More than half (59 per cent) of payments leaders admit they are losing money due to issues with their payments gateways, according to new research.

A global study of more than 500 online payment professionals by electronic payments provider emerchantpay also found that a lack of data and insight, analytical skills and resources for payments services had resulted in close to two thirds (65 per cent) reporting that they need to improve payments performance "as a matter of urgency."

In addition, the study found that two thirds (66 per cent) of those asked, believed they need to make significant improvements in payments performance over the next 12 months in order to avoid losing customers and revenue.

There is widespread dissatisfaction with all areas of payments performance, with less than a quarter (22 per cent) fully satisfied with their ability to analyse decline codes, and only 24 per cent are fully satisfied in their ability to analyse fraud data to set better rules.

Just 39 per cent of payments leaders feel that the wider business fully recognises the value of optimising payments performance, the study found, and only 35 per cent believe that business stakeholders fully understand the benefits of an agile payment infrastructure.

Three quarters (75 per cent) of payments leaders report that analysing payments data is a challenge within their organisation, while the same amount (75 per cent) report that innovation is currently more important than maintaining high levels of performance in payments within their organisation.

Fraudulent and cybercrime in payments is also a rising concern, with only 24 per cent of respondents “fully satisfied” in their ability to analyse fraud data to set better rules and only 26 per cent of fully satisfied with their current ability to monitor fraud in real-time.

Other barriers to improving payments performance were the burden of regulation and compliance obligations (37 per cent), lack of budget or cost issues (31 per cent), outdated technology and tools (29 per cent) and finding appropriate partners or vendors (27 per cent).

Owen Tustin, vice president of relationship management, at emerchantpay, said: “Payments leaders need to ensure they have access to the data they need across all areas of their payments infrastructure and the dedicated resources and skills to translate this data into meaningful and actionable insight.”

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