Month: February 2025

Payments are at the heart of any business, no matter the size or industry. That’s why choosing the right payments system can safeguard your business, now and well into the future.

You may already know you need a completely new payments system, especially if your current one is obviously outdated. Maybe you’re using standalone solutions that don’t quite gel in the way you need them to. Or perhaps you tolerate your current system, but wonder if something better is worth exploring.

Getting your new payments system right can drive business growth, boost profits, and keep your business ahead of the competition. But you’re not sure if you’re definitely ready to invest in something new. So what’s the answer?

The Potential Risks of Keeping Outdated Legacy Systems

Upgrading an outdated payments system can be great for your business.. Conversely, continuing to use your legacy systems has serious potential drawbacks This includes:

Gaps in Payment Security

Legacy systems are unlikely to be as well-supported or up-to-date in terms of security requirements as current payments systems. The rapid acceleration of payments technology adoption—mostly caused by the pandemic and consumer demand—has given rise to digital fraud. Legacy systems don’t have the sophistication to manage surging payment volumes while keeping PII (personally identifiable information) secure. 

Legacy System Maintenance Costs

Though new technology seems like it might be costly, maintaining legacy systems may cost you more in the long-run. According to Financial Times, banks and insurance companies need to devote 75% of their IT budgets to preserving their legacy systems. Your specific payments system may be similarly weighing down your overall technology budget.

Ultimately, the older a system gets, the costlier it’ll be to maintain, on top of the dwindling number of experts that can use them.

Longer Processing Times

It’s not just the financial cost you’re risking with legacy systems. Clunky, outdated systems take employees longer to use. And if you’re using separate solutions, it’s even more work to connect the dots. For merchants looking to maintain a healthy cash flow, slow legacy systems can cause roadblocks and customer dissatisfaction.

Ask yourself, “is our current payments system the best we can get?” No matter your industry, consumer demands for faster payments have skyrocketed in recent times, and keeping up with those demands relies heavily on up-to-date systems and processes to make every customer touchpoint with your business simple and painless.

Try out a New Payments System Before Making the Switch?

Getting the right payments system—one that matches your business needs—will have a positive impact on your business (and your profits). But how do you know that the system you’re eyeing up actually delivers? 

Making the wrong choice could be at best costly and at worst, catastrophic, so testing out or demoing a system is the safest option. You need a system that fits seamlessly into your business, is easy to use, and works well for your stakeholders. 

And while something may look like it checks all your boxes, you won’t know for sure until you actually try it. Getting hands-on helps you get a feel for exactly how a system works, and how it works specifically for your business.

Having a proper in-depth conversation with experts in the payments industry (not just software salespeople—though that’s not to say they can’t be both), helps you communicate your needs and find out how a system can solve your business’s unique challenges. This conversation should be a combination of knowing and communicating what you need, and receiving clear  payments solution recommendations.

What About Payment Gateway Emulators?

Another option that helps advance your payments processes without the need to reprogram your existing applications is a payment gateway emulator.  Using advanced technology, gateway emulators translate your current gateway’s API to the provider’s API for seamless transactions. They’re an advanced and cost-effective way of test driving a new system, giving you insight into whether making the switch completely is right for your business.  

Technology advancements give businesses such an abundance of different options, but with all of that choice can come uncertainty. Which payments system is right for your business? Which one will solve all of your issues? 

If you’re considering making a switch, but don’t want to risk having to back-track and start again if it’s not the right choice, test driving any potential new technology, software, or system is important.   

By trying out a new payments system before committing ting, you can learn its features and benefits, and figure out if it’s really the right one for you. 

Want to work with a payments expert before making the switch? Get in touch with PayFrame today to set up a demo, or have a discussion with one of our PayFrame payments specialists.

Luckily, adopting a flexible payments system is easy and has real impact on your business results.

Why Payments Technology is a Must-Have

For many businesses, payments processes are low-priority, a necessary evil, even. But the opposite is true. Your payment system is mission-critical. Your future customers will approach your businesses with the expectation that you’ll accept their payment method, no matter what it is. Of course, the pandemic accelerated the need for robust payment acceptance, but these trends were actually in motion well before 2020. 

Fiat Cash is No Longer King

Consumers used cash only for 26 percent of transactions in 2019, down from 30 percent in 2017. On top of that, cash is mostly used for small purchases, representing roughly 10 percent of transactions over $25. Since COVID, contactless cards and touchless payment methods are within reach of being today’s primary method of payment.  The surge is expected to continue.

In fact, over two trillion transactions representing US$48 trillion are forecasted to shift from cash to cards and digital payments by 2030, making it a requirement for businesses to adopt a modern payments system.

The (Digital) Times They Are A-Changin’ 
A Payments Storm Has Arrived

Though the world is still in the technology age, today’s industries are experiencing another step forward in how technology will augment how business is conducted. This is more than a disruption. In the wake of the pandemic, it’s estimated that a half-decade’s worth of payments innovation has taken place in just over a year, with no pullback in sight.

Demographic data also sheds some light on where payments are headed.  At this time, 72 percent of all mobile payments are made by millennials or Gen Z, and since half of the American population are millennials or younger, businesses must begin gearing up for the incoming wave of tech-comfortable shoppers, on top of the adults higher in age already comfortable with modern payment technology.

Let Payments Open the Door to New Revenue

Now that you understand the magnitude of modern payments technology, you can capitalize on the opportunities for greater revenue. Here’s how.

Optimize Your Digital Commerce Channel for Customers and Vendors

If your customers can’t conveniently pay you, they are much less likely to. Therefore, it’s important to provide your customers with easy payment options. How do most customers transact business with your organization? Are you confident that the payment channels they use are convenient? The average order placed on a desktop computer is 42% higher than an order placed on mobile, so be sure that you’re well acquainted with your customer’s checkout experience and preferences.

Even if you operate a mostly brick-and-mortar business, keep in mind that most shoppers prefer the convenience of online shopping, due to the ease of online purchases, and returns. In fact, if you can add an eCommerce element effectively—even to your brick-and-mortar business—you can attract and  delight more customers. 

Unified Commerce Initiatives

Instead of settling for a disjointed set of IT programs, use an integrated or mostly-integrated process. This means combining your e-commerce, m-commerce (mobile commerce) capabilities with your background processes like inventory management, billing, and (in some cases) customer relationship management.

If your commerce structure is a hodge podge of tools and systems, you may be operating on incomplete data, which makes your business management decisions less timely. If your business is equipped with accurate, timely data, you’ll be able to plan effectively and make better forecasts.

Understand Your Customers Better with Helpful Data Insights

In the technology age, data is its own currency. Fortunately, if you use digital payments, you will be able to capture data on your customers behaviors, website traffic, and more. 

Spot trends, and drill down on key details specific to your business, giving you the intel you need to generate more revenue by improving your customers’  experience.

For example, suppose that you find out that 40% of your customers visit your site via mobile phone. This critical insight could inspire you to optimize your website for mobile users, making enhancements like adding smaller images (faster loading), buttons instead of links, or an otherwise streamlined experience. In this case, the data gave you actionable customer information, gleaned from watching customer behavior.

An effective payments platform should be able to provide key customer analytics on an easily accessible dashboard, giving you valuable insights to improve your customer experience. This data can also be a big help for your salesforce.

Prepare for Post-Pandemic Success

As you know, businesses today need to be more adaptable than ever.  To ensure that your business will be able to continue generating revenue and serving all of your customers in the “new normal,” it’s paramount that you remain open to change. One of the most important enhancements you can make for your business is to shift away from your legacy systems, into the right payments technology platform. PayFrame can help you do that.