• Kevin O’Connell, Chief Product Officer at Trust Payments


• 02.02.2023 12:15 pm
#payments

Consumers are increasingly difficult to satisfy, meaning businesses have to get creative with their products and services. With innovation comes expectation which is why payment has been an exciting sector to be in as new developments transform how people and businesses pay. Consumer expectations will only continue to drive new markets forward, and technology enables merchants to surprise and delight consumers in more ways than one. 

With the current economic climate putting pressure on merchants and consumers now more selective than ever with their spending, a lack of awareness from both is causing a knowledge gap and slowing down payment progress. Along with low consumer confidence, merchants face numerous challenges in adopting new payment tech, including integration and regulation. 

It is time for the payment ecosystem to work collaboratively and use the technology available to empower merchants and their customers with payment providers' expertise to deliver a positive payment experience in 2023. 

The challenges merchants face

Digitisation has taken payments to levels beyond what experts and analysts could predict. Research shows alternative digital payments like mobile payments and QR payments are on the rise as they become widely available and are perceived as cheaper by consumers.

Consumers have complex needs that must be secure, while catering to their individual needs. Adopting new entrants to payment tech can improve customer satisfaction, unlock new consumer groups and streamline business operations. 

Merchants face legislation challenges with evolving best practices battling with outdated infrastructure, costs, and increased friction with system integration. Keeping operations up to date is critical, and making changes to payment systems can be daunting for merchants with extensive trialling, compliance and team training needed to launch successfully. 

Alternative payments, no disruption

The last thing merchants need is failing payments or fraudulent transactions to disrupt the payment process, as consumers are spoilt for choice and can jump ship to competitors with the click of a button. Demand for immediacy from consumers means merchants must deliver a single and consistent payment experience across channels to make alternative payment acceptance as easy as possible. 

One way to deliver a consistent payment experience is through Cloud Payment Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Cloud APIs optimise the payments process for merchants by connecting old and new technology easily, to execute the latest alternative payment solutions without disruption.

Smarter acceptance 

Merchants who accept card payments will be familiar with Point of Sale terminals. Mobile-powered POS such as iOS and Android excel when delivering smarter payment solutions to consumers, as integration into existing systems is simple. Mobile iOS and Android give merchants access to a comprehensive, multi-channel map of all customer data across all customer touchpoints. 

Performance, security, reliability and scalability are key for payment acceptance. Mobile iOS or Android POS payment terminals have the payment flexibility customers desire, and the connectivity staff need to take payments anywhere. These terminals offer stronger security and have a highly customised interface. Updates are also carried out in the background on Android and iOS without disrupting daily operations. 

Create a stronger connection with customers

As alternative payments have emerged, millions of people and merchants have benefited from innovative services with added value. However, a lack of communication within the payments ecosystem has meant knowledge and adoption among merchants and consumers have not been as successful as they could be. Merchants and consumers have been happy to minimise risk and limit themselves to certain set products, which is preventing progress. 

Sharing access to financial data can allow customers to benefit from new, tailored services. Investing in the education of teams will help pass on the knowledge and benefits of alternative payments to customers. Merchants and consumers must reconcile and communicate openly to build confidence in the abilities of the new entrants in payments to drive growth and sustain innovation. 

The importance of investing in payments

Responding to demand for payment innovation is important. Not only for customer satisfaction but to help the payments sector grow. Although barriers to integrating new technology can be daunting for merchants, the short and long term results make the journey worthwhile. 

Merchants can use the capabilities of Cloud APIs and Mobile-powered POS such as iOS and Android to simplify the integration of old technology with the new. As the sector develops, its essential merchants invest in internal training to improve consumer confidence in adopting alternative payments or risk-making an industry leader of innovation, a laggard.