Hello, I'm Mike Fowler. I write about the ways businesses get paid, and how to make them better.
I'm an enterprise payments leader based in Melbourne. My work spans card-present, card-not-present and account-to-account payments, and the platform integrations that bring them together inside the software businesses already use.
Here I share what I'm seeing across merchant payments, real-time rails and commerce in Australia. Practical, plain English, no hype.
What I write about
Account-to-account and PayTo
Real-time rails, the NPP and what A2A means for receivables, cash flow and cost.
Platform integrations
Embedding payments in the commerce and accounting platforms businesses run on.
Merchant acquiring
Acceptance in every channel, routing, surcharging, tokenisation and the economics underneath.
Commerce and marketplaces
How Australians shop, and how brands grow through marketplaces and digital channels.
Selected writing
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The Rise of Digital Wallets and What's in Store for the Future
Digital wallets offer a faster, safer and more convenient way to pay in store and online. Where adoption is heading, and what comes next.
Account-to-Account Payments: An American's Perspective from Australia
Australia's real-time rails are years ahead. What it would take for US banks to offer the same seamless A2A experience.
The Future of Commerce: Seamless Payments in a Click
Fewer steps to checkout, smarter tokenisation, digital wallets and a leaner payment stack for today's digital customers.
The Future of Fraud Prevention in the Payments Industry
How AI and machine learning spot fraud patterns, lift authorisation rates and cut false declines.
Network Tokenization to Prevent Fraud and Risk: Part I
Why tokenisation is central to a modern payment strategy, from fraud and risk to loyalty and customer experience.
Merchant Surcharging: Considerations for Businesses
Surcharging in card-present and card-not-present environments, the common misconceptions, and both sides of the debate.
PayTo: A New Payment Revolution for Businesses
Why account-to-account payments are on every business's radar, and what the NPP and PayTo mean for how merchants get paid.
Merchant Choice Routing: What is It?
How least-cost routing lets merchants choose the most cost-effective path for each transaction.