{"id":150948,"date":"2020-01-15T06:00:05","date_gmt":"2020-01-15T11:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/?p=150948"},"modified":"2020-01-16T07:28:41","modified_gmt":"2020-01-16T12:28:41","slug":"ictp-088-caribbean-e-commerce-payment-space-eyes-atlantic-commerce-christopher-burns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2020\/01\/ictp-088-caribbean-e-commerce-payment-space-eyes-atlantic-commerce-christopher-burns\/","title":{"rendered":"ICTP 088:  The Caribbean e-commerce payment space through the eyes of First Atlantic Commerce, with Christopher Burns"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>To a considerable degree, Caribbean businesses still have not been able to fully leverage e-commerce and online payments. In our conversation with Christopher Burns, CEO of \u00a0the payment gateway, First Atlantic Commerce, we discuss the company and its offering, including possible solutions for MSMEs, along with trends in the online payments and wider fintech space, generally, and in the Caribbean region.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/743707540&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>This episode is also available in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/ict-pulse-podcast\/id1373550291\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple iTunes<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/playmusic.app.goo.gl\/?ibi=com.google.PlayMusic&amp;isi=691797987&amp;ius=googleplaymusic&amp;apn=com.google.android.music&amp;link=https:\/\/play.google.com\/music\/m\/Icau5acn2xiyl5yjuh7orl2mt54?t%3DICT_Pulse_Podcast%26pcampaignid%3DMKT-na-all-co-pr-mu-pod-16\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Google Play Music<\/a> and on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stitcher.com\/podcast\/ict-pulse-podcast?refid=stpr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stitcher<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you had not realised it before, there has been a concerted effort across the Caribbean to make electronic (e-)commerce and the use of online payment facilities more accessible to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across the region. From <a href=\"https:\/\/wipaytoday.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WiPay<\/a> out of Trinidad and Tobago, to <a href=\"https:\/\/ching.exchange\/\">Ching<\/a>, out of the British Virgin Islands, and the soon to be launched <a href=\"http:\/\/www.loopjamaica.com\/content\/local-it-provider-completing-build-out-digital-e-commerce-platform\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Q-Mall<\/a>, out of Jamaica, these are just a few of the e-commerce solutions that are available in the region.<\/p>\n<p>Although many of those platforms seek to provide a better customer experience, and to simplify the process through which businesses secure online payment services, there are still underpinned by the traditional structures needed to deliver that service: such as the commercial banks and the payment gateway providers. One of the most widely used payment gateways in the Caribbean region is <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstatlanticcommerce.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">First Atlantic Commerce<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>First Atlantic Commerce, an online payment and fraud and data management solutions provider, which is headquartered in Bermuda, provides its services primarily to the Caribbean region, and to Latin America. It has established relationships with all of the major banks in the English-speaking Caribbean, and so its solutions underpin a significant proportion of the online payment platforms and services offered by businesses based in the region.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_150954\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-150954\" data-attachment-id=\"150954\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2020\/01\/ictp-088-caribbean-e-commerce-payment-space-eyes-atlantic-commerce-christopher-burns\/christopher-burns_oct_2018-first-atlantic-commerce\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Christopher-Burns_Oct_2018-First-Atlantic-Commerce.jpg?fit=300%2C288&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"300,288\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Christopher Burns_Oct_2018 (First Atlantic Commerce)\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Christopher Burns&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Christopher-Burns_Oct_2018-First-Atlantic-Commerce.jpg?fit=300%2C288&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Christopher-Burns_Oct_2018-First-Atlantic-Commerce.jpg?fit=300%2C288&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"size-full wp-image-150954\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fgd.dfv.mybluehost.me\/.website_c81a1e61\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Christopher-Burns_Oct_2018-First-Atlantic-Commerce.jpg?resize=300%2C288&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"288\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-150954\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Christopher Burns<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Hence, cognisant of the effort that is being made to develop more accessible e-commerce solutions for the region, we thought it opportune to continue to examine the Caribbean online payment space, along with trends that might be evident, through the lens of First Atlantic Commerce, and with our guest <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/burnschristopher\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Christopher Burns<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Christopher is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of First Atlantic Commerce. He joined the company in 2004 and was appointed CEO in September, 2011. Christopher has extensive experience in international and domestic card payments systems, e-commerce, and in point-of-sale acquiring. Prior to becoming CEO, Christopher served as Senior Vice President of Business Development, where he was responsible for all aspects of client relationship management, bank acquirer relationships and strategic partnerships. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Business Management and worked in the United Kingdom for many years before returning to Bermuda.<\/p>\n<p>Some of questions posed to Christopher during the course of our discussion with him included the following:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Tell us a bit more about First Atlantic Commerce and the services it offers<\/li>\n<li>Who are First Atlantic Commerce\u2019s customers, and who are\u00a0its competitors?<\/li>\n<li>How has the online payments space evolved since Christopher have been at First Atlantic Commerce?<\/li>\n<li>What are some of the trends happening in the digital payments, or even the wider fintech, space in the region of which we should be aware?<\/li>\n<li>How has the Caribbean customer evolved since Christopher has been with First Atlantic Commerce?<\/li>\n<li>What is the process to secure services from First Atlantic Commerce?<\/li>\n<li>What is the scope for online payment integration by MSMEs, in light of the banking regulation challenges that still exist in Caribbean region?<\/li>\n<li>What does the solution, \u201ce-Commerce in a Box\u201d, do, and how does it work?<\/li>\n<li>What are 3 (to 5) questions Christopher would advise a firm to ask, if it is looking to secure online payments support?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>We would love to hear your thoughts!<\/p>\n<p>Do leave us a comment either here beneath this article, or on our <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ICTPulse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Facebook<\/a><\/strong> or <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/ict-pulse-consulting-limited\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/strong> pages, or via Twitter, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ICTPulse\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@ICTPulse<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Select links<\/h3>\n<p>Below are links to some of the organisations and resources that either were mentioned during the episode, or otherwise, might be useful:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/burnschristopher\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Christopher Burns<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstatlanticcommerce.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">First Atlantic Commerce<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Payment_Card_Industry_Data_Security_Standard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/paypal.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PayPal<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.authorize.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Authorize.Net<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/techbeach.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tech Beach<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dhl.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DHL Express<\/a><\/li>\n<li>FAC press release, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstatlanticcommerce.com\/news\/fygaro-dhl-and-first-atlantic-commerce-partner-to-launch-e-commerce-in-a-box-a-full-service-solution-for-caribbean-smes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fygaro, DHL and First Atlantic Commerce Partner to Launch E-Commerce-in- a-Box, a Full-Service Solution for Caribbean SMEs<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fygaro.com\/en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fygaro\/e-Commerce in a Box<\/a><\/li>\n<li>BBC Click video clip, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/pI_JZKDWlaI?t=73\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Can China Overtake Silicon Valley<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/kount.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kount<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstatlanticcommerce.com\/powertranz\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PowerTranz<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstatlanticcommerce.com\/fraud-risk-management\/3d-secure\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">3D Secure<sup>TM<\/sup><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Image credits:\u00a0 Photo Mix\u00a0(<a href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pixabay<\/a>);\u00a0 First Atlantic Commerce<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Music credit:\u00a0 Ray Holman<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To a considerable degree, Caribbean businesses still have not been able to fully leverage e-commerce and online payments. In our conversation with Christopher Burns, CEO of \u00a0the payment gateway, First [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150956,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[355],"tags":[71,292,115,357,15],"class_list":["post-150948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-podcast","tag-businesses","tag-e-commerce","tag-e-transactions","tag-interviews","tag-trends","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Holiday-Online-Shopping-Smartphone-Phone-Woman-Hand-e-Commerce-Photo-Mix-Pixabay-jpg.jpg?fit=1024%2C682&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2iE1G-DgE","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150948"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150948"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150962,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150948\/revisions\/150962"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}