MPE Awards Media Partners
As the MPE 2023 Awards Chair, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the prestigious Merchant Payment Ecosystem Awards for the 16th Annual Conference for the Payments Industry, organised by the Empiria Group.
Last year, we had our first in-person event since the start of the pandemic, and you could feel the energy and buzz in the air of finally being able to get to see each other again. I am delighted that we can do this again this year and I look forward to welcoming you all in person in Berlin!
We remain committed to our “Guiding Hand” awards concept, and even as the world continues to recover from the effects of the pandemic, we have entered a new phase of economic, regulatory, and geo-political challenges. These will continue to test us for a while yet, and the payments industry will be right in the middle of it. Last year, the theme for our awards was “Growing Faster” and the 2022 award winners demonstrated that the best of the best can certainly do that. As more obstacles have been thrown our way, it is therefore fitting that our underlying theme for this year’s awards is “Sustaining Growth” and our popular statuette will reflect this.
- featuring 11 Categories
Winners of the Judge’s Choice Award will be selected by the panel of independent expert judges.
- featuring 2 Categories
MPE Influencer of the Year
The winner will be determined via public online voting.
Best Start-Up Innovation Award
Winner will ber determined by MPE audience.
Thirteen winners, representing the most innovative merchant payment companies in Europe and beyond, were announced during the glittering MPE Awards Ceremony on March 29.
The MPE Awards were a part of the MPE 2023 conference held at the InterContinental Hotel in Berlin, Germany (March 28-30).
Hundreds of senior-level conference participants from Global merchants and payment industry professionals joined the famous MPE Awards Gala Dinner & ceremony to celebrate the achievements of the best companies & individuals in merchant payments.
The MPE Awards have, over the last 14 years, become an important benchmark of global excellence in card acquiring, POS, and merchant payments.
Neira Jones, the Chairman of the MPE Awards Judging Panel, commented in her welcome speech: "Committed to our Guiding Hand concept and acknowledging that various challenges continue to keep us on our toes, our theme for this year was "Sustaining Growth.
Our 13 award categories reflected market changes, and the Innovation Hub has become an important platform for innovation."
"We would like to thank the MPE Awards Judges who selected the winners this year.
Our congratulations go to all of the winners & nominees of the Awards and to WebShield, Tietoevry, BR-DGE, and AIB Merchant Services, who sponsored the MPE Awards," said Andy Ivanis, Head of Sales & Customer Engagement at MPE.
Category sponsored by:
This award will go to the merchant acquirer who has demonstrated success in their merchant relationships through the provision of excellent products and services. Size doesn’t matter. Geography doesn’t matter. This category is open to all acquirers who strive to be best of breed.
According to the criteria, in the " MERCHANT ACQUIRER OF THE YEAR " Category, the Award goes to the merchant acquirer who has demonstrated success in their merchant relationships through the provision of excellent products and services. Size doesn’t matter. Geography doesn’t matter. This category is open to all acquirers who strive to be best of breed.
„The winner showed a willingness to flex their strategy in Europe and beyond, the diversity of their customer base which encompasses SMEs and major cross border giants of industry, ensuring quality from the point of interaction through to the operational areas. The judges commended the major focus on chargeback management which added considerable value to the customer base,“ commented Neira Jones, the Chairman of the MPE 2023 Awards Judging Panel.
Hemlata Narasimhan, President of Elavon Europe said: “Putting customers first and doing the right thing is in our DNA, and being named Merchant Acquirer of the Year just reinforces our core beliefs and values in serving our customers. We’re grateful for this industry recognition, and proud of each and every one of our team who made this possible,”
This Awards Category is Sponsored by: Webshield
Marc Bongers, Chief Commercial Officer, Webshield: commented “As a service provider for acquiring banks, we work with a multitude of exceptional companies around the globe and therefore possess a keen understanding of what it takes to be a great acquirer. Elavon's dedication to innovation and customer-centricity sets a standard, and this award is well-deserved.”
Category sponsored by:
This award will go to the provider who launched an innovative solution in the last 18 months that can demonstrate tangible benefits to merchants regarding fraud prevention, identity, or authentication (e.g., support of SCA migration). The entry must include quantifiable data to show the product’s impact on its clients through use of technology (e.g., analytics, AI, biometrics, etc.). The data analytics must be relevant to the fraud area.
According to the criteria, in the "MOST INNOVATIVE FRAUD PREVENTION SOLUTION", Category, the Award goes to the provider who launched an innovative solution in the last 18 months who demonstrated tangible benefits to merchants regarding fraud prevention, identity, or authentication, including quantifiable data to show the product’s impact on its clients through the use of technology.
" The judges thought that strong metrics a vast database, predictive modeling, and machine learning, as well as receive real-time data has significantly increased approval rates while also materially reducing decline, chargebacks & penalties," said Neira Jones, the Chairman of the MPE 2023 Awards Judging Panel.
Aaron Begner, general manager of EMEA, Forter commented: "Forter is thrilled to be named the Most Innovative Fraud Prevention Solution at the MPE Berlin Awards. Our mission has always been to help merchants build trust across the digital commerce journey. We‘re grateful to MPE for recognizing our team‘s commitment to furthering this mission, driving innovation and serving customers."
Thomas Gillan, CEO BR-DGE, the category sponsor, said:
“BR-DGE were thrilled to support the Most Innovative Fraud Prevention Solution at MPE 2023, and huge congratulations to the winning team at Forter. Fraud prevention and security has been cited as one of the top concerns amongst consumers and therefore is of upmost importance for merchants, when managing their end-to-end payments workflow. It is great to see the innovation from Forter being recognised.“
This Award goes to the company that uses Data Analytics or AI to support merchants in any way that is NOT involved in Fraud prevention. To stress, this is not about Fraud Prevention using AI/Data analytics but covers areas such as loyalty, customer engagement, customer & merchant support/service, etc. Either technology, platform, or merchants may enter the award.
According to the criteria, in the " BEST USE OF DATA ANALYTICS " Category, the Award goes to the technology, platform provider or merchant that demonstrates substantial benefits through the use of Data Analytics or AI in any way that is NOT involved in Fraud prevention and covers areas such as loyalty, customer engagement, or customer & merchant support and service.
“This company provides their merchants with instant financing services including working capital, BNPL, cash advances on listed offers, and promotion fee coverage. Also, their marketplace showcases how embedded Merchant Financing, based on marketplace UX and merchant lifecycle knowledge, can be more responsive to merchant needs and challenge traditional credit offerings," commented Neira Jones, the Chairman of the MPE 2023 Awards Judging Panel.
Ewa Kraińska, B2B Financial Services Senior Manager, Allegro said:
„Allegro is proud of being recognized by the MPE jury for the Merchant financing solution (best used of data analytics). We keep working on introducing the most useful and efficient embedded finance for our business users. Merchant financing allows our Sellers to receive working capital or get cash advance without much effort. Such an award just confirms that not only our users but also market Experts do recognize our effort.“
This award is open for solution providers that support merchants to grow revenue by opening up by expanding sales across borders while reducing risks and complexities.
According to the criteria, in the " BEST CROSS-BORDER MERCHANT SOLUTION " Category, the Award is open for solution providers that support merchants to grow revenue by opening up and expanding sales across borders while reducing risks and complexities.
This company was the first to deploy dedicated support to PSPs and their merchants in unlocking non- card payments. PSPs can tap into their infrastructure to speed up target market entry without needing to establish a local presence. They are seen by the judges as the Number One enabler of cross-border payments," commented Neira Jones, the Chairman of the MPE 2023 Awards Judging Panel.
Andrew Edem, Head of Innovation, PPRO said:
“We’re honoured to have won the ‘Best Cross-Border Merchant Solution’ Award at this year’s MPE Awards, a true testament to our industry-leading digital payments infrastructure that’s helping merchants break into cross-border markets faster and increasing their revenue.
Our Chief Growth Officer Oliver Rajic also received the “MPE Influencer Of The Year” Award, for his significant contribution to the merchant payment ecosystem from an orchestration perspective. Thank you to the judges, our partners and all those that voted for us; we look forward to continuing to innovate in the payments space, helping to drive it forward for our customers.”
This award will go to the organization that has developed the most innovative in-store payment acceptance solution that provides value and differentiation for merchants and a great payments experience for customers.
According to the criteria, in the " BEST IN-STORE PAYMENTS SOLUTION",
Category, the Award goes to the organization that has developed the most innovative in-store payment acceptance solution that provides value and differentiation for merchants and a great payments experience for customers.
The judges were impressed by how this company built a comprehensive in-store retail solution that encompasses EPOS capabilities, retail operations, customer engagement and integrated payments, with a clear focus on mobility. This was a tightly contested category!" said Neira Jones, the Chairman of the MPE 2023 Awards Judging Panel.
Daniel Holden, CEO of Trust Payments, said: "We are committed to providing our customers with innovative payment solutions that are secure, reliable, and convenient. We also believe that our success should be shared with our communities and the environment, and we will continue to work towards creating a sustainable future. Trust Payments recognition at the MPE Awards is a testament to the company‘s commitment to providing exceptional payment services while promoting sustainability and social responsibility.”
Open to PSPs, ISOs, Facilitators, Aggregators, PAAS Providers, Acquirers and Acquiring-as-a-Service providers, this award will go to the provider who can demonstrate real benefits to merchants either in terms of omnichannel or multi- rail payment acceptance service provision facilitation, embedded finance, customer experience, innovative commercial constructs, or other demonstrable and quantifiable merchant benefits (e.g. fraud reduction, chargebacks management, payments optimisation, value-added services, etc.).
According to the criteria, in the "BEST MERCHANT PAYMENT ACCEPTANCE PROVIDER", Category, the Award goes to organisation who can demonstrate real benefits to merchants either in terms of omnichannel or multi-rail payment acceptance service provision facilitation, embedded finance, customer experience, innovative commercial constructs, or other demonstrable and quantifiable merchant benefits.
This year has seen a strong line up in this category and was closely contested. The winner this year demonstrated that their proposition continues to push the boundaries in advancing payment acceptance through use of innovation, ease of use and increasing value-add benefits for both merchants and customers," commented Neira Jones, the Chairman of the MPE 2023 Awards Judging Panel.
Angelina Babic, Payment Platform Product Manager, Outpayce from Amadeus, commented:
“Outpayce is committed to simplifying travel payments, and our Xchange Payment Platform (XPP) is at the forefront of this mission. Travel players must contend with accepting a wide variety of complex international payments, and XPP makes it easy to visualise, understand and manage these flows, while also giving our customers easy access to payments innovation. We’d like to thank our many airline customers for their support and engagement in refining XPP, as well as our 100+ partners who add to the richness of our platform. Congratulations to all MPE Award winners!”
&
Beatrice Bouju, Head of Partnerships, Outpayce from Amadeus said:
“Winning the 2023 Best Merchant Payment Acceptance Provider Award for Outpayce is a fantastic achievement for our team.
Outpayce from Amadeus is committed to deliver best in class global payment solutions. The 2023 MPE award highlights Outpayce’s transformational role in the global travel industry. We are thankful to our partners for helping us cocreate to deliver rich functionality to global markets.”
This award will go the organization offering the best, most comprehensive, most useful platform or marketplace supporting merchants or other players in the merchant payments ecosystem such as banks, PSP, service providers, consumers with solutions in any area of the ecosystem.
According to the criteria, in the "BEST PLATFORM/ MARKETPLACE PROVIDER",
Category, the Award goes the organization offering the best, most comprehensive, most useful platform or marketplace supporting merchants or other players in the merchant payments ecosystem such as banks, PSP, service providers, consumers with solutions in any area of the ecosystem.
This company ranked best in each of the assessed criteria. With the largest customer base in excess of 2,500 marketplaces with global coverage, it also offers the widest scope of core services and value- added services." commented Neira Jones, the Chairman of the MPE 2023 Awards Judging Panel.
Guido Kuhring, Head of Sales Central and Northern Europe, Mangopay, comments:
“We are very proud to be recognised as Best Platform and Marketplace Provider by MPE. This recognition rewards our vision and the energy we put into building the most comprehensive payment environment to suit each marketplace and platform's needs. This is a shared, company-wide award. It represents the daily hard work we do in every aspect of the business and how we devote ourselves to designing, building, marketing, selling and operating the most effective payment platform for global marketplaces and platforms.”
Category sponsored by:
It is awarded to the company that best uses open banking data or a payment initiation solution that drives end- userpayments to or from merchants or to create a better customer experience as part of the payment process. Includes enabling loans at the point of sale and all account-to-account payments.
According to the criteria, in the " BEST USE OF OPEN BANKING FOR PAYMENTS " Category, the Award goes to the company that best uses open banking data or a payment initiation solution that drives end-user payments to or from merchants or to create a better customer experience as part of the payment process. Includes enabling loans at the point of sale and all account-to-account payments.
„Facilitating payments of more than 42 billion euros per year for financial entities, this company brings innovative and complete technologies integrating instant payment, SEPA direct debits and open banking solutions, helping merchants to embrace modern payments based on open banking,“ commented Neira Jones, the Chairman of the MPE 2023 Awards Judging Panel.
Brian Hanrahan, CEO, Nuapay said:
"This is a significant win for us, as the Merchant Payment Ecosystem conference and awards ceremony is a major event in the European fintech industry. I want to acknowledge the team's dedication to providing innovative Open Banking solutions that save businesses time, money, and resources. This award is a testament to our progress and reinforces our commitment to driving the future of payments."
This category was sponsored by Tietoevry.
Andrejs Vinakovs, Senior Product Manager, Tietoevry, commented:
“Enabling businesses to receive funds fast, easy and reliably is essential for the future development of our economy. And we believe that Open Banking is an essential element of this future. And this is the reason, we have chosen to sponsor this awar category.”
Open to any technology provider helping merchants, issuers or acquirers to streamline their regulatory compliance operations in the areas of regulatory reporting, risk management, identity management & control, compliance and transaction monitoring. This may include compliance with regulations such as PSD2, AML, VAT, etc. as well as industry compliance requirements such as 3DS, PCI DSS, etc. Actual metrics and KPIs must be provided in the answers. Case studies (max 2) are welcome to support the entry. The solution must have been commercially live for at least two years.
According to the criteria, in the " BEST REGTECH SOLUTION" Category, the Award goes to any technology provider helping merchants, issuers or acquirers to streamline their regulatory compliance operations in the areas of regulatory reporting, risk management, identity management & control, compliance or transaction monitoring.
„As long as there are criminals performing fraud it is reassuring to know that there are companies like this trying to prevent it - They demonstrated in-depth knowledge, applied expertise, the pursuit of perfection and continuous improvement - reducing fraud and improving payment experiences.,“ commented Neira Jones, the Chairman of the MPE 2023 Awards Judging Panel.
Peter Frick, Managing Director of Secure Digital Payment at Netcetera, said:
“The MPE Best Regtech award for the Netcetera 3DS Server and SDK is a recognition of our dedication to creating authentic and reliable solutions that absorb the needs of our customers. It’s a confirmation of the professionalism of Netcetera’s highly qualified teams. That is why we dedicate this prestigious award to all great minds working on the solutions and to our customers and payment partners whose work aligns with our mission to secure the digital payment world. Thank you for trusting us. We promise to keep delivering excellence in all we do for you.”
This award goes to the payments orchestration platform that unifies the various aspects of payments processing and enables merchants to optimise their payment processes and simplify the ongoing management of payments acceptance. The judges will be looking for ease of integration, connectivity choice, acceptance & conversion rates, fraud protection improvements, reconciliation & settlement simplification, enhanced analytics and reporting as well as security and compliance. Actual metrics and KPIs must be provided in the answers. Case studies (max 2) are welcome to support the entry. The solution must have been commercially live for at least one year.
According to the criteria, in the "BEST PAYMENTS ORCHESTRATION SOLUTION" Category, the Award goes to the platform that unifies the various aspects of payments processing and enables merchants to optimise their payments processes and simplify the management of their payments stack from start to finish.
„The winner was the company that demonstrated its ability to give: greater control over data, improve transactional flows and create new business rules, create new revenue opportunities through business intelligence and take advantage of ISO 20022 and APIs,“ commented Neira Jones, the Chairman of the MPE 2023 Awards Judging Panel.
Debbie Guerra, CPO, ACI Worldwide
“We are honored to receive this recognition from Merchants Payments Ecosystem (MPE) as the Best Payments Orchestration Solution, acknowledging the investment we have made in creating a unified, sophisticated, customer-centric Payments Orchestration Platform that optimizes conversion, enables growth, and reduces the cost of ownership in payments,” said Debbie Guerra, ACI Worldwide’s Chief Product Officer. “I would be remiss if I did not thank the amazing team of professionals across the entire ACI Worldwide organization who were involved in the development of this solution and who continue to innovate and enhance our payments orchestration to support our customers as they evolve their payment flows and expand to capitalize on new trends.”
Category sponsored by:
Open to any payments businesses with a clear and well-developed ESG strategy who can demonstrate how their strategy is making a substantial positive impact in any of the E,S,G pillars, particularly when supported by technology. This will show evidence of how progress is being made against specific near and long-term objectives such as net-zero, carbon offsetting, UN Sustainable Development Goals, social purpose and supply chain transparency goals. Entries should include a case study of a live initiative or programme as well as up-to-date supporting data/evidence of its impact against the set objectives and a clear definition of KPIs.
According to the criteria, in the CHAIRMAN’S AWARD – BEST ESG INITIATIVE IN PAYMENTS" Category, the Award goes to For 2023, the Chairman’s Award goes to the organization with a clear and well-developed ESG strategy and the winner demonstrated how they made a substantial positive impact in any of the E,S,G pillars, particularly when supported by technology.
„Trust Payments demonstrated positive Environmental impact though migrating from in-house to cloud-based, procuring the bulk of electricity from fully renewable sources, preventing electronic waste through refurbishment, reuse and recycling of IT equipment, and establishing a “Green Team” to identify opportunities for sustainability improvements deployed through various employee engagement initiatives. Social responsibility was evidenced through their “Kickstart” programme, supporting young people with limited opportunities, as well as achieving a female gender balance ratio between 35-42% of the workforce. Governance was achieved through incorporating climate & social risk as new categories within their Enterprise Risk Management framework and a clear set of KPIs,“ commented Neira Jones, the Chairman of the MPE 2023 Awards Judging Panel.
Daniel Holden, CEO of Trust Payments, said: "We are committed to providing our customers with innovative payment solutions that are secure, reliable, and convenient. We also believe that our success should be shared with our communities and the environment, and we will continue to work towards creating a sustainable future. Trust Payments recognition at the MPE awards is a testament to the company‘s commitment to providing exceptional payment services while promoting sustainability and social responsibility.”
This Category is Sponsored by: AIB Merchant Services
Hubert Hubert O'Donoghue, CEO, AIB Merchant Services commented: “Trust Payments have a well-articulated and robust approach to their ESG strategy. They did a fantastic job of showcasing the positive impacts that ESG can have in the payments space, when underpinned by strong technology. Heartfelt congratulations to their team on this win"
To be awarded to the individual (or team) who has provided a significant contribution to the development of the Merchant Payments Ecosystem either on a domestic or international basis.
MPE Awards - are The Only European Awards recognizing TOP merchant payments acceptance companies and their achievements.
With a category for each player of the merchant payment ecosystem, the Awards are all-inclusive. No other European awards program provides such industry-wide recognition in true reflection of the breadth and strength of our industry.
MPE Award winners will be able to promote their accomplishment all year long.
All winners will be given a MPE 2023 Awards logo and jury testimonials to be used in their PR & marketing activities in addition to special coverage from Merchant Payments Ecosystem Awards & conference. Winners will record personal acceptance video that will be uploaded on MPE Awards website and MPE TV YouTube channel and further promoted through MPE channels.
See MPE 2022 Awards Winners testimonials here
You can enter the contest until Feb 10, 2023.
Important note: Contestants enrolling for the Innovation Hub at MPE, aspiring to win the „MPE Innovator of the Year“ award, should submit their entries also until Feb 28, 2023. Also, their submission process and overall management differs from the rest of the award categories. Please refer to the MPE Innovation Hub section to see the steps and eligibility to enter.
Any company qualifying as part of the payment acceptance value chain worldwide.
Anybody working as part of a team or department responsible for a particular solution/service (one to become a subject of the entry), a marketing, communication or PR specialist whom has been appointed this task or who is generally responsible for awards submissions.
The sole process of sending the application is done via an online form and is thoroughly described in the next section as well as the steps you need to do before you actually submit anything.
You can enter maximum of three categories.
Yes, you can enter the same category/categories with the same or different product/service. You can also enter category/categories you have not attended before with a product/service you have previously used. However, if you previously won any of the categories, please also refer to the next point.
Definitely, the only condition here is that you cannot enter neither the same nor the rest of the categories with the same product/service you won with previously. However, you can enter the same category you won previously with a different product/service.
MPE Awards is very prestigious and unique in its concept. Therefore, you should carefully consider your choice. The awards ceremony traditionally takes place on the second night of the three day conference. Since the conference itself is attended by senior representatives, there is a pretty good chance you already have the right person on spot. As winning parties are notified several days prior to the ceremony, you will have enough time to appoint the proper member of your crew to pick up your prize. If you won the „Acquiring Personality of the Year“ category, well, it is your call to take what is yours :-)
Recognition and prestige. You being the winner, it is our commitment to make sure your name is spelled in the organizer.
The major card and payments acceptance media after the conference. A separate PR campaign utilizing the world-class media distribution companies follows your success hand-in-hand with social media coverage performed by us.
The MPE went the more challenging way of finding highly skilled and reputable artists to create unique Guiding Hand statuettes, using valuable materials with designs changed from year to year, reflecting the current trends and important happenings in the payment industry.
In 2014 we started our cooperation with renowned Croatian artist Gordana Turuk. Gordana creates all her masterpieces by skillfully mixing organic glass and precious metals.
She continues to design the MPE statuette also for 2023...