GPS is looking to grow its«hub-and-spoke» model in the region to cater to increased client demands as the payments industry continues to pick up speed in Asia Pacific.

The firm is hiring to add to its operations team, including analysts, partnerships, sales roles, to be closer to its clients in the region, Damien Gough, head of Asia Pacific at payments processor Global Processing Services (GPS), told finews.asia in a conversation about the market opportunities and the firm's priorities.

Singapore-based Gough, who joined the firm in January after nine years in various APAC-focused roles at Visa, oversees GPS’ partnerships and commercial success. He cited the proliferation of digital banking across the region as behind the company's strong growth.

Demand Drivers

«What that's done is highlight to incumbents that competition is coming. Banks are trying to create digital offshoots, and we're seeing a lot of demand and are having a lot of conversations across the industry from clients who want to bring a better customer experience and digital experience,» Gough said.

Gough also cited the diversification into the SME and commercial space. «This presents a larger untapped opportunity in the payments landscape, especially in Asia Pacific, where getting access to a credit facility can be extremely difficult,» he said.

Finally, the Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) segment is an emerging area of opportunity the company sees. «Lots of people are jumping on that bandwagon and existing players are looking to go across the region,» he said.

New Markets

GPS expanded into the APAC region in November 2019, and has already delivered programs for Hong Kong's WeLab Bank and Razer Fintech, which has the largest offline-to-online digital payment network in Southeast Asia and is aiming to establish the world’s first global youth bank. 

Gough said the firm is on track in the coming months to hit 80 staff in Asia Pacific, where it has an operations center in Sydney, Australia, a commercial and regional hub in Singapore, and development and operations support in India.

«We have markets where we want to take the hub-and-spoke model further. What that would mean is more people in specific markets where we see huge potential to come in and change the game by helping businesses transform,» Gough said.