Most Innovative Merchant Services
This award is open to any provider of payment-related services delivered to merchants in the Asia Pacific region. It includes retailers, hospitality brands and many other types of businesses or corporations that may offer services or digital goods, in addition to traditional physical products. Merchants may also enter this category directly.
The category covers all payment methods and types offered by merchants to their customers including card-based, mobile payments, embedded finance, digital wallet, and account-to-account payments.
The service entered can be a single merchant sales channel or form part of a larger solution. The merchant services may be marketed to individual merchants, to a group of merchants or delivered as a white label service.
Merchants may submit direct entries for innovative payment services they have introduced. The merchant service is not constrained by type, network, currency, value, or technology and can be B2C or B2B.
The solution must be innovative and provide a benefit/value to the merchant, ideally delivering an innovative solution to a specific problem or opportunity.
Entry eligibility
- The services must be operationalised in one or several Asia Pacific markets.
- Pilot solutions will be accepted but must clearly be described as such.
To make a submission please provide the following information:
Nominee or nominator
- Entry name
- Name of nominating organisation
- Name(s) of nominated organisation(s)
- The nature of the business relationship between you as the nominator and the nominee company’s solution description
Submission format
Your entry is done digitally via APAC Payments Excellence Awards Website, by submitting a written description of your value proposition/solution/initiative using selected category criteria. Each criteria in your submission will be evaluated and scored by judges in your Category Judge Panel. Each criteria have a 300-word limit.
Provide as much information as you can and quote the source of that information to describe the solution, success measures and what was achieved. Note that no attachments are allowed, and website links will not be seen as part of a submission.
Most Innovative Merchant Service Judge Criteria
Describe your Innovative Merchant Service solution under each criteria section.
- Solution description
Describe the innovative initiative/solution, including the issue/problem statement, set goals and what has been developed. Is it part of a payments service, product, or process? Was the solution offered to a single provider in the market or to a wide range of companies? Include timelines.
- Innovativeness
What challenges did the existing solutions encounter? How did you identify the problem statement? How did you conceive the solution, approach towards building the solution, improved solution, or disruptive solution, use of emerging technologies, etc? Are any inventive or innovative aspects developed to bring the product or service to market? How has your initiative improved the delivery of the service or product?
- Desirability
Describe the underserved or requested need in the market for your solution. Where and how were there improvements in outcomes for customers and end-users? What positive end-user and customer feedback have you received? Reduction of cycle time for customers, frictionless, secured, convenience, customer satisfaction, adoption rate, time to market, business results, etc. Note: The customer is B2B e.g., a merchant and the end-user is an individual using the service.
- Viability and future potential
What is your competitive advantage? What distinguishes your solution from others in the market? Who is the direct and indirect competition? How is your business model better than others? How the solution offered stands out from its competition (e.g., through performance, innovation, and value to stakeholders). What is the growth potential (organic and cross-sector), potential to address financial exclusion, readiness to embrace new technologies, and potential to expand into new markets?
Evidence of success/metrics
Please provide as much information as you can and quote the source of that information. Such information might include the following, but this is not an exhaustive list and in each case the judges will be looking for evidence that supports your claims about the key benefits of the programme:
- The length of time the merchant service has been live.
- The number of transactions performed in the past year.
- Growth in use, both historical and extrapolated projections.
- Feedback from merchants as to their experience/Customer benefit?
Innovative definition
To be defined as innovative we are looking for the creation, development and implementation of a new product, process or service, which has improved efficiency, effectiveness, access or competitive advantage. The entry is detailing something new or has a new approach to an existing challenge.
Target audience
Submissions can be from Payment Service Providers (PSP), payment gateways, payment facilitators (PayFacs), Independent Sales Organisation (ISO), payment processors, device manufacturers, Integrated software vendors (ISVs), and other types of merchant service providers, including PayTech and FinTech companies. Merchants may also enter this category directly.
