Most industries and businesses continue to face several challenges, despite the ones overcome caused by the global pandemic. The payments industry is no exception, and it’s during these difficult times it is even more important to understand the key challenges, so agencies are able to manage and overcome them. Where the future of point-of-sale (POS) systems and payment processing is concerned, three key challenges come to mind:
- Sophistication
- Futureproofing
- True partnership
These are the three areas agencies should be focusing on. Here are some insights into how agencies can approach these obstacles to make payment processing a simpler ordeal for their clients.
Sophistication
In recent years, major changes in hardware and software have materialized due to technology and security; namely the EMV chip card's introduction. Now that the monumental shifts have calmed down a bit, it’s time to take a closer look at the details – software systems received sophisticated upgrades and performance that will create an easier payment experience for retailers and their customers.
A new study by Forrester and the National Retail Federation (NRF)2 states that better support for omnichannel retailing scenarios over the next 18 months is a top initiative for leaders in the payment space.
Insurance agencies are going to have to make discerning choices about the required improvements to enable their customers to pay – whether it's cash, card, or contactless mobile payments. As a result, third party providers must be equipped to assist insurance agencies in understanding their processing options and offer the most high-impact and cost-effective choices available.
Futureproofing
The biggest hurdle agencies will continue to experience is selecting the right payment processing partner.
Deloitte’ trends analyzes that the increased popularity of "exponential technologies" – Internet of Things (IoT) as point of sale (POS), cryptocurrencies and distributed ledger technology (DLT), digital wallets, tokenization, and more – will expand consumers’ and merchants’ options for how to pay and receive payment1.
This further emphasizes the importance of having the right payments provider that will futureproof their business so they’re able to accept any type of payment a policyholder wants to present to them.
For example, while support for mobile payments like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and other digital wallets continue to evolve, agencies need to implement the right software as a foundation so in the future, new mobile payment processors can be approached to talk about upgrading their services.
It’s critical to find a payments provider that is committed to understanding exactly what their clients need to manage payments right now and years from now. With the speed at which the world and technology are changing, it’s hard to predict beyond a few years.
True Partnership
The partnership a payments provider has with its clients is the essential driver behind all these future improvements because the market is flooded with more and more POS players and for a new agency, that can be overwhelming. It would be vital for an agency to adopt a platform with a provider that simplifies the process and reduces confusion.
It’s important for a payments partner to understand the client’s business inside and out, to be decisive in what different types of payment will be accepted. Then, it’s possible to deliver a custom solution that’s cost-effective and reliable and will result in the futureproofing they need.
These are the three key challenges to focus on going forward. Agencies should always be searching for thoughtful partnerships with forward-thinking payments providers that will provide for their customers the best experience now and in the future.
- https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/financial-services/articles/infocus-payments-trends.html
- https://go.forrester.com/blogs/outlook-2019-state-of-retail-payments-report/