Marketplaces and Platforms
Marketplaces and platforms enable commerce, by connecting remote buyers and sellers. By embedding payment acceptance in their solutions, they make it easy for businesses to accept payments from their customers, often across a wide range of payment methods. These capabilities can come in different flavors: end user visibility, digital wallet capabilities, additional payments adjacent features, and multiple settlement and disbursement options are variations to consider. The three major capabilities that these solutions have to solve for are:
1. Onboarding (which includes regulatory compliance considerations)
2. Payment Acceptance
3. Payouts to End Users
Platforms and marketplaces also have to manage multiple types of risk compared to a traditional merchant, which requires decisions about risk sharing, fraud vendors, operational structure (in-source vs outsource) and how a risk control strategy should be developed.
This enabler role offers opportunities and challenges. To perform it well, marketplaces and platforms often come to us with questions like:
How do we respond to upcoming or newly implemented regulatory changes?
What strategic payments plays are our competitors doing?
What role are we obligated to play in fraud and risk management? What role should we play?
What could we do to make payments a source of revenue?
Are we working with the right partners? Do we have the right contracts in place?
How we can help
Assessments
of current operations, of partner performance, of market opportunities, and of regulatory environments
Research
qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method research and analysis
Strategic advisory
Education
Marketplace & Platforms Case Studies
Resources
Articles
Glenbrook shares our perspectives on activities in the industry.
Celebrating the Expansion of Glenbrook’s Leadership Team
Glenbrook is celebrating the expansion of its leadership team by announcing the promotions of Simon Skinner and Joanna Wisniecka to Associate Partner.
On-Demand Learning Offers Knowledge and Value to Payments Industry Professionals
Learn how Glenbrook’s high-quality on-demand learning helps payments professionals expand their knowledge and hone their skills.
Payments Post #18: The Year of the Anti-Regulator?
In this Payments Post, we’re thinking about the tension that’s emerged in the regulatory space as a result of the recent change in government with an eye on the controversial CFPB. Read our (not legal advice!) thoughts on what we see playing out in Washington, and what it might mean for the payments industry.
Podcasts
Glenbrook speaks with industry leaders to share a variety of perspectives on the latest payments trends and activities.
Episode 264 – A PSP’s Guide to Maximizing Merchant Performance, with Brant Peterson, Worldpay
In our next episode in a payments optimization series, Brant Peterson, Head of Enterprise Product, North America at Worldpay, joins Drew Edmond to talk about payment optimization through the perspective of a payment service provider (PSP).
Episode 263 – Driving Digital Financial Inclusion: The Journey We’re On and the Road Ahead – Michael Wiegand, Gates Foundation
In this episode, Joanna Wisniecka joins Yvette Bohanan to chat with Michael Wiegand, Director of Inclusive Financial Systems at the Gates Foundation, about the work the Foundation is doing globally and the transformative impact of digital financial inclusion on economies and societies.
Episode 262 – Bot Attacks Are Getting Smarter…Are You? – Nate Kharrl, Spec
Spec co-founder and CEO Nate Kharrl joins Yvette Bohanan on Payments on Fire to dig into some of the tactics and tech that is enabling today’s fraud schemes, and how GenAI is redefining the payments risk landscape.
News
Glenbrook objectively curates the news to keep you abreast of important daily headlines in payments.
Amid Challenge From Banks, Illinois Legislators Move to Delay Ban on Certain Credit Card Fees
"Illinois legislators voted to delay for one year a ban on certain credit card fees that was set to take effect July 1 amid a legal challenge by banks. A measure passed by legislators and signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker last year would prevent banks and credit...
Worldline Initiates the Launch of Wero in Ecommerce Starting This Summer
"Worldline is ready to launch the new Wero payment method, enabling eMerchants to accept it in Germany from this summer onwards. Wero for eCommerce will subsequently be launched in Belgium in October 2025 and in France in early 2026"
More Than One in Five Americans Fell Victim to Financial Fraud
"With the number and severity of financial fraud incidents and scams rising in recent years, 21% of adults have fallen victim to money-related fraud in the past year. The Fed’s Economic Well-being of US Households in 2024 report found that among fraud victims, 17%...
Ready to see how Glenbrook can support your marketplaces and platform company to be as efficient and effective as possible?