If it feels like somewhere in the middle of your payments department, there is a hidden black hole, invisible yet very real, and your budget seems to disappear there month after month, consider it a sign. A sign that it is time for you to switch your payment provider and instead opt for a white-label payments orchestration platform like the Netherlands-based Akurateco.

In fact, a lot of companies start with it right away. The thing is that this solution allows you to save money on the development, get immediate access to the cumulative experience and expertise of the provider’s payments team, and lay your hands on a multitude of payment connectors with a single integration.

In this guide, we’ll help you identify cues showing that it’s time for you to make that change and walk you through the change process step by step.

When should you start looking for a white-label solution?

1. It got too expensive.
   Disclaimer: At no point in your payment processing storyline will the service be cheap.  In fact, if you decide to build the product on your own, you’ll have to pay between 105.000 and 420.000 USD for it. This includes a team of seasoned developers working on your payment gateway’s development for about 6 to 24 months depending on the functionality. We talked about it in detail in our recent research.
   However, if you notice that over time the overall budget for maintaining both your gateway and your team goes through the roof, it’s a red flag meaning it’s time for you to look into your payment provider choice and maybe even consider a WL solution.
2. The tech team no longer meets your expectations.
   As your business grows, so do your sales volumes. And a team that was managing your transaction flow at the beginning of your path seems to be dropping a ball with the growing payment intensity.
   That’s when a white-label payment platform comes in handy. Besides offering a variety of connectors and an omnichannel payment experience, WL solution also serves as an outstaffed technical team for your company. As a result, you get access to an expert team of payment experts acting as a technical team for your company. They help you take care of integration and maintenance as well as keep you in the loop on the latest upgrades of the system.
3. You need a system upgrade.
   You can’t afford outdated technology. To keep up with the current trends and meet your audience’s expectations, you have to go above and beyond providing the latest tech stack for your clients.
   It’s not a secret that your TA is now more demanding than ever. One-click payments and a smooth checkout experience are no longer an option but rather a must-have for any payment provider. And if you don’t offer them, your customers will easily leave to find a provider with all these benefits.
   Choosing a payments orchestration platform like the one offered by Akurateco is a wise move for those who want to get immediate access to state-of-the-art solutions without robbing the bank.
4. Tech team turnover.
   Finding good payment candidates for your company is no walk in the park. It is demanding if not entirely impossible. And if one of your payment team members has recently left, and you can’t find a decent substitution right away, consider going for a white-label payment gateway solution.
   This move will save you both time and money since WL provider’s teams are always fully staffed and ready to go. No training or time for onboarding. No grooming of any sort. With them, you resume work from day one.

Finally, it’s time for us to explain the steps you are to take when switching your payment provider.

Forget-me-nots of switching to a new payments orchestration platform

1. Importing anti-fraud modules settings.
   As you move to a new platform, consider transferring your anti-fraud module settings, too. Since it’s not a trivial task, you need to request your new payment software provider to help you with the move. Thus, for instance, Akurateco help their clients move existing whitelists and blacklists as well as offer Akurateco’s own pre-defined ones. On top of that, they have a session with a client where they sit down to discuss his/her previous experience, anti-fraud use cases and offer a way to set up a similar set of rules as well as consultation on their correct usage, advice on how to adjust them to newly emerged needs.
2. Importing historical data.
   Switching to a different provider inevitably means transferring all your historical data collected over the years of payment processing to a new platform. Therefore, be ready to move all your payment data stats, subscriptions, chargebacks, and refunds, etc. Depending on how many years you’ve been in the industry, the volumes of this transfer might differ. However, first and foremost, make sure to get clear instructions on how to transfer this data to a new platform and what the protocol is.
3. Integrate necessary payment methods.
   Make sure that the system you’re switching to offers all the necessary payment methods both your existing and potential customers expect. If the method you need isn’t on the list of those immediately available, it’s only smart to request its development and integration in advance because this process takes between two to four weeks depending on the provider you’re working with.
4. Ensure a smooth transfer experience for all your merchants.
   Look for a white-label provider ready to personally participate in consulting your merchants during their move to a new platform. Ideally, this provider will not only answer their questions regarding technical setup on early stages of the move but also act as their tech department, solving the issues as they rise and nipping the errors in the bud. Actively involve the vendor in the communication and keep them updated along the way to ensure the best migration experience for all your clients.
5. Prepare for the MID migration.
   At last, prepare for the MID migration. When we say MID, we mean a single point of sale for every merchant. Take your time both to migrate the data and test it. It’s vital to run tests early on to spot mistakes and solve them before they backfire with lost sales and claims from unsatisfied customers.

All in all, these are the steps to take and signs to look out for when making a final decision to give your business to a white-label payment gateway provider.

A final word of advice here: look for a vendor that has already helped its clients with a system migration. Their experience will save you long hours of troubleshooting and error fixing as you dive into the move. Thus, for instance, Akurateco has recently helped several of its new clients transfer to their platform. For it, the company has held training and special sessions where they discussed customers’ needs and expectations, suggested the most effective ways to transfer data securely and acted as an outsource technical department ready to solve any tech issues coming their way.

If you still have any questions, fire them away: our team at Akurateco would be more than happy to answer them all. Or even better, consider booking our free Demo to check out what a white-label system is all about and how it can meet your specific business needs.