The benefits of payment processing extend far beyond what you might expect. Today, Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) can vastly benefit from merchant payment technology to create a better customer experience.
Like any business, ISVs are consistently looking for new ways to grow their revenue streams. Attracting more customers to your software solution is one of the best ways to achieve this goal. Growing your network of customers starts and ends with the customer experience.
ISVs and the Integrated Payment Experience
Increasingly, ISVs need to be the jack of all trades when it comes to their ability to integrate today’s systems and technology. This includes utilizing payments tools to process, reconcile and record transactions across their interface. The trick to doing this effectively is finding a payment solution provider that can help achieve this goal without overhauling an entire IT infrastructure.
Customers today expect choice, including how they like to pay. When crafting an integrated payments strategy, businesses must consider if they are able to accept the types of payment methods that customers desire. The ability to seamlessly integrate new payment methods when needed is one of the first steps towards upgrading the customer experience.
ISVs should also consider how innovative mobile and digital payment methods can fit into their overall customer acquisition strategy. The type of customers ISVs interacts with dictates what level of payment technology integration is needed.
Business today is no longer constrained to physical POS devices or a physical location. Merchants of all sizes must be able to accept a variety of payment methods through a variety of different devices. This includes mobile devices that can easily adapt to payments technology solutions as they are introduced into the market. ISVs must work with the right payment processing partner that puts customer choice first.
Most customers care about three core experiences: Flexibility, usability, and security. ISVs must consider how a payments processing solution incorporates the ability to easily onboard new solutions that provide a better end-user process. This also includes solutions that put security at the top of the priority list. Each of those factors is directly correlated with the type of customer experience a business will be able to provide. For ISVs, taking advantage of payments technology that aligns with these goals is critical in providing the type of interactions businesses expect in today’s ever-competitive market.
Customer Payment Trends and Evolving Technology
The tricky thing about crafting a solid customer experience is that the trends are always changing. As quickly as the “next big thing” gets introduced into the payment market, and businesses are already outdated in what options they’re offering customers. This is why ISVs must craft their software to be highly adaptable to future needs.
Keeping up with payments technology is an entirely different challenge. Payment trends shift quickly, as do consumer preferences. Don’t get bogged down by systems and software that can’t properly integrate new payment solutions. Find the right industry partner and the customer experience will naturally fall into place.
For example, mobile and omnichannel have been two trends that have been impacting the customer payment experience dramatically in recent years. For ISVs who want to provide their own customers with an enhanced customer experience, they must consider where mobile and multi-channel payment solutions can enable a more seamless interaction online.
Payment Security and the Customer Experience
There’s no quicker way to turn off a customer than breaking their trust. ISVs are deeply connected to how secure the software solutions are, and the same considerations should be applied to which payment solutions ISVs choose. Regardless of how sophisticated your software and hardware needs are, ISVs must work with payment providers with industry-leading security measures.
Failing to secure a payment system can create strained relationships for ISVs. It can lead to lost revenue, lost customers and missed opportunities. Once payment software is breached, the fallout can take significant time to recover from. ISVs can’t afford to take shortcuts and ignore the security protocols that fully protect businesses and their customers.
When considering which security systems will best protect the integrity of the customer experience, ISVs must look for some key terms: PCI compliance, tokenization, and point-to-point encryption (P2PE) abilities. Luckily, ISVs don’t have to tackle these security challenges alone. The right payment processing partner will equip and ISVs with the tools necessary to manage payments integration. For ISVs that want to leverage the right payments solution to drive their own customer experience, established partnerships matter. From there, ISVs can focus on integrating payment solutions that streamline and enhance the end-user experience.
