Payments might seem like a complex area. But neglecting them can be costly to your business. Many merchants still grapple with transitioning to digital. Some overlook the payments aspect and continue using basic modes of payment that they started out with. Others take a piecemeal approach to upgrading their tech – retrofitting new tech to old systems. This often leads to ineffective results. And higher costs. That is why brands need to relook at modern payments to offer the best to their customers and engage today’s digital natives. Digital payment solutions offer new answers to problems. They help you cut through complexity and make payments more strategic to your business. When you use new tech, you see a host of improvements and realise long-term value. Not to mention, your customers love you when payments are simple and seamless.
So, here are four ways in which payment modernization helps you build a great business:
1. Use Modern Payments to match the pace of market + consumers
People today demand fast, easy, and secure payments. They crave flexibility and convenience. Merchants who offer these stands to win. Hence, you have to optimize your payment systems for the digital-first generation. The needs of consumers are constantly evolving, so are market trends. To add to this, Europe’s payment ecosystem is maturing. More regulations are coming in to simplify payments for all.
Resist change, and you risk disruption. Because, older methods breed inefficiencies and increase your risks, as well as your costs.
To stay competitive, you have to ride the wave. Else, you risk losing market share to savvier competitors. Switch to a modern payment system, rather than stick to legacy machines. This helps you to match the tune of your consumers and market, and stay ahead in the game.
Also read: Three Payment Trends E-commerce Merchants Can’t Ignore in 2022
2. Automate payment reconciliation – better efficiency, more profit
Manual processes are highly prone to errors, not to mention slow and costly. Automating your payment reconciliation gives you more control over your payments. You can track your payments in real-time, and take action when needed. This means faster and easier settlements. Paying your suppliers and collecting your bills on time are all made easy.
Plus, automation gives you access to rich data that you can co-relate and draw insights about your business and buyers. This helps you take more informed decisions and improve operations. You can also make tweaks when required. Thus, it becomes easier to customize and offer more personalized products to customers. Overall, automating payments reconciliation helps you keep your customer first.
Know more:
How to Avoid Late Payments with Automated Accounts Receivable Management
3. Improve authorization rates, reduce payment failure, streamline CX
New-age payment tech helps you to improve payment acceptance rates and reduce declines. You can design more seamless checkouts and one-click payments to make checkouts simple and quick. This makes a big difference to the customer experience. No more frustrated shoppers waiting at long checkouts. Quicker checkout means lesser cart abandonment, and in turn, happy and loyal buyers.
Updating your payment tech also allows you to tap into Europe’s modern payment infrastructure. From open banking rails to real-time payments to contactless payments – all are made possible through a modern payment system. This helps you to cater well to savvy digital customers in different markets across Europe.
You might like: Payment Experience and Customer Loyalty in 2022: 5 Rules of Engagement
4. Enhance fraud prevention, win buyer trust
One of the most important steps for you to take is to secure customer payments from fraud and theft. Laws in Europe mandate the use of multi-factor authentication (MFA) via its SCA statute under the revised PSD2 norms.
Using MFA helps you to secure payments with extra layers of security to keep away hackers and data thieves. Using advanced fraud prevention tools like 3D Secure 2 and tokenization keeps your data secure from hackers. Modern payments tech also helps you process data securely in PCI DSS compliant environments.
When you are compliant with all data and security laws, you stay safe and don’t run foul with regulators. And your customers enjoy fast, secure payments. This helps you win their trust, improve brand loyalty, and build up a solid, reliable business.
Also read: Payment Threats are Rising. Is Your Business Prepared?
How Can Novalnet Help with Modern Payments?
We are a global PSP with decades of experience in helping Europe’s leading brands process their payments. Our AI-based payment solutions help you process payments easily and securely in a PCI DSS-compliant environment. From our instant payment plug-ins to our AI-based risk management tools, we have the resources to get you up and running with your payments in a short time, and with zero hassle.
Wherever you are in Europe, we ensure that your payments are running smoothly at all times, round the clock.
Reach out to us today to know more about how we can help your business.
Jose Augustine is the Chief Business Development Officer at Novalnet with extensive experience in European payment industry and a knowledge powerhouse.