Q&A: Donal McGuinness, CEO, Prommt
Founded in 2017, Prommt is a payments platform that is revolutionising payments for enterprises and their clients. Its innovative solutions enable fast, frictionless card and open banking payments anytime, anywhere.
Prommt is an enterprise-grade solution that is built for teams, supporting multiple locations, and provides powerful reporting and alerting capabilities. It is trusted by industry leaders across the automotive, luxury retail, hospitality, builders merchants, and insurance sectors.
Serial paytech entrepreneur Donal McGuinness is CEO of Prommt. He studied Information Technology at DCU and Telecommunications Engineering at DIT and spent the early years of his career in the telecommunications industry. His experience in mobile payments dates to 1999 when he founded his first mobile payments company, ItsMobile and since then has been working areas covering payments, money remittances and digital identity.
Can you tell us a bit about your background?
I’m the CEO at Prommt, with a background in Information Technology from DCU and Telecommunications Engineering from DIT. I’ve been deeply involved in online and mobile payments since 1999, when I founded my first mobile payments company, ItsMobile. Since then, I’ve worked across payments, money remittances, and digital identity.
Mobile technology, especially mobile payments, has always excited me – particularly now with the advanced tools we have. When I started, we were building solutions on devices like the Nokia 6210! Today, it’s far easier to create seamless payment experiences, making the future of retail payments unpredictable and full of potential. That’s my playground – finding new opportunities for innovation.
In my downtime, you’ll find me rowing – a passion I’ve had since I was 15. Back in the late ‘90s I was on the national rowing team and competed at world championship level picking up a few medals along the way. These days, when I’m not working, I’m often on the River Liffey in Dublin, or occasionally on the Thames when I’m in London. There’s nothing quite as relaxing as the sound and feel of a boat cutting through the water.
What does your company do? / What is your USP?
Founded in 2017 in Dublin, Prommt is a leading payments orchestration platform, transforming how enterprises and their clients manage transactions. We enable fast, frictionless card and open banking payments, trusted by top brands in hospitality, automotive, builders merchants, and luxury retail across Ireland, the UK, Europe, North America, Canada, and Australia.
Built for teams, Prommt offers real-time reporting, alerts, and user management – all from one interface. It’s especially suited for enterprises handling high-value payments, and solving challenges like unpaid transactions, high costs, fraud, and slow collections. With average payment success rates of over 93 percent and some clients cutting card fees by as much as 88 percent, we consistently deliver impactful results.
What sets Prommt apart is our smart payment orchestration tools. Merchants can set automated thresholds to present their preferred payment method – card or bank – based on factors like transaction value, location, or type. They can also create automatic chase paths for failed or abandoned transactions, offering alternative payment methods to complete the sale. This approach helps merchants significantly reduce transaction fees and operational costs, while also lowering the risks of card fraud and chargebacks.
What’s special about the platform and your approach?
Prommt is much more than a pay-by-link solution. Our platform offers a full suite of powerful features, including Autocharge for secure tokenised payments, Group Send for credit control, Recurring Payments for memberships, and Scheduled Reminders and Chase Paths to boost payment success. Every payment request is tailored to reflect the merchant’s brand, building payer confidence and trust throughout the entire process. Prommt can operate as a stand-alone platform or integrate seamlessly with industry systems such as Oracle OPERA (V5 and Cloud) in hospitality and Border CounterAct in Builders merchanting.
What advantage does it add?
With Pay by Bank and Card, merchants can boost payment success rates, cut down on high operational and scheme/interchange costs, save time on payments admin, and reduce risks like fraud, chargebacks, and data breaches. They are able to provide their customers with a safe and simple payments journey that aligns with their brand, reflecting their values and boosting payer confidence and trust. Payers benefit from increased control, convenience, and security, as they no longer need to share sensitive card or bank details over the phone.
Pay by Bank empowers end customers with greater visibility and control over their transactions, account balances, and data. Unlike merchant-initiated direct debits, the payer initiates the payment, which is then pushed to the merchant. Payments are authenticated directly through the banking app in a few taps, ensuring encrypted personal data remains protected and less vulnerable to fraud.
Lastly, having dual payment acceptance rails for the retailers gives contingency if one network goes down (which does happen!).
How does a product/service implementation actually look like and how do you measure success?
Our strong integration capabilities and partnerships with top payment gateways – including Worldpay, Barclaycard, Chase, Stripe, Global Payments, FreedomPay, Elavon, Lloyds Cardnet, AIBMS, BOIPA, and more – enable us to onboard clients quickly and efficiently. Prommt’s licensed partner for Pay by Bank is Token.io, an A2A payment infrastructure provider powered by open banking and built for the payments industry.
Typically, onboarding with Prommt takes two to three weeks, during which we integrate with the client’s existing payment gateway. For Pay by Bank, we can often complete onboarding in just a few days, provided KYB/AML regulatory requirements are met. We also provide comprehensive training for merchant teams and design custom-branded templates that align perfectly with their brand identity.
Our success is measured by how well we help clients streamline their payment processes, cut operational costs, and reduce admin, fraud, and chargebacks. We’re proud of our consistently low churn rate, which remains under 0.2 percent. While meeting revenue targets and increasing Total Payment Volume are key objectives, our main priority is delivering exceptional value to our clients.
How are retailers using your systems to gain competitive advantage and what does best practice look like?
Our client success team helps retailers fully leverage our platform by effectively orchestrating between Pay by Bank and Card. Pay by Bank offers a secure and cost-effective solution for high-value transactions, while Card payments are ideal for smaller amounts like deposits, servicing, and parts.
For example, one of our clients – an automotive auctioneer, now processes 85 percent of their payments through Pay by Bank. With a high average transaction value post auction, they had incurred significant card processing fees and operational costs for years before introducing Pay by Bank in Q3 2022. Initially, they processed around £500,000 through Pay by Bank and £2 million through card payments per quarter. Since then, the situation has reversed: they now process over £3.5 million quarterly via Pay by Bank. Card payments still remained critically important, particularly for smaller deposits, servicing, and parts.
Can you share a case study with us?
Yes – Motorpoint, a leading UK auto dealer, saved over £100,000 in under eight months by reducing merchant fees and simplifying payment collection with Pay by Bank. You can read their full case study on our website here.
Are there other companies you partner with?
We have an extensive network of partnerships that enhance the value of our solutions. We collaborate with major payment gateways, including Worldpay, Barclaycard, Chase, Stripe, Global Payments, FreedomPay, Elavon, Lloyds Cardnet, AIBMS, and BOIPA. We also work with banks like HSBC and are licensed with Token.io for Pay by Bank. Additionally, we partner with industry bodies such as HRS Hospitality & Retail Systems, HOSPA, and the Irish Hotels Federation, and integrate with systems like Oracle OPERA (V5 and Cloud) and Border CounterAct.
What challenges are retailers facing in 2024?
In 2023, the global retail sector lost $429 billion USD to payment fraud. Nearly half of all businesses worldwide faced some form of fraudulent activity, cyber-attacks, or data breaches over the past year – an increase of 32% compared to 2022.
Looking ahead, the biggest challenge for retail payments and payment technology will be combating fraud and outsmarting fraudsters. This requires urgent investment in secure payment processes and robust fraud prevention measures, including data encryption, tokenisation, strict data governance, access controls, and adherence to global compliance standards.
As AI technology advances, so do the tactics of criminals. With the rise of open banking payments, fraudsters are already exploiting new opportunities, as seen with the increase in Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud.
How will you address these challenges and turn them into successes?
Prommt helps prevent APP fraud in open banking by boosting payer confidence and preventing malicious redirection through the power of context. We provide clear and effective merchant-branded communication throughout the payment process, allowing end customers to view detailed information about their payments. This transparency reduces the risk of payers falling victim to scams and decreases the likelihood of Prommt’s clients being held liable for fraud.
At Prommt, customer trust and security are our top priorities. We ensure the protection of merchant data with enterprise-level security across our platform and payment processes.
- Compliance
Prommt is PCI-DSS Level 1 Certified and conducts regular external ASV scans and penetration tests. Our security practices are integrated into our SDLC, with vulnerability scans included in every deployment. We also ensure PSD2 and SCA compliance for card checkouts.
- Data Protection
We adhere to consumer privacy regulations, including TCPA, the UK Data Protection Act 2018, and EU GDPR. All client data is processed and stored within the EEA.
- Security by Design
Our secure code follows the OWASP standard, supported by top providers like Amazon Web Services for optimal security, response time, and uptime, maintaining 99.9% or higher availability.
- Password Encryption
Credentials are encrypted using bcrypt with PBKDF. Two-factor authentication (2FA) is available for all accounts, with role-based permissions in place.
- Secure Payment Journeys
We offer secure payment journeys that are seamlessly integrated into the merchant’s site, starting with Email and SMS notifications, leading to a secure checkout, and ending with an email receipt and alert. Links feature a recognizable URL and secure payment forms for both card and bank transactions.
What are some fintech and open banking trends to watch for over the next 5-10 years?
PSD3, the EU’s upcoming Payment Services Directive set for 2026, represents a major leap forward in open banking by building on PSD2’s foundations. Its goals include enhancing open banking APIs, boosting adoption of related services, and focusing on key areas like fraud prevention, consumer protection, and fair access to payment systems.
PSD3 introduces stronger fraud prevention measures by expanding the scope of IBAN and name checks, placing the onus on payment providers to ensure accurate payment details. This shift will drive greater demand for Confirmation of Payee services and help reduce misdirected payments and fraud. Additionally, PSD3 enhances customer control and security by requiring Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) across various devices, using a range of authentication methods.
Open banking will continue to improve invoicing, cut operational and admin costs, and mitigate fraud, chargebacks, and data breaches. With the integration of AI, payments orchestration will become even smarter, further driving open banking adoption across all sectors.
What is on the horizon for you as a company?
Currently, our strongest markets are Ireland and the UK, but we also serve clients in Europe, Canada, USA and Australia. We’ve recently onboarded several prominent luxury retailers and hotels in the US, and we’re set to expand further into North America – driven by close relationships with our partner network and building the team on the ground.
At the same time, Europe presents exciting opportunities for open banking. Consumers are eager for smooth, frictionless payment experiences and are familiar with online transactions, 3D Secure, and SCA. Merchants are keen to protect their margins amidst rising costs. Our Pay by Bank solution addresses these needs by offering a cost-effective, streamlined payment process with less administrative hassle.
Any final thoughts?
Check out our latest Pay by Bank client insights paper, where we unveil key findings to date. Discover:
- The role of Card in driving Pay by Bank adoption: How many Prommt clients are embracing Pay by Bank through our payment orchestration tools, and what’s motivating them?
- The impressive savings: How much are our clients saving with Pay by Bank in just a few months?
- Comparative success rates: How does Pay by Bank stack up against Card in terms of payment success rates?
- Pay by Bank’s share of total payment volume (TPV): What percentage does it account for?
- Leading industry sector: Which sector dominates with over 88% of TPV, featuring a remarkable £95,000 single transaction?
- Average transaction value (ATV) analysis: How does Pay by Bank’s ATV compare to Card, and which sector boasts the highest ATV at £3,746?
About Prommt
Founded in 2017, Prommt is a payments platform that is revolutionising payments for enterprises and their clients. Its innovative solutions enable fast, frictionless card and open banking payments anytime, anywhere. Prommt is an enterprise-grade solution that is built for teams, supporting multiple locations, and provides powerful reporting and alerting capabilities. It is trusted by industry leaders across the automotive, luxury retail, hospitality, builders merchants, and insurance sectors. Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, Prommt is used by businesses today across Europe and North America. It is the winner of the Best Open Banking Service Initiative awarded by Global Payments Innovation Awards 2023, as well as a finalist for the Best Open Banking/A2A Initiative at The Payments Association’s Pay360 Awards 2024.
Curious to learn more about how Prommt can help you? Get in touch – www.prommt.com
