In today's fast-paced digital landscape, Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) need to develop solutions to help merchants deliver superior customer experiences that increase sales and brand loyalty. One of the most important aspects of a great customer experience is payments. The problem is most ISVs aren’t payments experts. As an ISV, unless you want to become a payments company, you need to lean on partners that can help you understand how to develop solutions with integrated payments. But what are integrated payments, and why are they important?
Put simply, integrated payments provide a seamless method for businesses to process transactions within software solutions. Unlike traditional payment systems, where payment processing exists as a separate process, integrated payments offer a unified approach, binding transaction processes with other business operations.
Integrated payments involve a series of touchpoints or opportunities where ISVs can take the hassle — friction — out of the payments process. Here’s how that can work.
There are four main touchpoints where integrated payments can facilitate more efficiency and transparency.
Merchant onboarding sets the tone for merchants to get a glimpse of how their experience will be using your software. And, as they say, it’s important to make a good first impression. The questions to think about here are how you want that process to go. In the past, ISVs have relied on paper applications and manual processes; however, with integrated payments, you can handle onboarding in a streamlined fashion via online applications or create a totally customized onboarding process via APIs.
This is especially important in an era when merchants are looking for low or no friction in the onboarding process. The fact is, onboarding doesn’t have to be tedious and repetitive. Payroc offers a straightforward, user-friendly onboarding experience that can be automated using our Onboarding API or handled by our team if you’re looking to provide an extra level of personal service.
Speaking of no and low friction, merchants expect transaction processing to be seamless, whether it’s in card-present or card-not-present scenarios. You also need to offer a wide array of payment types across all channels. The challenge with offering multiple payment types is the coordination across payment processors and providers for set up and troubleshooting problems.
Payroc solves for that. As a full-service acquirer and gateway, we can serve as the single source for all payment types and control all aspects of the payment chain to provide the best end-to-end solution. We have options for card-present, card-not-present, ACH for cash or checks, and even PAD for Canadian payments. Of course, if you want to work with individual payment processors for each payment type, you can. But why?
The demand for dynamic and complex settlements is more important than ever. Contractual relationships and partnerships have made the traditional, single-settlement scenario almost obsolete. Today’s merchants may need to settle various portions of revenue to multiple banks and sources. They need those settlements to be error-proof and synchronous.
These inherent complexities have to be set up correctly during initial integration, and they must be easy to maintain and adjust as more funding destinations are identified. Payroc’s settlements API streamlines funding and settlement processes to facilitate nearly any type of funding arrangement and payments partner through our platform. Regardless of granularity, you can easily direct funds anywhere.
Another opportunity for the advantage of integrated payments is the insightful reporting you can use and provide to help make strategic decisions. Merchants need to leverage key data points to help identify which payment types and channels are most popular, how demographics impact buying habits, trends in returns and refunds, and even measures to prevent fraud.
Again, traditional solutions have required merchants to jump through a series of hoops or use manual processes to glean this information. However, a truly competitive solution will allow merchants to design and generate their own reports through a self-serve portal.
Payroc provides everything from direct access to our Insights Portal to full-scale white labeling that embeds reporting into your solution. You can also extract and leverage data into your own proprietary systems via our Settlement APIs.
Specifically, our reporting capabilities can highlight:
Another aspect of the integrated payments spectrum is what happens after implementation.
In addition to including the integrated payments touchpoints highlighted already, you also need to think about how you’ll continue to stay abreast of payments trends as they develop. Remember, the payments ecosystem is evolving with technology innovations — nothing stays static. So, the more forward-thinking you are and the more adaptable your solution can be, the less likely it is that your merchants will start shopping around as new payments technology is introduced.
That’s where Payroc truly shines in the integrated payments space. Our integration process is one of the most hands-on in the business — where our team walks your team through every step. And, after integration, every ISV is assigned a dedicated partner manager and support team to ensure a smooth journey, prompt support, and swift escalation when needed. Our hands-on approach ensures you’ll never feel isolated or unsupported. What’s more, as technology advances, so does our technology. You’ll keep pace with payments innovation as it’s happening.
In the ever-evolving realm of digital transactions, integrated payments are no longer a luxury but a necessity. And in this journey, having a partner like Payroc can make all the difference. For more information about Payroc’s leadership in integrated payments and payments technology, contact us.