What? 

Vendorcom Europe is a multi-stakeholder membership organisation that connects seekers, solvers and shapers in the European Payments Community. It has helped shape the collaborative /competitive landscape in payments since launching in 2003 and has developed its reputation over the past 13 years by establishing itself as Europe's definitive forum for keeping in touch with the what's what and who's who in payments. It is the most trusted, independent forum for suppliers and users of payments in Europe. 

Vendorcom is a single point of authoritative, credible, independent information and is the focal point for organisations who are part of, or want to engage with, the European Payments Community and are seeking to understand the dynamics of this diverse sector and its widespread national and regional variances. 

Why? 

Payments is one of the most rapidly changing areas in business, with developments in Fintech having a direct impact on companies and consumers alike. Whilst innovation and regulation are driving change, the ubiquitous nature of payments, together with the need to maintain resilience and confidence in the security and availability of existing services, means that such change is often constrained. It is therefore essential that all stakeholders have a broad perspective of what affects the payments landscape and understand the wider context in which they are operating. This will not only affect decisions regarding solutions development and product management, but commercial investment, partnering and market exploitation. 

The range of markets which the Payments Community serves, as diverse as retail, public sector, hospitality and transport & ticketing presents a huge challenge as solutions providers seek to better understand and more effectively meet market needs. Only by bringing the suppliers of payments systems together with users in an independently run forum can those market dynamics be fully understood and explored. 

Solutions providers and their customers need to be confident that decisions made by industry influencers reflect the issues and concerns of the stakeholders who will be responsible for implementing change and best most affected by it. 

How? 

Every month we host a Networking Event for members and other leading organisations from across the European Payments Community - both suppliers and merchants. This offers an invaluable opportunity for individuals to meet with like-minded peers and potential customers; members have found new customers, initiated partnerships and developed collaborative approaches that might otherwise not have taken place. 

Members and delegates will find that Vendorcom's Thought Leadership Conferences are a source of independent, authoritative, coherent information on which to base effective product development and marketing strategies. The Conferences also present an opportunity to find potential partners from amongst the many traditional and innovative payments solutions providers who attend, as well as meeting potential customers from a wide range of target market sectors. 

Special Interest Groups

Vendorcom's Special Interest Group (SIG) programme helps the European Payments Community to better understand and respond to the challenges of current and emerging industry initiatives as well as addressing the role of payments in key merchant market sectors. 

SIG meetings take a variety of formats depending on the topic being covered, typically in seminar style and/or facilitated roundtable discussions with all sessions promoting strong interaction and debate in a way that encourages knowledge sharing and learning amongst the widest possible group of affected stakeholders. SIGs provide the opportunity for individuals and organisations to contribute on topics on which they are knowledgeable and to learn from others on subjects where they have less experience. As part of the SIG programme, we also host facilitated group discussions in response to consultations issued by industry influencers, standards bodies and regulators. 

Recent Industry Issues SIGs have addressed: 

 Contactless, NFC & Mobile Payments, Corporate Payments, Digital &  Cryptocurrencies, Ecommerce Payments, Faster & Direct Account Payments,  Identity & Authentication in Payments, Payments Legislation & Regulation,  Payment Innovation, Payment Security & Risk Management, Traditional  Payments - including cash and cheques.  

Recent Merchant Market SIGs have included: 

Education, Fuel & Forecourt, Hospitality & Leisure, Public Sector, Retail, Small & Independent Merchants, Transport & Ticketing. 

As well as the SIG topics listed above, we continually review over 50 sub-topics to ensure that the industry's most pressing topics are prioritised within the SIG programme. Each month a firm programme is published for the following three months with a provisional programme for the three months beyond that. A rolling annual programme of SIG dates - generally on Wednesdays during term time - but with no fixed topics assigned, is available on the Events section of the Vendorcom website. 

who?