EMBEDDING THE PAYMENTS PROCESS: 3 STEPS FOR INTEGRATION AN EBOOK BY

Transcription

1 EMBEDDING THE PAYMENTS PROCESS: 3 STEPS FOR INTEGRATION AN EBOOK BY

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Intended Audience... 3 Introduction... 4 Step 1: Choose an Onboarding Method Step 2: Determine Transaction Processing Method Step 3: Select Reporting Options Integration Support at Every Stage Other Functionality to Consider Summary Copyright BluePay All rights reserved. 2

3 INTENDED AUDIENCE Are you an Independent Software Vendor (ISV), Value Added Reseller (VAR) or other Solution Provider looking to integrate payment acceptance functionality within your software? Or, do you currently have this functionality, but are looking for a more sophisticated solution that will scale with your future innovations? The content provided throughout this ebook is intended to deliver a basic step-by-step approach to help guide you through the payment technology integration process, while demonstrating the ease and benefits that come along with it. Copyright BluePay All rights reserved. 3

4 III) Intended Audience Are you an Independent Software Vendor (ISV), Value Added Reseller (VAR) or other Solution INTRODUCTION Provider looking to integrate payment acceptance functionality within your software? Or, do you currently have this functionality, but are looking for a more sophisticated solution that will scale with your future innovations? The content provided throughout this ebook is intended to deliver a basic step-by-step approach to help guide you through the payment technology integration process, while demonstrating the ease and benefits that come along with it. Companies research solutions and invest in software that will increase their efficiency, collect better data, reduce security exposure, and maximize revenue. Integrating payment technology with your software creates value for your clients, resolves their pain points, and is imperative in today s age of frictionless payments. Accepting payments can be complex. Let s look at how your challenges can be resolved. Copyright BluePay All rights reserved. 4

5 CHALLENGE #1 Introducing multiple vendors in the payment integration process can cause headaches and confusion amongst your user base, i.e. one vendor for sales and setup, another for transaction support, and a third for funding, invites complexity and does not present a seamless solution. The Recommendation Consolidate your integrated payment processing to a single partner who provides all aspects of payment integration, including sales, operational, and financial support. Using just one integrated payments vendor can reduce overhead costs and allow you to receive better processing rates. Copyright BluePay All rights reserved. 5

6 CHALLENGE #2 Using a non-integrated payments solution results in the need to switch between multiple interfaces for transaction processing and payment posting, giving way to time consuming double-data entry and potential mistakes. The Recommendation Operating from a single, integrated interface to manage business tasks, including payments processing and posting, provides a seamless flow of functionality, enhanced accuracy, and time savings approximately 30 minutes a day, or 2.5 hours per week, or 26 hours a year.1 Copyright BluePay All rights reserved. 6

7 CHALLENGE #3 In a world of ever-changing options for payments, customers want the flexibility to use a wide variety of payment methods and techniques. Some prefer debit cards over credit cards, others prefer ACH or e-check payments, and still others prefer to use emerging technologies such as Apple Pay, Android Pay, PayPal, Masterpass, or a similar payment mechanism. Staying ahead of these technology trends and selecting the right ones for integration with your software presents an ongoing challenge of any software vendor, especially given that integration resources are typically allocated to other, more pressing, development efforts. The Recommendation Offering an integrated solution with multiple payment options provides a better customer experience, minimizes stress and shopping cart abandonment, and keeps customers coming back time and time again, according to 74% of surveyed consumers.2 Copyright BluePay All rights reserved. 7

8 CHALLENGE #4 Recent headlines involving data breaches and credit card account theft have left many consumers anxious and worried about the safety of their data, both online and when given to purchase goods and services by mail order or telephone. According to the rules set forth by the PCI (Payment Card Industry), storing sensitive credit card data in your system puts your business at a much higher risk and could result in major fees and fines if you fail to become compliant and your system is breached. On average, the cost of a data breach for a small to medium-sized business is $665,000 per incident.3 The Recommendation Selecting a payments partner that provides tokenization and tools that remove PCI sensitive data from the client s systems reduces consumer anxiety and boosts purchase confidence. Removing this sensitive payment data from your clients systems will also reduce your own PCI scope and compliance costs, while minimizing the risk of a data breach. Copyright BluePay All rights reserved. 8

9 WHERE TO BEGIN Maybe you currently have an integrated payment solution, but as you scale, will this solution grow with you? The ideal payments partner is one who provides hands-off payment processing essentially, giving you the technology, support and resources to control the process and create a seamless checkout or purchase experience for the end-user. Wondering where to start? There are three key components to integrating payments: 1) onboarding, 2) transaction processing, and 3) reporting and reconciliation. Copyright BluePay All rights reserved. 9

10 STEP 1: CHOOSE AN ONBOARDING METHOD In order to accept payments, each of your clients will need a merchant account. Creating an efficient application and onboarding process for your clients will enable them to begin accepting payments as quickly as possible. There are several onboarding methods to consider as you start to plan the integration. ENTRY-LEVEL INTEGRATION - LEAD FORM INTO SALES PROCESS A lead form typically linked from your website appears on a designated landing page. Once the prospective client completes the form and submits it, the lead is transferred to the payment partner s sales organization and triggers a representative to make a call to discuss the unique needs of the prospect, provide a pricing structure, and send an application. MID-LEVEL INTEGRATION - ONLINE APPLICATION SHORT FORM A short form is a condensed version of a full online application that usually includes a fixed pricing structure depending on the clientele or the vertical. Although the form can be embedded in your signup process on your website or a landing page, it offers limited co-branding capabilities, which may or may not be enough depending on the type of onboarding experience you want to offer. EXPERT-LEVEL INTEGRATION - FULL ONLINE APPLICATION API If you re looking to fully integrate, customize, and control the entire application experience for your clients, you should partner with a payment provider who offers a complete package of APIs for every piece of the payment account boarding process. This option does require development on your end. You will be required to manage work flow, present the terms and conditions, and collect data acknowledgements. As a result, you will have full control of the look and feel of the application process. Copyright BluePay All rights reserved. 10

11 STEP 2: DETERMINE TRANSACTION PROCESSING METHOD When it comes to determining how you will integrate payment processing, having options and working with a payment processor that offers flexibility is definitely to your benefit and will ensure the integration goes smoothly and allows options for scalability and increased functionality in the future. HOSTED PAYMENT FORM This is the most popular method for transaction processing, and the least risky from a PCI perspective. With a hosted payment form, the payment processor serves up the form and the data is posted directly to the payment processor. This ensures sensitive card data does not flow through your environment, which simplifies PCI compliance. Customer data can be easily passed into the form to provide a better and more seamless user experience. Although this method comes with limitations, such as the ability to be customized, most vendors are willing to accept limitations to swap out liability. HTTP REDIRECT This method is a subset of using hosted payment forms and another way to reduce your PCI footprint. The ISV hosts the form for this method. When an end-user comes to your client s website to make a purchase, the data is sent securely to your payment processor. Sensitive data bypasses both you and your client by transmitting directly from the end-user s browser. HTTP POST This processing option is via server-to-server communication using an API. The end-user visits your client s website to make a purchase and enters their payment information for the desired payment method. That data is collected and sent from your application to the payment gateway s server. The payment information still passes through your system, requiring additional PCI certification. Copyright BluePay All rights reserved. 11

12 JAVASCRIPT As an alternative to a hosted payment form, payment acceptance may be integrated client side through JavaScript by sending encrypted payment information directly to your payment processor s servers via a browser request. Using this method gives you the opportunity to build and host your own payment page, giving you complete control over your users experience and allowing you to efficiently make updates or changes to your applications without directly handling sensitive customer data. HTTP REDIRECT This method is a subset of using hosted payment forms and another way to reduce your PCI footprint. The ISV hosts the form for this method. When an end-user comes to your client s website to make a purchase, the data is sent securely to your payment processor. Sensitive data bypasses both you and your client by transmitting directly from the end-user s browser. Copyright BluePay All rights reserved. 12

13 STEP 3: SELECT REPORTING OPTIONS No matter how you decide to accept transactions, having reliable reporting is the key to reconciling deposits and financials. Working with an omnichannel payments partner that is the gateway and the payment processor will allow your clients to track transactions beginning the moment the card number is transmitted for authorization all the way until the payment has been settled and deposited. This type of reporting should be expected no matter how the payment was accepted. With robust reporting options, reconciliation is a breeze. Clients spend less time piecing together reports and more time growing their business. AND WEB ACCESS REPORTING REPORTING API WEBHOOK Merchants can view transaction data pushed via or retrieved via website. It will make available all authorization and settlement response details. Your clients can login and see all transactions processed, or perform custom searches on a subset of the transactions. This eliminates the need to develop this reporting functionality yourself. Another option is to receive reporting using an API, providing both transaction and settlement data. You can see when a transaction settled, when the deposit was initiated, and what transactions make up a particular funding batch. The full transaction lifecycle can be viewed programmatically rather than through a user interface, or this information can be stored within your environment for presentment to your clients through your user interface. Configuring a webhook allows you to code a listening service on your internet-facing server. Anytime the payment gateway receives transaction activity, from any source, a post is sent to your listener, which happens independently of the normal transaction flow. Copyright BluePay All rights reserved. 13

14 INTEGRATION SUPPORT AT EVERY STAGE Accepting electronic payments can get complex, but with the right partner providing the level of service you require and deserve, the possibilities for integrating a solution that exceeds your expectations are limitless. When choosing a partner, you need live support throughout every phase: 1) DISCOVERY Teams Involved: Sales, Integration Support, Product Management Action Items: Review payment processing requirements and determine integration methods to meet those requirements 2) INTEGRATION Teams Involved: Partner Support, Integration Support Action Items: Build and test payment processing integration I can pick up the phone, chat or and get a response? Awesome! 3) POST IMPLEMENTATION Teams Involved: Partner Support, Merchant Services, Integration Support Action Items: Launch production usage of the payment processing integration Although some payment technology companies give you the basics, it s important to see the bigger picture and seek knowledge from experts who can help you scale. A dedicated support team will get you there, and you won t be required to only support or get pushed to a community forum. Copyright BluePay All rights reserved. 14

15 OTHER FUNCTIONALITY TO CONSIDER As you review your payment processing options, evaluate the integrated processing providers you ve selected and narrow it down to the partner that will provide the most value to you and your clients, as well as make the integration as seamless as possible. Consider the following: CAN YOU PROCESS: 1) Credit cards and ACH through the same API? 2) US and Canada transactions through same API? 3) Card present and card not present transactions through same API? 4) Levels 2 and 3 transactions? ADDITIONALLY, DOES YOUR PAYMENT PROCESSING PARTNER: 1) Minimize risk? 2) Provide more detail after transaction has been settled? 3) Provide multiple payments offerings to satisfy all of your customers requirements? Copyright BluePay All rights reserved. 15

16 SUMMARY Successful integration of payment processing is imperative to propelling your business forward and helping your clients gain the same momentum and generate even more revenue. The integration process is unique for each organization, and with the right support team, resources, and flexible options, you can create the user experience you desire. When it comes to payments, keep in mind there is more to reading an API and writing a few lines of code. Consider and evaluate your PCI and development needs to ensure the security of sensitive payment information. Being PCI compliant and reducing your scope are ways to maintain your reputation as a trusted software provider or reseller. Copyright BluePay All rights reserved. 16

17 ARE YOU READY TO START THE INTEGRATED PAYMENTS PROCESS OR MAKE THE SWITCH TO BLUEPAY? BECOME A PARTNER REQUEST A SANDBOX ACCOUNT SPEAK WITH AN INTEGRATION EXPERT See how one partner used BluePay s flexible APIs to create a specific user and end-user experience. BECOMEAPARTNER@BLUEPAY.COM Copyright BluePay All rights reserved. 17

18 RESOURCES % c5cb5c37026-speed-and-convenience-what-counts-in-customer-experience-saysresearch 3. Copyright BluePay All rights reserved. 18