How to Choose the Best Payment Provider for Your Software Platform

 

Payment processing is a crucial part of operating any software business. It’s essential to collecting the payments you need to run your company. If you’re not operating a payment service, you’re probably paying for it. And if you’re reading this, chances are you’re operating a software business. You need a software payment provider to process your invoices and payments. In this article, Fintech Specialist Ferhan Patel will cover some of the most important considerations you should make before choosing the right payment provider for your software business.

 

What Does a Payment Processor Do?

A payment processor is a company that acts as an interface between your business and your customers. They collect payments, direct them to your customers, and keep records of your transactions. They also provide various services like fraud prevention, billing software, and dispute resolution.

 

Why Do You Need Payment Processing?

You need a payment processor to conduct business. Customers expect to be able to pay online with your business name attached. Without payment processing, you’re just a name on someone’s invoice. You need to be able to collect payments, send those payments and keep track of them all in a reliable way. Without a payment processor, it may be difficult to collect payments. Some customers may even balk at being billed directly, since they may not trust their own ability to collect payments. If you’re a software business, you’re often charging monthly or annual subscriptions. Customers may not have the funds to pay you up front. But they may have a one-time payment they’d like to make.

 

Key Differences between Payment Processors

A few key differences between payment processors will help you choose the right one for your business. First, Ferhan Patel states, if you’re accepting credit card payments, you’ll need to make sure the credit card processor you use is PCI compliant. This means they can’t store your sensitive card data. Some payment processors may also offer your own branded credit cards, along with fraud prevention and risk assessment tools. If you’re accepting e-checks, paper checks, or other methods of payment, you’ll want to choose a payment processor that can handle those types of payments.

 

Finding a Payment Provider before You’re Ready to Process

If you’re operating a start-up business with limited cash flow, Payments professional Ferhan Patel recommends you look for a payment processor before you need one. You can use a service to hire someone to find a payment processor for you. You can also browse online payment processors’ websites to see if you like any of them. Once you’ve found a few providers you like, you can start comparing prices, features, and customer reviews.

 

Making the Final Choice

Once you’ve narrowed your choices down to two or three processors, Ferhan Patel recommends interviewing each one. The best way to do this is by setting up a meeting with the CEO or Managing Director of each payment processor. In each meeting, try to focus on the key areas that will affect your business, like pricing, customer service, available payment methods, and fraud prevention.  You also have the option of doing a pre-screening interview with a payment processor. This can be a useful tool for evaluating a company to see if it’s a good fit for your business. You can ask questions like which markets you’re likely to serve, how you can get your account approved, what your approval process will be like, or what types of customer complaints you can expect.

 

Summing up

Choosing a payment processor for your business is an important decision. It’s the backbone of your business and can make a huge difference in the success of your company. There are many factors to consider when choosing the right payment processor. Start by making a list of the features you’ll want in a payment provider, and then find one that fits those needs. The best way to do this is to compare prices, read online reviews, and interview representatives from different companies.

Digital Payments: A Non-Technical Guide to Understanding How They Work

 

Digital payments are quickly becoming the norm. From apps to online stores, digital payments are changing the way we spend our money. It’s not hard to see why this is happening. With so many of us using mobile devices on a daily basis, it makes sense that we would want to use our phones for all of our shopping needs. However, many people have little knowledge about how these transactions work. In this post, digital payment specialist Ferhan Patel will explain everything you need to know about digital payments and how they work.

The Raise of Digital Payments

Digital payments are an increasingly expanded modality in the world market, and during the mandatory quarantine days due to the covid-19 pandemic, they have seen accelerated growth, mainly driven by online commerce.

That means that more and more people are getting used to making their purchases and activities through digital payments, a field that makes use of technological advances to expand the possibilities of businesses and consumers.

Below, FinTech executive Ferhan Patel, lists some of the trends that are already taking the market.

The use of QR codes has advanced notably in recent years from different areas, and the case of commerce is no exception, as indicated by Canadian entrepreneur Ferhan Patel.

“Users see digital payments as an easy, safe, comfortable and agile option to carry out their transactions. In this paradigm shift, the average consumer has been taking giant steps and we are surprised to see how each month surpasses the previous one in terms of electronic transactions, QR codes being one of the most used options”, says Ferhan Patel.

One of the things that stands out about the payment of QR codes is the simplicity with which it can be done, at the same time in which it dispenses with the use of dataphones and reduces the steps to make the transaction.

For its use, the user must download the application, scan the code and choose which payment method, whether it is a debit or credit card.

“What businesses must do is register on the platform and it generates a code for their products, which is printed to locate it on the premises. This is a good substitute for what a dataphone is, everything is done by cell phone ”, Patel details.

Another modality that is growing with great momentum is the use of applications, either from the banking entities in which the account is held or from a ‘fintech’, to make transactions, deposits, payments of services, among others. It's a fast, reliable, and secure way for people to identify themselves or authorize a transaction while moving smoothly through the day.

“It involves bringing the client's virtual card to the establishment's cell phone and then the application does everything, the transaction is authorized and then a 'bauche' arrives at the store, with the confirmation of the sale and another to the client with their purchase. This allows physical contact to be reduced and biosafety standards are met "says Mr.Patel.

Cell phones have become the main tool used to bring digital payments closer to users, but in the long term, there are initiatives that go further.

“There are other trends globally exploring fingerprint or retina scan payments. They are technologies that are being tested and show that anything is possible. The human being is very creative and later on we will see things that we haven’t even dreamt of”, Ferhan Patel details.

5G Television

One of the advantages of 5G is that its antennas can carry a speed equivalent to a fiber line. Fintech professional Ferhan Patel indicates that if this is applied to the rural Internet, the benefits are obvious. There are small populations in the rural areas, with a higher density of inhabitants where it is very expensive to install a fiber cable. However, the costs are drastically reduced with the new connectivity, as it is enough to place base stations to cover wide areas.

According to Ferhan Patel, one of the applications that will benefit from the improvement of the rural Internet thanks to 5G will be television. Television content can be served over the new telecommunications network. This network has enough transmission capacity to do it and the latency is minimal, so it will not be noticeable on the screen.

“5G is very capable of providing television services. What’s more, it also has the advantage of trying to make its coverage as wide as possible, due to its potential as an economic stimulus. Hence, in places where now the DTT signal does not reach quite well, the new telecommunications network could do so,” says Ferhan Patel.

A more robust rural Internet

As shared by Patel, 5G can cover several populations with a single antenna, always depending on the distance they are from each other. And the fiber optic only has to reach this antenna. With this scheme it is possible to provide coverage, not only to mobile devices, but also to homes.

5G provides more speed, while reducing latency by between 1 and 5 milliseconds. Its specifications make it suitable for a wide range of Internet services, including video (even the heaviest such as 360-degree images) or live television. Another of the aspects that will be favored will be the activity in industrial estates. Factories and warehouses will be able to improve their systems thanks to the new connectivity.

Television, one of the applications of rural 5G

Among the possibilities being considered for the rural Internet strengthened by 5G are television services.

One of the most prominent benefits of rural internet with 5G may be its ability to deliver an ultra-high resolution television picture. For now the best resolution found in DTT is full HD, which offers 1920 × 1080 pixels. According to the Fintech profesional, Ferhan Patel, with the new connectivity, 4K (3840 × 2160 pixels) could be reached.

The benefits of broadcasting

5G will not only benefit viewers. The experienced Fintech professional claims that the recording and retransmission of the images can also be facilitated. Television crews that record live will not need equipment like they use now. 5G chips allow a simplification of technical resources, with its consequent cost savings.

Covering a sporting event or going to a remote location to record a newscast involves the deployment of mobile units. Sometimes even a satellite transponder is needed to send the video signal. At the same time, the cameras that record have several SIM cards, to multiply the possibilities that the transmission is carried out correctly. All of this will be minimized with 5G. 

Find more articles about Fintech on Ferhan Patel's website.