Case study: How UAE’s Mercury Payments Services fast-tracked its cloud migration with Oracle

The global landscape of payments and transactions is changing rapidly, owing to an increased number of enterprises and consumer appetite for digital transformation. According to Mordor Intelligence, the transaction value for the global digital payments market was $7.36tn in 2021 and is projected to be worth $15.27tn by 2027, registering a CAGR of 12.38 per cent from 2022-2027.

Furthermore, the technological advancements in smartphones, digital payment cards, and POS at retail terminals are fueling the market’s growth. In addition, the rapid rise in smartphone penetration across emerging economies, primarily in the Middle East region, is also expected to impact market growth positively.

Simplifying payments
Niche players in the digital landscape payments segment have emerged to offer diverse services, especially during the pandemic. Among those leading the market in this domain is Mercury Payments Services. Headquartered in the UAE, Mercury Payments was acquired by a private company from Network International and First Abu Dhabi Bank. Mercury Payments Services facilitates payments in the region by connecting customers, banks, government bodies, and enterprises.

“Mercury Payments Services was formed with a mission to democratise financial services,” said Nihad Nazir, chief digital and technology officer at the company. “We sought to provide payment services to the UAE’s traditionally disenfranchised unbanked populace. When the UAE Central Bank and the Ministry of Labour introduced the UAE Wage Protection System (WPS) initiative, it aimed to displace cash payments for salaries using digital payment methods such as cards or bank accounts. We intended to educate people about the benefits of utilising digital payment cards that are accepted at ATMs and POS devices.”

“We started our journey by looking at the WPS salary segment, and being one of the leading players in this segment currently, our vision and strategy is to make payments completely safe, secure and smart for all our stakeholders using the most advanced technologies,” added Nazir.

Cloud adoption is key
Over the last two years, almost every industry, including digital payments, has adopted cloud computing. Cloud-based applications provide the potential to scale up services as well as customer experience. To securely migrate business processes, Mercury Payments Services recently partnered with one of the region’s leading cloud players – Oracle. Having adopted a rapid implementation methodology, the execution of Oracle cloud applications was successful and completed in 15 days from the signing of the contract.

Nazir recalls how they were looking for an all-in-one solution and found Oracle to fit their needs perfectly. “We wanted it to be wholly cloud-based and did not want to adopt a traditional approach of choosing multiple vendors. The project that we completed and the speed with which we have been able to do it have helped us go to the market with a new strategy faster. We witnessed a seamless implementation process with Oracle coaching us right from signing the project until we went live.”

“Oracle not only ticked all our requirements but also completed the implementation successfully in 15 days. So clearly, speed to market agility has already been demonstrated in this partnership with the solutions that Oracle brought to the table.”

Meanwhile, Ashish Dass, senior director at Oracle Digital – Lower and Upper Gulf, believes that for a successful project, it is vital for the customer to understand the process and adopt the best practices. “The implementation process can take two to three months depending on the customer and the complexity. However, we have a process for startups with a more structured approach. But it is important for customers to adopt it and trust us, which Mercury Payments Services did, which helped get the general ledger to detail,” noted Dass.

The way forward
Oracle plans to continue this trend as it believes that in today’s age, everything is getting commoditised, and customers and businesses are looking for quicker, faster and more reliable solutions. “Based on the industries and organisations, we are setting up a standard rapid implementation process that will allow customers to go faster,” said Dass.

Mercury Payments Services plans to use Oracle for various other projects in the future, including ERP. “All of our applications are cloud-based, and we have further planned to digitise our business, giving it a more fintech outlook in the way we operate. Oracle will be a strategic partner in helping drive our digital transformation strategy,” observed Nazir. “Given that Oracle is one of the biggest players in banking and financial service, we are looking to continue this partnership and adopt several other capabilities they have to offer.”

“It’s crucial to know that we are a one-stop-shop global organisation, and we provide services to industries including payments, e-wallets, QR code scan, QR code signatures. So we not only aim to be a long-term strategic partner, but our customers will also be able to demonstrate value through the adoption of our services,” concluded Dass.

Read: Oracle announces second cloud region in the UAE