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This year’s peak trading season has been full of predictions and questions – what items will consumers spend on, what will they save on, and will they choose to shop online or in-store?

Here we explore the top insights that will shape the final rush of holiday spending and explain why a focus customer experience is so vital this peak trading season.

Online shopping is king

The year started with retailers clamoring to tempt customers back in-store, with exciting developments like checkout-free stores and ultra-fast delivery.

However, online shopping continues to overshadow physical stores with Adobe predicting 2.5% growth in online sales November 1-December 31.

Sales are up, but gift spending is down

Some of the statistics are promising for retailers hungry for a successful peak trading season after the challenging years that came before. According to a report by Insider Intelligence, US holiday retail sales are expected to reach $1.3 trillion in 2022, a 3.3% increase over 2021. Cyber Week 2022 even broke records, with $35.3 million in revenue.

These statistics could misrepresent the bigger picture, however. According to Forbes, 58% of US consumers plan to cut back on non-food spending during the holiday season which could represent a $30 billion decrease in gift spending. The businesses most likely to be hit by this are those selling clothing and footwear, with 25% of people expected to resist splashing out on these items.

So, what are people spending on, and how can retailers attract them to their offering?

Customers place value on experiences

A major trend began two years ago - the preference among consumers for experiences over products, and the importance placed on customer experience. The experience economy continues to thrive and cannot be ignored.

It’s important for brands to remember that all the deals and offers of this season can be overwhelming, especially as people in many countries have faced rising costs for bills and essentials due to pressure on the world economy. The focus is less likely to be on high-ticket luxury items, and more about great experiences that make customers’ lives easier.

Brands that can use technology to create immersive digital experiences that minimise the stress of organising festivities amid the current economic downturn are those that will come out on top.

About PXP Financial

Working with the right payments partner for your business means a frictionless experience, both for you and your customers. At PXP Financial we work hand-in-glove with our customers, providing enhanced support throughout peak trading season. Our single unified payments platform allows you to accept payments online, on mobile and at the point of sale, with 200+ alternative payment methods and financial services on offer. If you’re interested in improving your customers’ digital experience, please contact us at: contact@pxpfinancial.com 

Partnership with the global cryptocurrency payments technology provider will enable crypto for PXP’s merchant customers.

22nd December 2022 - PXP Financial, an expert in global acquiring, payment, fraud and data analysis services, today announces a partnership with cryptocurrency payments technology provider ForumPay.

The partnership will enable crypto payments via PXP’s single unified multi-channel payments platform. Going forward, PXP’s merchants will be able to use ForumPay’s next generation payments technology and industry-leading expertise to accept crypto transactions from any of the 425+ million crypto wallets used by consumers around the world.

Instant conversion to traditional currencies with a payment guarantee will deliver a simple, fast, transparent and risk-free point-of-sale experience to both merchants and consumers alike.

Commenting on the announcement, Kamran Hedjri, Group CEO for PXP Financial, said: “We recognise the importance of merchants accepting digital currencies as payment for goods and services in order to remain competitive and keep up with changing consumer expectations. Mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies is definitely on an upward trajectory.”

“ForumPay is the best-in-class crypto payments partner thanks to its unique enterprise level architecture that will enable us to offer crypto payments to all our merchants via one simple integration.”

PXP Financial provides a single unified payments platform to accept payments online, on mobile and at the point of sale. Powered by in-house acquiring, 200+ alternative payment methods and financial services, PXP processes more than EUR 21.5 billion annually.

Josh Tate, CEO and co-founder of ForumPay, added: “We are extremely excited to announce our partnership with PXP which will deliver risk-free crypto processing to thousands of merchants around the globe. Our integration enables PXP merchants to serve the entire crypto market (all 425 million crypto wallets) thereby attracting new customers and driving incremental sales. We wish to thank PXP for their thought leadership and confidence in us.”.”

Whatever your business needs today or tomorrow, PXP Financials’ innovative payment platform is equipped to support your business growth with all the payment services you will ever need from one source, wherever your business takes you.

To find out more about the PXP Financial family of companies please visit: pxpfinancial.com

About PXP Financial

The end-to-end payment platform: PXP Financial provides a single unified payments platform to accept payments online, on mobile and at the point of sale. Powered by global acquiring, 200+ alternative payment methods & financial services, PXP Financial family of companies processes globally over EUR 21.5 billion annually through our unified gateway. Whatever your business needs today or tomorrow, PXP Financials’ innovative payment platform will support your business growth with all the payment services you will ever need from one source, wherever your business takes you. To find out more about PXP Financial family of companies, visit: www.pxpfinancial.com. 

About ForumPay 

ForumPay is a complete cryptocurrency processing technology firm. Their products help businesses attract new customers, optimise customer’s ability to spend and increase revenue by embracing the 425+ million crypto consumers around the world. Its wallet agnostic solution enables the entire crypto consumer community to spend with their preferred cryptocurrency and from their preferred wallet for all purchases from everyday goods and services through to automobiles and real estate. Its services eliminate the merchant’s exposure or risk by processing the transaction with instant conversion of the crypto into traditional currency. Merchants simply receive their payments in the currency of their choice directly into their preferred bank account. The transactional experience is the same as accepting other popular payment options, including cash, credit cards and bank transfers but simpler, faster, and more secure.

In today’s competitive environment, ForumPay is an excellent tool for businesses to gain a serious competitive advantage with the fastest growing consumer segment in the world.  Studies show that 40% of the consumers that spend crypto with merchants are in fact new customers to the merchant driving those incremental sales. Additionally, crypto consumers are shown to spend double the Average Order Value (AOV) of a typical credit card consumer illustrating the attractive, affluent demographic.

Contact: Paul Wordsworth – Director of Global Account Management paul@forumpay.com

New C-suite appointments reflect the company’s growth and expansion plans.

PXP Financial Group, the expert in global acquiring, payment, fraud and data analysis services, has today announced three appointments to its senior leadership team: Katharina Richter-Weiss joins the company as Chief Operating Officer, Salvatore Cicero has been promoted to Chief Technology Officer and Dwaine Thomas has been promoted to Deputy Chief Operating Officer.

New Chief Operating Officer Katharina Richter-Weiss has previously held senior operations, marketing and management roles at Kalixa Payments Group (which merged with PXP Solutions in 2019 to form PXP Financial), bwin, GVC Group, and most recently, at DIMOCO Payment Services as Director of Operations and Merchant Risk Management. She will be based in Vienna. Katharina said: “I am excited to join PXP Financial at a time of rapid growth. I look forward to bringing my focus on building relationships and background in delivering technological solutions for an array of stakeholders to my role and working to achieve our ambitions as a company.”

Salvatore Cicero has been promoted from Global Head of Development to Chief Technology Officer. Prior to working at PXP Financial, Salvatore worked at PXP Solutions for more than 20 years, including nearly 10 years as Chief Technology Officer. He will be based in London. Salvatore said: “I am delighted and honoured to lead PXP Financial’s technology strategy, supporting our standards, quality, and excellence programmes, and driving our exciting next generation product offerings.”

Dwaine Thomas has been promoted from Group Head of Infrastructure & Technical Operations, a role he has held for four years, to Deputy Chief Operating Officer. An operations specialist with 15 years’ experience, he previously spent eight years at PXP Solutions. Dwaine said: “I’m over the moon to join this team and support Katharina in providing our customers with the highest standards of service, applying best practice at every level of the business.”

Katharina, Salvatore and Dwaine will join existing members of the senior leadership team, Jonathan Bell, Chief Financial Officer since 2019, and Anda Grodsky, Managing Director for Vienna, who has also worked with PXP Financial since 2019.

Commenting on the announcement, Kamran Hedjri, CEO at PXP Financial said: “I would like to congratulate Katharina, Salvatore, Dwaine, Jonathan and Anda, who together represent the cream of the crop. These key appointments have been selected for their wealth of expertise in the payments sector and proven track records in championing innovation. I am looking forward to collaborating on our US and European expansion, our latest next generation platform, the rise of automation and the other technological developments we have in store as part of our exciting scaleup journey. Watch this space.”

To find out more about the PXP Financial Group please visit: pxpfinancial.com 

About PXP Financial

The end-to-end payment platform: PXP Financial provides a single unified payments platform to accept payments online, on mobile and at the point of sale. Powered by global acquiring, 200+ alternative payment methods & financial services, the PXP Financial Group of companies processes globally over EUR 21.5 billion of payment transactions annually through our unified gateway. Whatever your business needs today or tomorrow, PXP Financials’ innovative payment platform will support your business growth with all the payment services you will ever need from one source, wherever your business takes you. To find out more about PXP Financial Group, visit: www.pxpfinancial.com.  

The partnership with DisputeHelp enables PXP Financial to provide an end-to-end dispute management platform across all payment schemes for their merchant portfolio.

12th September 2022 - PXP Financial, the expert in global acquiring, payment, fraud and data analysis services, today announces a partnership with DisputeHelp to provide its merchant portfolio with dispute management solutions.

The announcement comes as the Mastercard ‘Acquirer Collaboration’ mandate is set to take effect.

Mastercard Collaboration is an initiative to resolve cardholder disputes at the early stages of the chargeback process. The idea is that by opening a new line of communication between issuers, acquirers, and merchants, disputes can be handled quicker and with fewer costs. 

From 27 September 2022, the mandate will send alerts for all disputes on the Mastercard network. Dispute alerts that do not currently route to merchants through Ethoca will be sent by Mastercom to the merchants' acquiring bank. Acquirers, such as PXP, must then distribute the alerts on to their merchants.

Commenting on the announcement, Kamran Hedjri, Group CEO for PXP Financial, said: “Our partnership with DisputeHelp will not only keep our merchants ahead of these mandates, it will also empower merchants to minimise the bottom-line impacts from fraud and disputes.”

When the Acquirer Collaboration mandate comes into force, merchants will get their Mastercard alerts through Ethoca, the more efficient and cost-effective platform for resolving Mastercard disputes. This will allow merchants to easily refund disputes before they evolve into more expensive chargebacks.

End-to-end dispute management with DisputeHelp comes as standard with:

• Dispute Deflection: Ethoca Consumer Clarity and Verifi Order Insight®
• Automated Resolutions: Verifi Rapid Dispute Resolution
• Alerts Resolution: Ethoca alerts, Mastercom, Verifi CDRN^®
• Revenue Recovery: Representment tools to reverse unwarranted chargebacks

Bart Szypkowski, Chief Revenue Officer for DisputeHelp, added: “We want to assure PXP merchants that the value this partnership provides them will outpace any increased costs generated by the Mastercard mandate.

“PXP Financial has many years of experience shaping and leading innovation in the payments space and works across Europe, Asia and North America. They stay ahead of the game through innovative technologies and new solutions that create a first-class payment experience for their customers, and we are delighted to be working with them.”

To find out more about the PXP Financial family of companies please visit: pxpfinancial.com

About PXP Financial

The end-to-end payment platform: PXP Financial provides a single unified payments platform to accept payments online, on mobile and at the point of sale. Powered by inhouse acquiring, 200+ alternative payment methods & financial services, PXP processes over EUR 21.5 billion annually through our unified gateway.

Whatever your business needs today or tomorrow, PXP Financials’ innovative payment platform will support your business growth with all the payment services you will ever need from one source, wherever your business takes you. To find out more about PXP Financial family of companies, visit: www.pxpfinancial.com. 

New joint solution will give customers access to acquiring service for greater flexibility and less friction in the payment process.

London, 20.06.2022, PXP Financial, the expert in acquiring and payment processing services and DaoPay, the all-in-one payment service provider, licensed and headquartered in Austria, have announced the next phase in their relationship to deliver payment services throughout Europe.

PXP Financial and DaoPay started working together in 2017, when DaoPay acted as its payment facilitator. Today, the launch of the joint solution in Europe marks a new chapter in what has been an incredibly successful partnership.

Thanks to the strategic partnership, both PXP Financial’s and DaoPay’s customers will benefit from an enhanced card acquiring service at launch, and an alternative payment method (APM) aggregation service throughout Europe later this year. For customers, this means getting all services related to acquiring - from accepting card payments or APMs to receiving money from a single source, as well as access to 100+ payment methods, including mobile and patented phone-based payment solutions. As a result, administrative efforts will be reduced to a minimum, and customers will benefit from greater flexibility and less friction in the payment process.

Kamran Hedjri, CEO of PXP Financial, commented: “DaoPay has vast experience in the payment space and shares our approach to client relationships and putting customers first. We have built a very close relationship which has allowed us to work together to implement a truly robust solution.”

“Payments are a complex field with many players involved. Adding acquiring to the service portfolio means providing a better service without the dependency on third parties and helping customers optimise conversion rates.”

Peter Krapfl, founder and CEO of DaoPay, added: “Like DaoPay, we know PXP maintains a close and trusting relationship with its merchants. Our work together will widen the merchant segments and allow unparalleled possibilities and synergies for our merchants, suppliers and us. DaoPay has worked over two decades in the finance industry and we understand the payment needs of clients in this fast-growing and ever-changing industry. Our joint expertise generates a win-win situation for all involved parties.”

Mr Hedjri concludes: “The future for this partnership is bright. Customers can look forward to migrating to the acquiring solution we have created, and we look forward to working on adding new services to the scope, as well as providing best-in-class customer service based on our strong client relationships.”

To find out more about the PXP Financial family of companies please visit: pxpfinancial.com

For more information and insights about DaoPay, please visit: www.daopay.com

About PXP Financial Inc.

The end-to-end payment platform: PXP Financial Inc. provides a single unified payments platform to accept payments online, on mobile and at the point of sale. Powered by inhouse acquiring, 200+ alternative payment methods & financial services, PXP Financial family of companies processes globally over EUR 21.5 billion annually through our unified gateway. Whatever your business needs today or tomorrow, PXP Financials’ innovative payment platform will support your business growth with all the payment services you will ever need from one source, wherever your business takes you. To find out more about PXP Financial family of companies, visit: www.pxpfinancial.com. 

About DaoPay

DaoPay is an all-in-one, Austrian licensed payment service provider offering 100+ payment solutions globally. Founder and CEO, Peter Krapfl created DaoPay in 2001 initially with its patented mobile payment solution, which is still used today. Now, 21 years later, DaoPay is operating on a global scale providing customized cashless payment solutions to clients. Payment processing ranges from transactions via credit card, mobile, e-wallets, bank transfers and more. DaoPay’s mission is to create and provide secure and simplified payment processing to companies around the globe and ease of payment for consumers, regardless of location. To discover more about DaoPay, visit: www.daopay.com.

PXP Financial (‘PXP’), the expert in payment services, data analysis and fraud, today announces that it is partnering with Discover® Global Network, the payment brand of Discover and the world’s fastest-growing global payment card network¹.

The partnership will allow merchants which use PXP’s point of sale or eCommerce solution to accept payments from the 280 million Discover Global Network cardholders around the world², who collectively represent $500 billion in spend opportunity³. This will ultimately support merchants to attract a global audience and provide customers with an enhanced checkout experience. Discover Global Network’s portfolio of cards includes Diners Club International issued in over 55 territories, Discover issued in the US and over 25 network alliance partnerships, including in Brazil, South Korea, UAE, Turkey, India and the Middle East, among others. Discover* has been ranked highest in brand loyalty in the Credit Card category for 25 years in a row⁴ and the majority of cardholders made a purchase decision based on whether a merchant accepted their card⁵.

Thanks to the new partnership, merchants using PXP’s platform will be able to accept a greater range of cards, increasing their own acceptance rate and thereby delivering on PXP’s promise of frictionless payments. With eCommerce around the world skyrocketing, it is more important than ever for merchants to be able to offer a range of payment options tailored to preferences of their customers.

Kamran Hedjri CEO at PXP commented: “We are extremely happy to be extending our eCommerce and POS acquiring capability through this partnership with Discover Global Network. This allows us to support our customers wherever they want to sell and help them reach new, international audiences, improving customer journey and conversions. They are a great partner to work with and we are excited”

“Discover Global Network Cardholders prefer to transact using their card of choice,” said Chris Winter, Vice President of EMEA Partnerships at Discover. “PXP enables us to further drive growth throughout the digital and face-to-face payments ecosystem and provides our cardholders with the opportunity to purchase from more merchants across the globe in a seamless manner.”

To find out more about PXP Financial, visit: https://www.pxpfinancial.com

-ENDS-

About PXP Financial

The end-to-end payment platform: PXP Financial provides a single unified payments platform to accept payments online, on mobile and at the point of sale. Powered by inhouse acquiring, 200+ alternative payment methods & financial services, PXP processes over EUR 21.5 billion annually through our unified gateway.

Whatever your business needs today or tomorrow, PXP Financials’ innovative payment platform will support your business growth with all the payment services you will ever need from one source, wherever your business takes you.

1 Based on signed network alliance agreements over the past twelve years with major payment networks within respective countries –             Panoramic Research study, conducted 2020.

2 Discover Global Network participant reporting and RBR - Global Cards Data and Forecasts to 2025, Oct 2020.

3 2021 Discover internal reporting

4 According to the 2021 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index Report. Attribution Variation 1: *According to an annual study by the independent research firm Brand Keys. (Tied for first place in 2010, 2014, 2015, and 2017).

⁵5 Discover cardholders who have travelled internationally in the past 24 months

C+R Research Study of 1,200 Discover Cardholders, July, 2020, commissioned by DFS Services LLC

The payment expert will take hospitality payments to new heights by powering Profitroom’s booking engine.

March 29th 2022: PXP Financial, the expert in acquiring and payment services, today announces a new partnership with Profitroom, a leading provider of online sales and marketing services that seeks to drive revenue and increase profits for leisure hotels and resorts around the world.

At the forefront of serving the global hospitality industry since its launch in 2008, Profitroom has cultivated expertise in exceptional customer service through longstanding relationships with hundreds of hotel industry experts and operators. Drawing on the needs of both the hotelier and customer demands, Profitroom’s central aim is to support hoteliers in improving their revenues and thereby their bottom line.

Thanks to its new partnership with PXP Financial, Profitroom has now implemented a redirect checkout page on its booking engine. This means, from now on, when customers make hotel bookings online via Profitroom, the payment will be captured through PXP Financial’s payments platform and straight through to the hotel’s own account quickly and securely.

Arkadiusz Czerwiński, Communications Manager at Profitroom, commented: “We take customer experience very seriously, and look for partners who mirror this core value too. That’s why, we’re delighted to be partnering with the team at PXP Financial, reliable and trusted experts with extensive payments experience and people at the heart of their operation. We look forward to the future of our partnership and driving the growth of the global hospitality industry together.”

Kamran Hedjri, CEO of PXP Financial commented: “As the hospitality industry continues to get back on its feet in light of recent worldwide events, consumers are demanding better access to quicker, more flexible financial services that suit their growing needs. The new partnership with Profitroom is a prime example of how the hospitality industry is adapting to the needs of its audience, and how payments are a key aspect of seamless customer experience.”

The Profitroom partnership is the latest in PXP Financial’s growing hospitality portfolio. To find out more about how PXP Financial’s payment solutions, visit its website: www.pxpfinancial.com.  

#END#

About Profitroom

The award-winning Profitroom platform is more than just the highest converting booking engine on the market - it's a powerful marketing automation tool, advanced channel manager and website builder all in one. It’s easy to use across multiple properties and any team will love the intuitive interface, no matter their experience level.

About PXP Financial Inc

The end-to-end payment platform: PXP Financial Inc. provides a single unified payments platform to accept payments across channels. Powered by acquiring, 200+ alternative payment methods & financial services, PXP Financial family of companies processing globally over EUR 21.5 billion annually through our unified gateway. Whatever your business needs today or tomorrow, PXP Financials’ innovative payment platform will support your business growth with all the payment services you will ever need from one source, wherever your business takes you. To find out more about PXP Financial family of companies, visit: www.pxpfinancial.com. 

“Whether deliberate or unconscious, bias makes it difficult for women to move ahead. Knowing that bias exists isn’t enough, action is needed to level the playing field.”

This is the inspiration behind the 2022 International Women’s Day theme: #BreakTheBias. With just 30% of the fintech sector’s overall workforce being women, it’s a theme that resonates deeply with everyone at PXP Financial. We share IWD’s vision of a world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that’s diverse, equitable and inclusive.

Across our five main locations - Gibraltar, Bulgaria, Austria, UK and India – we are proud to say 24 nationalities are represented, and that 38% of our workforce are talented, driven, inspiring women.

To celebrate this International Women’s Day, we want to recognise some of them here.

Kinga Ulbrecht - Commercial Support Specialist

Like many women, Kinga has a strong role model in her mother: “She was, and still is, a strong figure for me when it comes to her work and daily life. She always suggested I be myself in any circumstance and this always helped me move confidently in my career.”

Kinga was new to the payments/fintech industry when she started working at PXP Financial, but quickly became knowledgeable about the payment methods we work with, as well as our industries and merchants.

Her advice to women who are interested in a career in the industry is to ‘start as soon as possible’ because the industry is constantly changing and growing. She says: “Because of that, I believe diversity is key. I am very fortunate that since I started my career in the payments/fintech industry I haven’t felt any discrimination for being a woman. I am also lucky to be surrounded by a great team where the majority is female and where our team lead is a fierce and supportive woman who is always helpful”

Kinga has two favourite quotes that perfectly sum up what makes women a great asset to our industry: “The question isn’t who is going to let me, it’s who is going to stop me” – Ayn Rand, and "Women are the real architects of society" – Cher. We couldn’t have put it better!

Miroslava Kirilova - Scrum Master

Miroslava is one of the many women to have experienced bias during the course of her career. She has been turned down for jobs because she is a mother and she thinks a huge source of discrimination against women is the time they take out to raise children.

Fortunately, Miroslava has encountered female leaders throughout her career who have shown her ‘what prosperity looks like, what it takes to have it’.

She said: “I worked for a consultancy company many years ago where one of my managers was the biggest inspiration, not only at work, but in life. She was full of energy, creativity, amazing leadership, loyalty, morale, and business expertise.”

Miroslava continues to be inspired by her colleagues, and here at PXP Financial she is surrounded by a diverse group of people she can learn from every day. She says they motivate her to ‘give more, ask for more and help others to evolve, change and prosper’.

As someone working in a predominantly male industry, her advice to other women entering payments/fintech is to ‘be knowledgeable, be brave’. That, she says, is the best way to prove women can compete.

Maria Sanniti - Account Development Manager

Maria has been with PXP Financial for an incredible 23 years. She started in a sales admin role and now manages a portfolio of accounts within various sectors and works to build partner relationships.

A focused, self-motivated commercial professional, she has steadily built a successful track record of customer account management, managing and developing business partner relationships and closing new business.

Maria finds daily inspiration in her colleagues, who come from many different backgrounds and have knowledge of different industries to share. But she is also inspired by her daughters, who have clearly inherited their mother’s incredible work ethic.

She says: “Both have worked very hard to receive degrees in science and the arts, a PHD in Functional Genomics from Oxford University and Bachelor of the Arts degree from UAL.”

After so many years in payments and fintech, Maria has witnessed the landscape of this male-dominated industry shift. She says a lot more women have come into high power roles; a fact that inspires her for the future.

Susanne Werner - Senior Account Development

Drawn to a booming, fast-paced industry that she says matches her personality, Susanne has been with PXP Financial for almost three years. She says: “I like the challenges and responsibilities of working with the latest technology. Plus, there are so many clever and inspiring people working in this industry.”

Although she has been fortunate to have crossed paths with many inspiring women with strong work ethics, such as loyalty, cooperation and respect, most important of them all is her mum.

“I learned from her never to stand still and that anything can be improved. When things get difficult or stressful, we can push through by asking ourselves for just a little bit more, as we are usually capable of more than we think.”

These lessons have proved valuable; as a woman mainly working on the operational and commercial side of things, Susanne’s technical understanding has been questioned on more than one occasion. But despite her experience of bias, she would encourage more women to pursue careers in payments and fintech.

She concludes: “It’s an amazing industry with exceptional people and products, plus it allows for flexible working from anywhere! Most of all, don’t be afraid of the things you do not know, we are all learning all the time.”

The payment expert will power Esports to take bets on competitive video games in the US 

23rd February 2022 - PXP Financial Inc, the expert in acquiring and payment services, today announces a new partnership with Esports Entertainment Group, a full stack esports and online gambling company fuelled by the growth of betting on competitive videogames and the ascendance of esports with new generations.

Esports Entertainment Group is an integral part of the global esports betting market which is expected to exceed $205bn by 2027. It has recently been approved by the state of New Jersey to become the US’ first betting company for competitive video games.

PXP Financial will offer gateway services including cards and cash at cage options allowing Esports customers to deposit or withdraw cash from an online real money gaming account. Adding to this, PXP Financial will also introduce a plethora of Alternative Payment Methods (APMs) for provisions such as instant bank-to-bank payments for pay-ins and pay-outs. PXP Financial’s acquiring services ensure that customers are connected to card schemes directly, without any intermediaries or excessive administrative efforts.

Betting within competitive video games is a section of the gaming industry that PXP Financial is well-equipped to be entering following its almost decade long experience supporting US gaming operations. The company’s consultative customer first approach, regulatory knowledge, and hands on service, along with sharing a similar approach to the industry play a key part in the partnership success to date.

Kamran Hedjri, CEO at PXP Financial Inc., says: “As betting on competitive video games is becoming increasingly popular, we are extremely excited to mark an industry first with our partner Esports Entertainment Group. They share our passion for innovation and ambition to offer the smoothest and most personalised services to the wide-reaching gaming community. As we continue our expansion into the US esports betting space, we will strengthen Esports Entertainment Group’s growth by supporting them with our advice and in-depth knowledge of the payments industry.”

Grant Johnson, CEO of Esports Entertainment Group, adds: “We couldn’t be more delighted to be working alongside the PXP Financial team with their vast knowledge of gaming payments and experience in the US market. We are confident, their services will take betting in gaming to the next level for our customers.”

Following the rising interest in congress for a separate esports bill, the next stop for the two companies will be in Ohio where Esports Entertainment Group will be the first and only operator to offer esports wagering in that state too.

To find out more about the PXP Financial, please visit: pxpfinancial.com.

To find out more about Esports Entertainment Group, please visit: https://esportsentertainmentgroup.com/

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About PXP Financial Inc.

The end-to-end payment platform: PXP Financial Inc. provides a single unified payments platform to accept payments across channels. Powered by acquiring, 200+ alternative payment methods & financial services, PXP Financial family of companies processing globally over EUR 21.5 billion annually through our unified gateway. Whatever your business needs today or tomorrow, PXP Financials’ innovative payment platform will support your business growth with all the payment services you will ever need from one source, wherever your business takes you. To find out more about PXP Financial family of companies, visit: www.pxpfinancial.com.  

About Esports Entertainment Group.

Esports Entertainment Group is a full-stack esports and online gambling company fueled by the growth of video-gaming and the ascendance of esports with new generations. Our mission is to help connect the world at large with the future of sports entertainment in unique and enriching ways that bring fans and gamers together. Esports Entertainment Group and its affiliates are well-poised to help fans stay connected and involved with their favorite esports. From traditional sports partnerships with professional NFL/NHL/NBA/FIFA teams, community-focused tournaments in a wide range of esports, iGaming and casinos, and boots-on-the-ground LAN cafes, EEG has influence over the full-spectrum of esports and gaming at all levels. To find out more about EEG, visit: https://esportsentertainmentgroup.com/

The payment expert continues to improve the payment process for travel agencies in the UK

9th February 2022 - PXP Financial Ltd, the expert in acquiring and payment processing services, today announces a new step in its partnership with Vertical Systems, one of the longest established and largest suppliers of travel technology in the UK market.

PXP Financial and Vertical Systems have enjoyed a strong partnership for over 20 years, with the former ANYpay checkout solution integrated into the latter’s ManageMyBooking application. Now, both companies can confirm that the ANYpay Checkout solution will also be integrated into Vertical Systems latest product: VSL Pay.

VSL Pay is a pay-by-link solution that creates a unique pre-populated payment link for travel agents, one that is fully compliant with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and achieving PCI DSS compliance regulations. The cloud-based application reduces the steps required to make payments whilst increasing payment conversions, all of which is handled by the ANYpay Checkout solution from PXP Financial.

Chris North, Managing Director at Vertical Systems Ltd., comments: “We understand the travel sector and from our experience working with PXP Financial, we are confident they do as well. Our upcoming VSL Pay product will make it even easier for travel agencies across the UK to accept any form of payments in new ways. The ANYpay solution offers a secure checkout process for the end-user and will ensure zero hassle when booking travel, the right way to start a holiday.”

Kamran Hedjri, CEO at PXP Financial Ltd., says: “Our partnership with Vertical Systems has been long and successful and we are thrilled to be continuing this with VSL Pay. Together with Vertical Systems, we have been offering travel agents the right combination of technology that is unique to the sector. This has given us a proven track-record of making payments seamless for customers in the UK and we’ll continue to do so for users of this new service.”

As the travel market re-opens, it is crucial that travel agents are prepared for an influx of customers looking to book holidays away. With VSL Pay, powered by ANYpay, agents will have the capabilities to accept all payments in a way that is not disruptive to the businesses payments network and leaves the end-user pleased.

To find out more about the PXP Financial, please visit: pxpfinancial.com.

To find out more about VSL Pay, please visit: http://www.verticalsystems.co.uk/Product/VSLPAY# 

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About PXP Financial Ltd.

The end-to-end payment platform: PXP Financial Ltd. provides a single unified payments platform to accept payments across channels. Powered by acquiring, 200+ alternative payment methods & financial services, PXP Financial family of companies processing globally over EUR 21.5 billion annually through our unified gateway. Whatever your business needs today or tomorrow, PXP Financials’ innovative payment platform will support your business growth with all the payment services you will ever need from one source, wherever your business takes you. To find out more about PXP Financial family of companies, visit: www.pxpfinancial.com.

About Vertical Systems

Vertical Systems has been supplying technology to the UK travel trade since 1981. We are best-known for our multi-award winning back-office software Tarsc, however our product suite includes many more key products including CRM, Dynamic Packaging Search, Cruise Search, Manage My Booking, Payment Solutions, VOIP Telephony and much more.

Our new Pay By Link product VSL Pay is available to any industry, providing a reliable, risk free solution as Card data is not exposed to the agent achieving PCI DSS compliance.

By Kamran Hedjri, CEO, PXP Financial

The iGaming and Sports Betting sector is a multi-billion-dollar industry with global reach that has found much success across Europe. Yet despite this, for the longest time it was incredibly difficult for gaming operators to run in the United States of America (US) as laws and regulations limited, or outright prevented, forms of gambling. Fortunately, since 2018 regulators have slowly eased up on restrictions and this has created many opportunities for both local and foreign companies to begin operating in the region.

While there are lots of opportunities for success in the US, it is not as simple as moving into the country and setting up shop. There are several regulations still in place across all 50 US states, and gaming operators need to ensure their ability to take transactions from players is not impeded by this. The worst thing an operator can do to its player base is prevent them from being able to play, after all. This is where PXP Financial has provided a major benefit, helping new and old operators alike with their payments infrastructure and security.

PXP Financial has been operating within the US for over eight-years and its team has become experts within the sector over this time, as evidenced by the success throughout 2021.

By the end of 2020, PXP Financial were in a good position to continue its growth journey in the region. The company was operating in nine US states and had added three high-profile clients to its portfolio over that year (BetMGM, Penn Interactive and Tipico). In 2021, PXP Financial’s stake in the market grew exponentially and allowed it to become a key player.

Adding to this success, Kamran Hedjri, CEO of PXP Financial, shares his reflections on 2021 and predictions for the industry in 2022.

PXP Financial in the US – 2021

As 2021 comes to a close, PXP Financial has now established a presence in 15 new US states, a six-state increase from its position in the previous year. PXP Financial’s services went live in its most recent states, Wyoming and Arizona, almost immediately as the regulations went live to allow them to. This was only possible because PXP Financial’s experience operating in the country allowed them to be fully prepared to go live at a moment’s notice. This has been a major benefit to its most recent partners – EveryMatrix and Shift4 – as well as others that are currently in development behind the scenes.

In order to ensure all its customers are finding success in the iGaming and Sports Betting market, PXP Financial has been performing an analysis of market trends and ensuring its solutions are updated accordingly. It is by doing this that PXP Financial was able to help its partners meet their growth goals and find success during major sporting events, such as the Super Bowl. Everything from improved / new UI features that are more optimised for mobile to an updated cage deposit solution – PXP Financial has been working hard this year to provide a best-in-class service for its customers.

Now that 2022 is here, PXP Financial is continuing to look forward and ensure its technology addresses some of the major concerns from operators with how the market is changing. These are just some of those concerns:

Prediction 1 – an uptake in regulation

While many states have been updating their regulations to make iGaming and Sports Betting legal, there are 50 states across the US and it’s unlikely that all of them will make a complete turnaround by 2022. With that said however, we do expect the turnaround from states still unsure, to happen at a much faster rate than in previous years.

This is largely down to regulations being workshopped by other states and reaching a condition where they are more acceptable to a wider council. As the hesitant US states begin to see regulations working effectively in the states that have already opened up, they will also begin to lessen restrictions.

The process will ultimately be a lot faster as well, as these states can easily adopt what has worked elsewhere and make small amends instead of workshopping new regulations from scratch. There will be more case studies for the regional regulators to work from and this will speed up the process.

So, while we don’t expect to see all 50 states open to iGaming and Sports Betting by the end of 2022, we do expect to see a larger portion of US states adding new regulation in support of the industry than ever before. This is something any company involved in the sector needs to be ready for.

Prediction 2 – bigger investments lead to better tech

As this sector is growing and proving to be a success, this will draw the attention of investors who will be keen to take part in supporting the growth of the industry. This will naturally result in many of its upcoming and currently key players receiving funds that will support in their growth – and one way we will see this growth take form is with new technology.

Innovation is constantly happening across all technology sectors, payments and otherwise, and some of this technology will support in streamlining the process for players to participate in iGaming and sports betting, as well as offer new ways to play. We anticipate that a slew of new investments will lead to the adoption of several new technologies to this sector, and that in turn will lead to further investment.

Prediction 3 – iGaming continues to boom

Over the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry saw a huge boost in iGaming as players were forced online. Even though lockdown has subsided, and many in-person casinos have reopened, the revenue made from iGaming alone has not decreased. In fact, it has increased along with revenue across the industry as a whole and the will certainly continue its upward trajectory throughout 2022.

iGaming and Sports Betting is a thriving industry currently and has proven to be so globally for many, many years. Over the last few years, the US has been given the opportunity to experience this success and it is only going to rise further. We at PXP Financial will be there to support businesses at every step, both if they are existing operators hoping to expand into new states or new entrants into the region.

The payment expert continues its successful US growth with its latest acquirer partnership

New York, NY, 27 October 2021 - PXP Financial Inc, the expert in acquiring and payment processing services, has today announced a partnership with leading provider of integrated payment processing and technology solutions Shift4, as PXP expands its capabilities in the US market.

Following a successful year in the US market, the partnership will see Shift4 added to PXP’s platform as an acquirer, improving the payment specialist’s connectivity and reach in the US market, allowing for further growth across the country. It allows for PXP Financial customers to reach a wider market and offer an improved payment experience to end-users.

Kamran Hedjri, CEO at PXP Financial Inc., says: “Our partnership with Shift4 has been mutually beneficial to both parties. Shift4 has been incredible to work with and we can really feel the synergy between both companies, both for our business goals and our values. The US is a complex market, but by leveraging partnerships locally, PXP can deliver a more seamless payment experience for customers.”

“PXP is a great partner with a wealth of knowledge and experience in payments and gaming,” said Michael Isaacman, Chief Commercial Officer of Shift4. “We look forward to a long and successful relationship.”

Increasing its presence in the US gaming market since 2013, PXP Financial has recently seen momentous growth, expanding into 15 US states including, most recently, Wyoming and Arizona. The has already delivered against its ambitious plans for 2021 and is set to continue its expansion throughout the US into next year and beyond.

To find out more about the PXP Financial family of companies, please visit: www.pxpfinancial.com.

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About PXP Financial Inc.

The end-to-end payment platform: PXP Financial Inc. provides a single unified payments platform to accept payments across channels. Powered by acquiring, 200+ alternative payment methods & financial services, PXP Financial family of companies processes globally over EUR 21.5 billion annually through our unified gateway. Whatever your business needs today or tomorrow, PXP Financials’ innovative payment platform will support your business growth with all the payment services you will ever need from one source, wherever your business takes you. To find out more about PXP Financial family of companies, visit: www.pxpfinancial.com.

About Shift4 Payments

Shift4 (NYSE: FOUR) is a leading provider of integrated payment processing and technology solutions, delivering a complete omnichannel ecosystem that extends beyond payments to include a wide range of commerce-enabling services. The company’s technologies help power over 350 software providers in numerous industries, including hospitality, retail, F&B, eCommerce, lodging, gaming, and many more. The company securely processes billions of transactions annually for hundreds of thousands of businesses across North America. For more information, visit shift4.com.