What a Modern Integrated Payment System Delivers
In Brief: In the fast-paced world of independent software development, innovation is the name of the game. As businesses evolve, so do customer expectations, and an outdated payment system can quickly become a speed bump on the road to growth. An out-of-date integrated payment system can negatively impact your customer experience and hinder revenue growth. This article provides five key signs that your program has become outdated and offers actionable tips to modernize it.
Before deciding whether to modernize an integrated payment system, let’s remind ourselves of what an efficient, streamlined solution can offer an independent software vendor’s business. It creates a frictionless experience by allowing customers to accept transactions directly within your software, streamlining their payment processes. This reduces friction and drop-off rates and simplifies the accounting and payment reconciliation process. The result is an enhancement in the customer experience, a key factor in customer retention.
Integrating secure, reliable payment options into a software product also builds trust with your customers. When they feel confident their customers’ payment information is secure, they are more likely to adopt your payment capability. Moreover, enhancements such as automated recurring payments boost efficiency, accelerate revenue collection, and lighten the load on accounts receivable teams.
When Payment Systems Go Stale
Payments aren’t a “set it and forget it” solution. As technology advances—and customer expectations evolve—what once seemed state-of-the-art can quickly become obsolete. When integrated payments go stale, they lose their ability to deliver benefits to your software business and introduce risk to your customer base.
Dated payment systems may not adhere to the latest security standards or be equipped to tackle new cyber threats, making them prime targets for hackers and fraudsters. The reputational damage and financial fallout from a security breach can be devastating, potentially eroding customer trust and loyalty.
Aging payment systems often lack modern features that customers have come to expect, such as digital wallets, mobile payments, compliant surcharging, payments across omnichannel environments, and embedded financing options. Software vendors that fail to keep pace with these expectations risk losing customers to competitors who offer more versatile payment options.
Five Signs It’s Time to Upgrade
Knowing when it’s time to upgrade your integrated payment system is crucial for remaining competitive in your market. Here are several clear indicators your payment system is outdated and requires immediate attention.
- Payment options that no longer meet customer needs: Customer needs are evolving, with features like omnichannel integration now playing a key part in your customers’ business. If you’re receiving requests for omnichannel payment integration, or other features such as mobile payments, digital wallets, or finance options that you can’t accommodate, it’s a sign you’re lagging behind in the payment technology race.
- Compliance concerns that affect customer trust: Companies handling personal data, including payment information, carry an extra compliance burden under regulations such as PCI DSS. If this is becoming a business risk, then it’s time to consider modernizing to reduce your own regulatory risk while boosting customer trust. This will enable your customers to offload the handling of credit card details onto a capable third-party provider, whereby reducing their PCI scope.
- Maintenance issues that slow down customer-focused innovation: A payment system should feature flexible programming interfaces that are easy to implement. If you find yourself needing to retool your software every time there is a technology change on the payment processing side, consider a change that will allow you to refocus your efforts on customer-centric innovation rather than your payment integration.
- Cumbersome customer onboarding process: Onboarding doesn’t have to be immediate, but your customers should be approved and ready to accept payments within a day or two. The boarding process should offer self-service options and customer assistance options provided by your payment partner.
- Inferior customer experience: Customer experience comprises multiple aspects of your payment integration. These include functionality, pricing for credit card processing, and timely service and support. Customer complaints are a clear indicator that something is lacking in the payment experience. Unfortunately, not all customers complain, sometimes they just leave. If your integrated payments system is powered by some of the larger legacy providers, pricing and service may not be up to your standards. So, it’s important to keep tabs on how your customers view your payments program.
Steps to Modernizing Integrated Payments
If you’ve determined it’s time to upgrade your integrated payment system, the next step is to develop a strategic modernization plan. Start with an assessment and gap analysis. Evaluate your current payment system’s capability, service record, customer pricing, and security metrics. Identify gaps between your current capabilities in these areas and what you know customers need based on surveys and user group feedback. Use this information to create your project requirements.
Next, leverage these requirements to evaluate your options. Engage with your current integration partner to determine if they can meet your needs and timeline. If they can’t or won’t, it may be time to seek a new payment partner who can fulfill your requirements, potentially replacing the existing one.
When looking for another partner, evaluate candidates based on criteria including the strength of their security measures, regulatory compliance, and workload scalability. Take note of their approach to service, the breadth of payment options that they offer, and their alignment with your own business values. A provider that meets these criteria can help future-proof your payment system, ensuring it remains secure, efficient, and capable of meeting evolving customer expectations.
For more on this topic, read our article Five Things to Look For in an Integrated Payment Partner.
Future-Proof Your Payment Systems Now
Keeping your integrated payment systems up to date is more important than ever. Modernizing these systems enhances customer experience, directly impacting satisfaction and retention while positioning your company to attract new customers and enhance your growth potential. Enhanced integrated payment capabilities also drive more revenue by meeting your customers’ evolving needs. With this in mind, it’s time to assess your integrated payment systems and consider an upgrade to stay ahead of the competition and continue thriving in a rapidly evolving market.
