Greg Cohen is the chief executive officer of fortisa leading integrated trading platform.
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The digital revolution is in full swing and the macro trend of digitization and migration to modern software platforms has not slowed down. Analysts expect digital share of total retail sales to approach 25% by 2025 and digital “affected” sales by up to nearly 40% — not just for business-to-consumer sales, but for companies across numerous channels and segments.
This shift to digital, along with the ability to create better experiences and monetize payments, has made many leaders in software companies, especially those serving other businesses, think about the topic of payment facilitation and turn payments into a strategic asset. . Business leaders understand that the ability to easily purchase products and services is an essential part of the customer experience, but some have not yet fully connected the dots within their organization.
What is payment facilitation?
All involved, including card brands, payment providers and processors, have a precise definition of payment facilitation. But for B2B business leaders, it should be pretty easy. Payment facilitation is the ability for you – as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider, software platform, independent software vendor, etc. – to enable downstream businesses or merchants to accept payments with ease. This is preferably achieved through an integrated, secure and seamless way that is invisible to buyers in all areas from enrollment to payment acceptance to reporting and reconciliation.
This goes beyond traditional payfaces because it creates a unique experience that fits the specific needs of an organization. Payment facilitation in this sense is basically trade facilitation because it enables software vendors to enable customers to perform seamless payment transactions.
3 strategies for implementing payment facilitation
As companies increasingly interact in the digital world, leadership becomes more urgent software platforms to facilitate payments. It is not a matter of bringing in revenue, although that is important. It’s also about turning trade facilitation into a competitive advantage. Making payments invisible and painless is important for platforms to accelerate cash flow and increase sales, keeping customers coming back.
It is important to keep the goal of enabling full trading facilitation in mind when thinking about your approach to driving more trades in your day-to-day operations. Here are some tips that can help you get there.
1. Don’t get caught up in someone’s business model.
There are many different solutions and business models, so if you are considering a payment facilitation decision, you can get input from people who will try to push you towards a specific business model. Not coincidentally, it will likely be the one supplying their company. Don’t be tempted.
The truth is that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Whether an operating system is right for you depends on a number of factors, including your go-to-market strategy, your operational needs, your technical requirements, etc. So keep your needs and the needs of your customers at the top, no one will let you down. what they sell based on something else float.
2. Be clear about the decisions you need to make.
You are more likely to make the right decision if you take a methodical approach to determining what you need. There’s a lot to think about as your choice will touch on everything from hardware and software implementation to what kind of payment journey you want to deliver. Here are some of the questions you need to solve.
• How do I market my company?
• What kind of experience do I have in mind for clients?
• What is the optimal price structure?
• What connectivity, procurement, channels and markets do I need to support?
• Do I want to handle the payment myself or through a partnership?
• How will my payment needs evolve over time?
You also need to decide on details like how you want businesses to sign up for a payment service and understand the bigger picture like the investment you are willing to make and what risk you can tolerate. Some payment solutions also offer value-added services that can be important to your business, while others don’t, so it’s important to fully understand your options in that area as well.
It can be helpful to have a guide to your payment facilitation. If you choose to select a payment technology partner, make sure it can serve your business by using multiple payment models at once. They also need to provide flexibility in services to drive growth over time, as your downstream customers will likely start with a simple payment solution and then scale as they grow and consumer expectations evolve.
3. Consider seeking ways to facilitate trading, not just payments.
Aside from operational models and platform decisions, the goals for your payment solution should be strategic and fit your business. Consider how you can enable fast connection with your customers around payments with streamlined data entry to approve and onboard accounts. Think about how exchange and transaction capabilities can help you deliver the seamless, omnichannel experience that today’s customers expect.
Also consider how transaction and trade data can provide: Company Information to help you monetize, including dynamic reporting and near-real-time analytics that can support business decisions. The ability to expand and future-proof payment is also worth considering, especially as consumer expectations and payment options are constantly changing.
The key here is to find what’s right for your business while recognizing that it’s time to approach payment solutions from a larger and more strategic point of view.
The idea of ​​facilitating payments isn’t new, but it’s becoming a growing priority for businesses building their digital offerings and presence. So don’t consider it an afterthought. By implementing payment facilitation and approaching it with a trade facilitation mindset, your business can succeed in this increasingly digital world.
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