With demand for frictionless commerce at an all-time high, integrating payments directly into your application will help create an uninterrupted customer experience. There’s no doubt adding a payments component will make your software more valuable and attractive. It will improve operational efficiencies for your clients by sharing payment data with your point of sale (POS) or accounting software. It will also enhance customers’ experience by not redirecting them to a separate checkout page.
However, you need to approach adding payment capabilities to an application strategicially, and many solutions providers tend to repeat the same mistakes. As many independent software vendors (ISVs) and value-added resellers (VARs) have learned, choosing the right payments solution partner is critical to avoiding missteps and successfully integrating payments.
1. Not utilizing all your payment partner’s features
Today’s customers want apps that are accessible from multiple devices and channels and offer simplicity, security and choice. Supporting multiple payments options at all points of interaction will enable consumers to transact in their preferred ways when they shop online, in stores and on digital apps. Customers may want to check out with local currencies, contactless payment methods, QR codes, text-to-pay, text-pay invoicing, and other alternative payment schemes. Moreover, those preferences continually change. For example, e-commerce and in-store contactless payments rose exponentially during the pandemic.
When integrating payments, you need to choose a payment solution provider that gives your clients the flexibility to grow, scale, and continuously adapt to consumer preferences, security, and compliance requirements. By partnering with a payments provider with a flexible, adaptable framework that continually adds capabilities, your business and your clients will stay agile, relevant, and futureproof, supporting all of the payment options your clients need today and enabling new payment methods as they arise.
2. Integrating with multiple payment solution providers
A knowledgeable, experienced payment solutions partner can help you navigate the complexities of integrating payments in your software while tailoring integration to your specific requirements. It’s critical to assess each payment solutions partner’s value, deliverables, and steps involved in integration. A collaborative partner can help create a commerce ecosystem that enables your enterprise, clients, and end-users to seamlessly transact across channels, networks, and devices.
Achieving end-to-end payment capabilities requires multiple specializations, and many ISVs mistakenly believe they need multiple partners to accomplish a project of this scope. They may think a service provider specializing in brick-and-mortar payments may not be familiar with the nuances of eCommerce payments. In fact, working with multiple integration partners would make it nearly impossible to deliver a truly seamless commerce experience. An omnichannel payments integration partner can guide you through enabling every type of payment your clients need.
3. Choosing a solution from a company without experience in your vertical
Before integrating payments, it is critical to find a provider that understands your industry and can help you mitigate risk, optimize approvals, and qualify for the best possible pricing. The payments industry evaluates merchant accounts by their risk profiles, industries, and the ways in which they accept payments. This highly specialized approach to approving and pricing transactions is reflected in extensive payment card interchange tables and hundreds of merchant category codes.
The finer points of payments vary by industry, and a knowledgeable processing partner can help strategically adapt processing solutions for high-risk, highly regulated categories, such as the cannabis industry, to ensure compliance and improve the customer experience. A good partner can help qualified service providers improve margins by adding B2B Level 3 processing, and credit card surcharging to their payment flows.
Don’t Be a Cautionary Tale
Creating a universal payments integration will empower your entire value chain by delivering a unified commerce experience across brick and mortar, online, mobile and unattended applications. When entering into a payments integration partnership, the biggest mistake an ISVs or VAR can make is not thoroughly vetting a payment processing provider. It’s worth noting the first company you interview may not be your best option.
Considering how much payments integration will impact your enterprise, channel partners and end-user customers, it makes sense to assess your partner’s ability to leverage available features, support all payment methods and meet your industry’s unique requirements. Ultimately, you need a payment solution provider that is equally invested in your partnership and growth. Take your time, avoid mistakes, and make sure your decision will benefit your clients and business for years to come.
