet, slot the card into the machine, type your PIN, and take the card back. It was a ritual,” explained Berrai.
Today, that ritual feels archaic. “Now, you tap your phone or your watch. You don’t even think about it. That friction is almost gone,” he added.
As deputy CEO of emerchantpay, Berrai isn’t just watching these changes, he’s engineering them. While consumers want immediacy and merchants crave loyalty, he believes payment innovation is no longer optional. It’s fundamental.
From convenience to expectation
Berrai views payments not only as a technical process, but as an extension of the user experience. “Payments are becoming invisible,” he says.
What began at the point of sale with contactless tap-to-pay has now shaped expectations in e-commerce. Click-to-Pay, PayPal Express, and similar one-click checkout experiences are all converging toward the same goal: a frictionless moment.
For a payment experience to be frictionless, it’s important to offer options. Berrai points to customer choice as a defining theme of the future.
“Not everyone wants to pay with a credit card. Some people don’t trust it. My father-in-law, for example, won’t use his card online, but he’ll happily pay through a bank transfer.”
The goal isn’t just to offer more options, but the right ones. “You don’t want to overwhelm users with 15 different methods, but you do want to offer the few they instinctively trust,” he says.
Helping late adopters leap
While global brands are already offering tap, swipe, and split-pay options, many businesses are still playing catch-up.
“It’s not rocket science anymore. It might have been 15 years ago when you needed developers writing code to integrate everything. Today, payment solutions are standardised and accessible, with many services now offered as ready-made products. The trick is to choose the right payment provider, someone who can advise you on which options make sense, in which market, and then enable them without friction,” adds Berrai.
Merchants need to pay attention to features like IP tracking to display relevant payment methods by region, avoiding, for instance, offering German direct debit to a Spanish user.
APAC’s complexity
Compared to Europe and North America, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region is tackling an entirely different challenge: diversity.
“It’s the most fragmented payment landscape in the world,” Berrai says. From banked populations in Malaysia to QR-code cash payments at 7-Elevens in the Philippines, the region demands hyper-local solutions.
“Offering only PayPal and credit cards in APAC is not going to cut it,” Berrai explained.
Success depends on knowing how people pay, not how merchants wish they would. It’s a region where smartphone penetration is high, but traditional banking remains elusive for many. “You’ll see people scan a QR code on their phone, then run out to pay cash at a convenience store. Only after that does the order ship,” he added.
This diverse landscape poses several risks for merchants: high fraud, stolen cards, and chargebacks. “With the right partner who knows the terrain, you can unlock massive opportunity. But you have to do it on local terms,” said Berrai.
Buy Now, Pay Later: A double-edged sword
Few modern payment options have generated as much buzz, or confusion, as ‘buy now, pay later (BNPL). While it’s seen as a recent innovation in many markets, in more mature markets like Germany or the UK, it’s old news. “We’ve had it since the mail-order catalogue days. It’s been part of e-commerce for over 15 years here,” said Berrai.
BNPL is only as strong as the back-end that supports it. In markets where customer data is easy to track, there’s a clear process for chasing payments, and reliable collection agencies, it can benefit both sides.
But in other markets, it can be risky. “You send out products and hope the customer pays. If they don’t, some providers leave you to absorb the loss,” says Berrai.
Many shoppers face a common situation where they order multiple sizes of clothing online, only to return most of it. In such cases, paying a large amount upfront on a credit card and waiting weeks for a refund can be inconvenient. In these cases BNPL offers a practical solution, providing a flexible and efficient payment option.
While it can’t be a universal fix, BNPL needs to be deployed strategically, with a close eye on the mechanics behind the scenes.
Building payment options for people
Payments are more than just a technical function, they’re a human one. It’s about trust, convenience, and routine. It’s about making customers feel confident, whether they’re tapping a watch in Berlin or scanning a QR code in Manila.
“Payments are evolving, but the goal is always the same: make it easy, make it safe, and make it feel natural,” commented Berrai.