• Vladimir Kuiantsev , CEO and Managing Partner at Akurateco Payments Orchestration Company


• 30.11.2022 04:00 pm
#payments

Two years of pandemic-induced slowdown and a world economic crisis immediately following it have hit the world of business hard. And yet, it is as thriving as ever, with new payment providers coming on stage practically every day and the demand for new payment methods growing in leaps and bounds.

In 2022 alone, after the pandemic made both businesses and consumers switch to online, users spent around $28.611 trillion with digital payment methods. Moreover, by 2025, 7 in 10 smartphone owners will shop using peer-to-peer payment apps. With these payment habits and demands unveiling so fast, e-commerce entrepreneurs rush to implement and offer a diversified payment portfolio to their customers.

Or at least so they should!

And here is why.

Why offer a variety of payment options

1. More than two billion people globally prefer mobile payments, says Mobile Payments App Revenue and Usage Statistics (2022). As Generation Z reaches their payment capabilities and those consumers that were overly cautious about their data online give in to convenience over fear, e-commerce must be ready to accommodate their payment preferences or lose millions in missed sales.
2. Online transfers will reach a whopping $428 billion by 2025, Juniper reports. Used to paying in a single click, consumers that have tried online transfers once will be forever inclined to choose this payment method over traditional ones.
3. Following the uncertainty of the pandemic, consumers now prefer debit over credit cards. While the latter is still going strong, the former is on the rise, and that’s another thing e-commerce businesses need to bear in mind.

These three are just an example of how diversified consumers’ payment preferences are. Not offering one of these payment methods could be detrimental to your business as your TA will choose the convenience of another vendor if they don’t see their preferred payment methods on the list of available ones at your store.

However, implementing every single one of these payment methods separately can be a challenge, too. And that is when payment orchestration platforms like Akurateco come into play.

Why e-commerce businesses should outsource payment management

1. Software solutions are getting (overly) technically complex.
   
   With online fraud and data breaches being on the rise, payment providers have to be extra cautious with the software they develop. Thus, they introduce new layers of protection, including complex KYC processes and onboarding, expert anti-fraud modules, etc. These are all vital yet extremely complicated things you can easily outsource to an expert payment orchestration solution provider like Akurateco. They will implement and fine-tune the solution to your specific needs and offer you an unheard-of level of support, walking with you every step of the way and acting as your tech department whenever you need assistance.
    
2. Your business will need to offer an overwhelming variety of payment methods. And it comes at a cost.
   
   QR, cryptocurrencies, P2P, e-wallets, credit and debit cards, and BNPL are just a fraction of the list of payment methods you will need to implement and maintain to meet your customers’ expectations. Preferences for online transaction methods heavily depend on the location and demographics of the shoppers. So, the list of payment methods to offer here is endless. To handle all of these payment methods, back them, keep up with the reporting system and keep adding more payment methods, you need to hire an in-house team of payment experts. And that is one costly endeavor.
   Covering several full-time employees of this level will cost you an arm and a leg (and maybe even more).

In the meantime, multi-acquirer payment orchestrators offer a full range of payment methods via one integration into the platform. For instance, Akurateco offers over 200+ integrated banks and payment providers worldwide.

1. Outsourcing can save you a ton of money.
   
   Reports show that on the brink of yet another economic crisis, companies tend to outsource services to save money. And for a good reason: expanding their use of task-specialized remote teams and agencies can save them thousands of dollars. Payment orchestration is no exception here.
   While you get the experience of a whole tech team always at your service, not being responsible for their accommodation, office expenses, benefits, and other full-time employee bonuses, imagine how much you can save per year. Whether you are an early-stage startup or an established business, cost-saving on such a scale is impressive.

To help those who are new to payment orchestration, we have prepared a complete guide that will walk you through the main features of the platform: https://akurateco.com/blog/payment-orchestration-platform-full-guide

The article originally was published on Financial IT Winter Issue 2022.