Streamlining Payments: Key updates and innovations from Payment Orchestration TechTalk episode 2

Your payment team's best friend

The strategy and vision of the payment orchestration team is to make their product the best friend of customers' payments teams. The goal is to foster close collaboration, providing trusted advice and addressing payment challenges together, with solutions tailored to users' specific needs.

The four pillars of this strategy are:

Speaking the merchant language: Understanding each merchant’s industry and how payments fit into their daily operations is key. To this end, the documentation portal is being revamped to address specific pain points, making it easier to understand the delivered products. Last year, a crypto vertical was launched, focusing on on-ramp and off-ramp solutions. This year, the focus is on diving deeper into e-commerce, enabling features like partial capture and subscriptions tailored for e-commerce merchants.

Building simple-to-use but complex to build products: Feedback from merchants consistently highlights the importance of improving the user experience. While the platform is powerful, efforts are underway to provide the best user experience. Notable initiatives include Node IQ, the homepage revamp and simplifying provider installation to be as easy as installing a phone app. These changes empower users by reducing complexity and saving time.

Value-added services:  We continue to focus on value-added services tailored to payments and specific verticals. For instance, our network tokenization service, which has been available for some time, allows clients to procure network tokens from payment schemes, which can be used with any PSP or acquirer, facilitating easy switching between them. Additional services, such as KYC modules and expanding fraud prevention models, have been an ongoing part of our offering.

Improving checkout conversion: Payment orchestration offers dual benefits: reducing costs and increasing revenue. Optimising transaction flow to get the best possible interchange offer, local payment methods, and higher conversion rates drives down payment processing costs and boosts revenue without additional investments.

Enhancing the checkout experience to convert more users into actual revenue is crucial. Merchants invest significant time and energy to bring their end consumers to the checkout page, and if the process is not optimal, those efforts are wasted. The payment orchestration team is passionate about helping clients improve their checkout process. User-friendliness is paramount for widespread adoption, and while our payment orchestration solution was already user-friendly, we've taken it a step further. . For example,  in addition to  customer journey improvements we also invest in platform stability, security and compliance.  We are focusing on reducing the number of customer redirections to various pages and keeping the flow as short as possible. We are providing internal (PIQ) and external (PSPs) services to store customer data and reuse it for future payments, making the flow as easy as possible.

Detailed feature and development updates

Improved installation process: Moving away from the cumbersome XML-based method to a more user-friendly app installation approach  simplifies the setup and configuration process for users.

Product catalogue upgrade: We're currently upgrading the product catalogue to improve its functionality by providingdetailed information and status updates for various services, including PSPs, fraud providers, and KYC providers. An upcoming feature is the status page, which will initially display the status of APIs and eventually include the status of other services provided by the platform. This will help users monitor the availability and performance of the services they rely on.

UI upgrades are also in progress, focusing on improving back-office pages, such as the transaction and rules pages. These enhancements aim to enhance user experience and make the platform more intuitive.

Scheme token functionality: An automated onboarding process will reduce the need to contact support, streamlining the experience. The contractual aspects of this process are still being worked out, but the goal is to automate and simplify the onboarding experience

Integrated notifications: Direct notifications in the back-office eliminate the need to leave the platform to check emails, providing real-time alerts within the platform.

Next, the "Rule Builder" feature (Node IQ), is designed to simplify the complex process of managing various rules. The new interface offers an overview of all rules, displaying categories, names, IDs, and success rates. This helps users easily identify which rules are performing well and which need adjustments. Node IQ also includes a new second-approval feature, allowing rules to be reviewed and approved by a second set of eyes before implementation, enhancing accuracy and accountability.

A significant upcoming feature is the "Performance Page," which allows users to compare error codes across multiple rules, providing insights into rule performance in different markets or with different PSPs, helping optimise payment strategies for higher acceptance rates.

The Node IQ interface follows industry standards while incorporating unique enhancements to make it more intuitive and effective. Users can configure rules by adding conditions and actions, and preconditions are integrated within the main rule structure. This streamlined approach aims to maintain the platform's complexity and flexibility while making it easier to use.

In summary, these updates are designed to make our payment orchestration platform more user-friendly, efficient, and aligned with industry standards, ensuring that it remains a valuable tool for optimising payment processes and increasing revenue.

Key updates on new Integrations and upgrades

In terms of new integrations and existing ones, several updates are worth mentioning. Over the past three months, five new PSPs - Stripe, Autopay, Mercato, Paylado, and Post Finance - were integrated. Additionally, 25 new payment methods were implemented in different regions for around 12 PSPs, alongside significant API upgrades for providers like PayPal.

Stripe: A US-based payment service provider, Stripe supports credit cards, debit cards, digital wallets, and alternative payment methods in over 46 countries, handling more than 135 currencies. It caters to e-commerce, marketplaces, and subscription businesses, offering self-onboarding via its website. Worldline Payment Orchestration supports Stripe’s credit cards and alternative payment methods, among other features.

Post Finance: A leading financial institution in Switzerland, Post Finance offers local co-branded cards and real-time payments in euros and Swiss francs. It primarily serves the Swiss market, supporting transactions in various currencies. Additionally, it supports both ecommerce and iGaming merchants.

Mercato: Operating in Serbia, Mercato is a cash payment service provider. It facilitates transactions for iGaming merchants, supporting both euros and local currency. Mercato boasts a strong local presence with numerous branches.

Autopay: Similar to Mercato, Autopay allows users to top up their accounts at various branches in Serbia. It serves iGaming and other merchants, providing a robust local network for cash top-ups.

Paylado: Based in Germany, Paylado is a wallet service that can be topped up with cash and used for online payments. It supports iGaming, e-commerce, retail, and financial services, with a significant presence in Frankfurt and other parts of Germany.

Upgrades for several providers are also worth mentioning. PayPal saw a migration to a new version of integration, enabling services like Buy Now, Pay Later and Venmo by the end of the year. Nuvi's integration was enriched with features for e-commerce providers, including partial refunds, captures, account verification, and subscription support. PayFuture received security and customer experience improvements.

Looking ahead, the roadmap includes implementing bank transfers globally, enriching PayU’s integration to cover India, and completing Post Finance’s integration with instant payouts. Work will also commence on integrating Kushki, a provider in Latin countries, and global providers like Visa Cybersource, PayPal for BNPL, Rapid, and American Express.

Stay tuned for more updates!