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Expertise · Payments

Payment core competence areas.

The map below describes the domains Explicit Selection works in, the questions clients hire us to answer, and the depth at which we operate.

01

Payment instruments and methods

Every payment program ultimately rests on the instrument — the rail and form factor through which value moves. We work across the full set, from mature card products to recently launched account-to-account schemes.

Card-based payments

  • EMV chip, contactless (NFC), HCE and Cloud-based payments, QR-initiated card flows.
  • E-commerce stack: EMV 3-D Secure 2.x, Secure Remote Commerce (Click to Pay), Tap-on-Mobile.
  • Merchant-initiated transactions (MIT), network tokenization, Card-on-File programs.
  • Recurring and subscription billing patterns, including the SCA exemption interplay and account-updater dependencies.

Account-to-account and instant payments

  • Open Banking initiated payments, Instant Payments, Mobile Payments, EMV in transit.
  • Domestic real-time rails — SEPA Instant, FedNow, RTP, UPI, PIX, PayNow, NPP / PayTo, FPS — and their interoperability gaps for cross-border use.

Wallets and OEM-driven payments

  • Digital wallets, Vendor / OEM Pay (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay), mobile wallets, Tap-on-Mobile / Tap-to-Everything.
  • Super-app wallets (Alipay, WeChat Pay, GrabPay etc.) and their merchant integration models.

Alternative and emerging methods

  • BNPL and deferred / installment products.
  • Central Bank Digital Currencies (token-based, account-based, hybrid).
  • Blockchain, DLT and non-DLT infrastructures, smart contracts.
  • Embedded finance and Banking-as-a-Service: licence stacking, sponsor-bank models, BIN-sponsorship economics.
  • Stablecoins as settlement rails and the regulatory perimeter around them.
  • Cross-border remittance: SWIFT and ISO 20022 migration.
02

The payment value chain and ecosystem

Knowing the instrument is only half the picture — the money flows through a chain of regulated and unregulated actors, each with its own economics, contracts and failure modes.

  • Issuers, acquirers, processors, gateways, PSPs, ISOs, VARs and the global payment value chain end-to-end.
  • Global card networks: American Express, Discover, JCB, Mastercard, UnionPay, Visa.
  • Regional and domestic schemes: SEPA, UPI, PIX, FedNow, RTP, PayNow, Interac, NPP / PayTo, FPS.
  • Digital Identity service providers, frameworks and standards.
  • Payment orchestration platforms, smart routing and acceptance optimisation.
  • Acquiring economics: interchange, scheme fees, processor markups, MDR construction, blended vs. interchange-plus pricing.
  • Dispute and chargeback management, scheme arbitration, settlement, clearing, reconciliation.
03

Technology stack and standards

The technology layer is where strategy meets implementation. We work hands-on with the protocols, certifications and authentication frameworks that determine whether a program ships on time or stalls in the lab.

Card and acceptance technology

  • EMV chip and contactless kernels, terminal-side certification, scheme-level Type Approval (TIPs).
  • EMV 3-D Secure (3DS2), Secure Remote Commerce / Click to Pay.
  • Tokenization, network tokenization, Card-on-File, MIT frameworks.
  • Tap-on-Mobile / SoftPOS / PCI MPOC programs and attestation.

Authentication and identity

  • FIDO-based authentication, biometrics, device binding.
  • Digital identity, mobile Driver's Licence (mDL, ISO/IEC 18013-5/-7), digital signatures.
  • Risk-based / step-up authentication, behavioural biometrics, 3DS challenge orchestration.
  • EU Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI) and the eIDAS 2.0 trust framework.

Distributed and emerging technology

  • Agentic commerce: conversational commerce, agentic checkout, Know-Your-Agent (KYA) and intent verification frameworks.
  • Blockchain, DLT and non-DLT infrastructures, smart contracts.
  • Post-quantum / quantum-resistant cryptography readiness for payment HSMs and PKI.
04

Regulatory frameworks

Payment regulation is fragmented by geography and increasingly by use case. We map the rule set, translate it into program requirements, and stress-test client roadmaps against where the regulation is heading rather than where it is today.

Europe

  • PSD2 and Strong Customer Authentication (SCA), the upcoming PSD3 / Payment Services Regulation (PSR).
  • GDPR; eIDAS and eIDAS 2.0.
  • DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act) for ICT risk in financial entities.
  • AMLD6 and the EU AMLR.
  • MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation) for crypto-asset service providers.
  • Instant Payments Regulation (IPR) and verification-of-payee obligations.
  • Financial Data Access (FiDA) framework — the next step beyond PSD2 Open Banking.

United States

  • Durbin Amendment (Reg II) and routing / interchange implications, including the 2023 dual-network requirement for card-not-present.
05

Standardization frameworks

Where regulation defines what must be done, standardization defines how it interoperates. We work directly inside the technical specifications and certification regimes that govern global payments.

  • EMVCo specifications and the global tech stacks, interfaces and APIs of American Express, Discover, JCB, Mastercard, UnionPay and Visa.
  • EMV standardization framework, global payment scheme liability shifts, mandates, certification requirements.
  • PCI security standards: PCI DSS, PCI PTS, PCI MPOC.
  • Global standards bodies: GlobalPlatform, ISO, IEC, ANSI.
  • ISO 20022 messaging and the global migration timeline (SWIFT, Target2, FedNow, CHAPS).
  • FIDO Alliance specifications and the W3C Payment Request / Web Authentication APIs.
06

Special environments and merchant verticals

Generic payment knowledge is necessary but not sufficient — most client engagements live inside the constraints of a specific vertical. The sectors below are where we have applied the competencies above to concrete delivery.

  • Urban mobility, transit and ticketing, closed- and open-loop systems, electric vehicle charging.
  • Mortgages, consumer credit, wealth management.
  • Retail and hospitality: omni-channel acceptance, unified commerce, in-store / online reconciliation.
  • B2B payments: virtual cards, accounts-payable automation, commercial card programs, supplier enablement.
  • Marketplaces and platform economy: split payments, on-behalf-of flows, payment facilitator (PayFac) models.
  • Subscription and recurring billing: dunning logic, network token lifecycle, account updater services.
  • Healthcare: HSA / FSA card programs, eligibility-based acceptance, IIAS.
  • Gaming, gambling and other high-risk merchant categories: scheme registration, monitoring, MATCH / VMSS.
  • Public sector and government collections: card-not-present compliance, surcharging rules, convenience-fee structures.

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