PCM Vol.2 - Issue 10

expert interview
exploring the huge potential
of emerging markets
The dynamic nature of the emerging markets opens up
new opportunities for innovation and growth. This is
particularly true for the payments industry. At the same
time, businesses entering these markets are facing many
challenges on unknown territory. The PCM team invited Mario
Shiliashki, PayU CEO EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa),
to share his experience with us about operating in emerging
markets. We spoke about what to pay close attention to, even
before venturing into EMEA high growth markets.
As the head of EMEA, can you give us some insight into
the regional payment landscape and how it differs from
Western Europe or the US?
In EMEA, PayU is a leading payments service provider. We are
#1 in online payments in countries like Poland, Turkey, Romania,
and South Africa. We are a fast growing player in Russia and
the main partner for select merchants in Czech Republic and
Hungary. While having quite an ambitious expansion plan for
the EMEA region, we continue to grow our product and service
range beyond just the eCommerce space.
Looking at the markets across the EMEA region, they are
distinctly different from each other. A few of them are very
different from Western standards. In Western Europe, people
generally prefer to pay online with credit cards and occasionally
with debit cards. Whereas, in, say, Poland, people have the habit
of paying differently. They pay directly via bank transfer. PayU,
being the leading innovator in the payments space, was the first
to launch the pay-by-link method in Poland. It’s a streamlined
bank transfer checkout process to pay for a good or service
online by simply sending money to the merchant directly from
the consumers’ bank account.
As we continue to innovate in that space, PayU spearheaded a
one-click checkout by paying with your bank account rather than
the credit card. Our data shows us that around 70 per cent of all
online payments are done in this way in Poland, whereas only
a small portion is via credit card. This is very different from the
paying habits of many Western Europeans.
Another example is Turkey, where the majority of payments (over
70%) are made with instalment loans. That means payments are
made via credit card but are paid off in instalments instead of
in one total sum at the end of the month. It’s instead paid 3, 6
or even 12 months after the date of purchase.
These are some of the very interesting nuances in payments
that PayU is focused on. PayU’s strength also stems from its very
local expertise. We are connected to local providers such as the
banks, instalment providers, the credit providers and all the local
merchants and consumers. This is why we can provide the best
experience for merchants and consumers alike on a local level
compared to the other multinational players. They often claim to
015