In the past year, integrated payment technologies have taken the processing industry by storm.  According to a report by McKinsey, the integrated payments market reached $20 billion in revenue in the United States alone. It is estimated to double in size within the next three to five years. 

While research confirms there is a huge earning potential for software companies that offer embedded payments, nearly half of consumers report having never heard of the term. On the contrary, 31% of respondents stated they can see themselves using an integrated payments feature in the next two years if they can learn more about the technology and its benefits. 

Integrating a payments feature into the customer journey is an incredible opportunity for eCommerce companies to automate the checkout experiences.

Partnering with a sophisticated payment processor provides software companies with the ability to offer customers a frictionless checkout experience. Combining white-labeled, embedded payments technology with PCI Level 1 DSS certified processing allows them to guarantee a secure and seamless payment experience. 

What is an ISV?

An Independent Software Vendor, commonly known as ISV, is an online B2B platform that hosts an embedded payments. ISV-built software applications are run on almost all backend platforms, like Windows, Linux or Apple. And can range from basic utility applications to enterprise-class business management solutions including CRM and other automation tools. 

Software companies can benefit from an integrated payments partner that offers a variety of B2B and consumer services that go beyond payment processing. Research that 85% of customers expect digital payment options for in-person purchases, while nearly 50% believe that contactless payment options are the most important safety feature a business can offer. 

What is an integrated ISV partner?

Embedded payments involve a processing company that maintains a direct integration within a software’s core platform.  This relationship allows an end-user to complete a payments transaction within the software itself, rather than through an external system. 

Added payment automation is beneficial for software companies wanting to improve their workflow and streamline the payments experience for their customers. 

5 things to consider when choosing an integrated ISV payments partner

When it comes to deciding on a payments partner, the process can seem overwhelming with so many possibilities to explore. We kept it simple and selected five key considerations for when choosing the right payments partner:

Secure and quick integration

Software companies looking for a payments partner may find the process difficult, especially when evaluating the specific needs for your integration. Your payments partner should offer flexible APIs and SDK, as well as a sandbox so you can test their technology before you commit.  

A flexible implementations timeline based on your unique needs should also be offered; there is no such thing as “one size fits all” with a payments integration. Your processing partner should have multiple options for system connectivity and a dedicated implementations team to support your development efforts.

Merchant onboarding support

Merchant onboarding is the process of registering a referred merchant with a payment processing platform so they can accept payments. Savvy payment providers streamline the merchant journey from inquiry to onboarding via automated, pre-built web processes or can provide APIs. This removes the manual friction involved with the more traditional merchant application processes. As a result, merchants can be activated quickly, securely, and safely right from your website.

PAYARC’s innovative use of these different types of technology makes the merchant onboarding process fast and simple. To ensure the highest level of compliance, we keep all payment data safe from cyber threats with our PCI Level 1 DSS platform. 

Offer a wide range of payment methods

According to a research report, nearly 90% of ISVs believe the number of payment options they provide directly impacts their customer’s sales. While credit and debit cards are still the most popular form of payment, alternative methods are growing in popularity. Digital wallet players like Apple Pay and Google Pay, as well as various cryptocurrencies, are growing in demand.

A payments partner must be able to offer a variety of payment methods to support ever-changing consumer demands.

Value-packed services and customer support

Adapting to customer expectations in a timely fashion is a challenge many businesses struggle to overcome. According to Salesforce, 66% of customers expect companies to understand their needs and be able to accommodate their preferences.

Your payments partner should offer flexible solutions and real-time insight into payment analytics to keep your customers competitive.  

Revenue sharing

The best partnerships give ISVs the opportunity to monetize the payment residual stream with access to custom revenue share models.  Meaningful revenue share agreements outline a volume-driven, tier-based percentage that the ISV partner earns by enabling their B2B customer to accept payments within the ISV’s core system. The opportunity to earn residuals is beneficial for software companies to expand their business and improve the end-user experience.

Transforming the payments process with PAYARC

We’re on a mission to transform the world of payments by offering a best-in-class platform built with our ISV partner and their customers in mind. We hold ourselves to the highest standards with safe and efficient payment options designed to increase revenue, streamline business operations, enhance system productivity, and ensure PCI compliance.

If you’d like to learn more about PAYARC and how we can help your software platform offer state-of-the-art embedded payments, get in touch with us today!

Adding an integrated payment solution to your core software platform is a game-changer for ISVs, merchants, and end-users alike. Embedded payments provide additional security assurances within your system, enhance the end user’s billing and checkout experience, and increases the ISV’s core software valuation. 

What is a payments ecosystem?

An ecosystem describes the various technologies and data pathways offered by a payment processor. A payments ecosystem allows the merchant to accept payments in-store or online. 

The benefits of integrated payments

Integrated payment solutions allow software companies to eliminate friction associated with third-party billing platforms and promote efficiency and customer loyalty. 

How integrated payments benefit software companies

Easy to integrate

The use of integrated payments involves layering a hosted payments page, tokenization module and transaction APIs, and other checkout parameters into your system’s payment flow.  By enabling cost-friendly automation and efficiencies to your business process, your operational performance will see significant improvement. It also makes it easy for your platform to collect payments, integrate subscriptions, manage transactions, and customize your reporting needs. 

Generate new revenue streams

Experts expect Software as a Service (SaaS) revenue to reach $369.4 billion by 2024, an increase of nearly $200 billion. ISVs are at the forefront of this explosive growth. When a software company partners with a payment provider to integrate payment acceptance into their platform, they typically become eligible to earn a portion of the payment processing revenue stream (also known as payment residuals).

Top payment providers offer strong revenue-share models on payments collected through your mutual software integration. Accordingly, once a merchant is processing transactions, the revenue stream will be easy to maintain. So long as the merchant continues to make payments within your system, you will continue to receive recurring revenue.

Increase valuation

According to Market Research Future (MRFR), ISVs market valuation will rise from $202.85 million in 2019 to $408.15 million by 2026 (review period 2020-2026). Native payments functionality and the additional revenue streams provided help position your ISV platform for a more attractive bid should you decide to go to market.

How integrated payments benefit merchants

Efficiency and speed to market

A payment tools centered within your core software system eliminates the need to seek out third-party payment options.  This empowers business owners to focus on more important components of a system set up. 

Streamline operations

It’s crucial to evaluate your business’ performance and gain insights through data. A complete payments platform allows merchants to pull payment data, create and pull custom reports, issue invoices via text or email, and check on sales from the cloud. 

How integrated payments benefit end-users 

Seamless user experience 

Customers want an omnichannel experience. Integrated payments allow the customer to pay how they like, whether it’s an invoice delivered to their mobile phone via text message or a card on file through a custom portal for recurring payments.

Improved security

When a customer is redirected to an external payment processor, their sensitive financial data can be compromised. An integrated payments partner ensures all PII and sensitive payment information is safely tokenized and stored within the payment gateway.  

Processors offering end-to-end encryption and sophisticated PCI Level 1 DSS security features will keep your software out of scope of PCI compliance requirements. 

Why are partner ecosystems important for ISVs?

 Payment partner ecosystems are essential to help integrated software companies achieve their business goals and drive new growth opportunities. 

PAYARC’s integrated payments ecosystem was developed with your specific business needs in mind. Our platform helps scale your software’s native payment demands by offering industry-leading revenue shares, robust integration options, and custom merchant onboarding tools. With powerful APIs, real-time payment analytic dashboards, custom reporting, and around-the-clock integrated channel support — you have everything you need to succeed with PAYARC.

To learn more about how we empower you to grow your business, book a meeting with one of our experts.  

According to a research report by VoPay, 86% of ISVs claim their customers are leading them to provide more convenient methods of payment to their users.  In an increasingly competitive payments environment, it’s clear that consumer demand continues to drive new trends and innovation. In order to keep up, ISV platforms must upgrade their integrated payments partner.

A quick Google search will show that the current number of SaaS companies in operation has grown from approximately 10,000 to more than 100,000 since 2008. By 2028, experts estimate there will be at least 1 million operational SaaS platforms. It’s important for those SaaS ISV platforms to stand out with their offerings as this explosive growth continues. 

With PAYARC’s integrated payments offering, we enable companies to make smarter decisions, optimize their organization’s billing processes, and ultimately scale their platform – one payment at a time. 

What are integrated payments? 

ISV integrated payment solutions are designed to streamline payments and improve customer experience while optimizing backend operations. By eliminating the need to work with multiple third-party providers, businesses can perform better, think smarter, and increase productivity.  

Four reasons integrated payments are beneficial for ISV

Frictionless user experience

In a recent study conducted by Baymard Institute, nearly 60% of US online shoppers abandon their cart even before they initiate the checkout process. Moreover, out of the respondents, 17% of US online shoppers abandon an order due to a complicated checkout process.

By reducing the number of steps required to complete a transaction, integrated payments can speed-up the checkout process. As a result, customer satisfaction increases and the rate of cart abandonment decreases. 

Marketing and involved sales support

Integrated payment solutions track your company’s sales transactions.  As such, having access to real-time, accurate reporting and payment data allows you to make smarter decisions for your business. 

Improve security

Most integrated payment platforms offer basic security features to help combat fraud, manage chargebacks, and prevent losses. The best providers offer end-to-end encryption, payment method tokenization, access to real-time risk monitoring, pre-authorizations, and other automated security parameters which help to ease merchant fears around accepting digital payments.

Boost new revenue

ISVs can generate additional revenue and distinguish their software from the competition by embedding a core payment functionality. A partner-friendly, integrated payment system should provide flexible, revenue share options and offer diverse, volume-driven tier models.  

Level up your software with PAYARC

PAYARC provides customizable payment solutions for ISVs designed to add operational value and remove friction within a core software’s accounts receivable and billing systems.  With industry-leading revenue shares, our goal is to provide a seamless experience for our partners and their customers, while offering the best possible earning potentials for ISVs in the market.  

Ready to get started? Talk to one of our experts today!