Data, Digital Shifts & the Future of Payments: A Pre-Summit Chat with David Parker & Worldpay's Silvia Mensdorff

Meet the Experts

With over 25 years in the payments space, Silvia Mensdorff leads enterprise business development for Worldpay across EMEA. She brings deep industry experience and an unwavering passion for innovation. As she puts it, they say money makes the world go round, well, guess who makes the money go round? We do in payments.

David Parker, Chair of the Payments Leaders’ Summit and CEO of Polymath Consulting, has spent decades advising on fintech, payments, and digital transformation. He’s known for asking the tough questions and drawing out actionable insights from industry leaders.

Worldpay, one of the world’s largest payments technology companies, helps businesses accept payments across borders and channels. With data at its core, the firm’s annual Global Payments Report is a go-to resource for understanding where the industry is headed.

What’s Hot in Payments?

David asked Worldpay recently published its eagerly awaited Global Payments Report. What are your top three takeaways and what’s hot right now?

Silvia shared three standout trends:

• Account-to-Account Payments Are Surging
  Account-to-account (A2A) payments are becoming central to the payments conversation. Platforms like Vero are accelerating adoption, and the trend shows no signs of slowing down.
• Cards Remain a Mainstay
  While plastic is declining, card-based payments are growing in volume. The card may change form, but it’s not going anywhere.
• Cash Is Stabilising, Not Disappearing
  Once expected to vanish, cash is now levelling out. Governments are starting to protect it again as a critical fallback, especially in emergency situations where digital payments may fail.

 Will Governments Mandate Cash?

Do you see a move across Europe by governments to either mandate the issuance or acceptance of cash?

Silvia confirmed there are regulatory moves, particularly in countries like the Netherlands, to mandate acceptance. However, she noted the complexity of enforcing such mandates, especially in sectors like public transport or parking that have gone fully digital.

Issuance or Acceptance - Where’s the Focus?

David followed up: So is it more likely we’ll see enforcement on the acceptance side rather than the issuance side?

Silvia explained that issuance is already well covered by regulation - ATM access, for example, is protected in places like the UK. But acceptance is trickier. She pointed to a trend of banks combining ATM networks to reduce costs, saying the challenge lies in striking the right balance between cost-efficiency and consumer access.

PSD3 on the Horizon

David asked: PSD3 is looming large in the rearview mirror. Are you seeing any effects already, or is it still about planning for what’s coming?

Silvia noted that much of PSD3 is still under discussion, but attention is already shifting to new responsibilities, particularly around data and fraud. She raised concerns about how unregulated platforms, especially social media, can enable fraudulent merchants through advertising, despite strict controls on acquirers and PSPs. This regulatory gap is a growing point of contention.

 Supporting the Value Chain Under Pressure

The market feels under pressure, economically, regulatorily, and in terms of fraud. How is Worldpay helping merchants, banks, and PSPs respond to these challenges?

Silvia outlined a three-pronged response:

• Market Intelligence
  The Global Payments Report is used directly with merchants to inform strategic decisions and anticipate shifts in consumer behaviour.
• Fraud Detection
  Worldpay’s recent acquisition of Ravelin, a fraud prevention platform, strengthens their capabilities across the entire payment value chain.
• Customer Education
  While consumers demand frictionless transactions, Silvia cautioned that sometimes friction equals security. For example, high-value or cross-border payments benefit from a bit of extra verification to reduce fraud.

She also highlighted the consumer risk in A2A payments, where protections like chargebacks don’t exist. While cheaper than card payments, A2A methods place more liability on the user, something not everyone is aware of. Card payments, in contrast, offer clearer recourse when things go wrong.

The Digital Shift and Rise of AI Commerce

The shift to mobile and digital-first purchasing is massive. What’s Worldpay seeing in terms of consumer behaviour and what comes next?

Silvia noted the massive rise in mobile commerce, now the default channel for many. But she’s watching closely for the next evolution: agentic commerce, where AI bots make decisions and purchases on behalf of the consumer.

This opens new questions:

• Will consumers trust bots to make the right decisions?
• What happens when automated purchases go wrong?
• Who’s liable in these new flows?

While Silvia believes in the potential of AI, she also cautions that hype often outpaces reality, referencing past buzz around Web3. Still, AI-driven purchasing is one of the most promising developments on the horizon, especially for consumers seeking hyper-efficiency.

A Look Ahead: What to Expect from Silvia’s Keynote

David asked: You’ll be delivering a keynote at the summit titled Europe’s Payments Evolution: Navigating the Digital Shift. Can you give us a sneak peek of what you’ll cover?

Silvia offered a glimpse of what’s to come. The keynote, sponsored by Worldpay, will explore:

• The New Consumer: Digital-first and choice-driven
• Regulatory Tailwinds and Cross-Border Complexity
• Opportunities and Threats for Merchants and PSPs

She’ll also reflect on a decade of the Global Payments Report, comparing past predictions to current outcomes. With Worldpay’s forecasts now accurate within just a few percentage points, the session promises to deliver data-backed insights into what’s next for Europe’s payments landscape.

Join the Conversation in Amsterdam

Silvia and David Parker will both be on stage this September at the Payments Leaders’ Summit in Amsterdam, joining senior executives, payment providers, fintech innovators, and regulators for two days of strategic discussion.

From PSD3 and AI to consumer behaviour and fraud prevention, the summit is the go-to platform for anyone shaping the next chapter of payments, register your interest in attending - https://www.payments-leaderssummit.com/payments-leaders-summit-eu-september