A treat for consumers or tricky fraudsters? Providing a phenomenal customer experience is a priority for any successful business. So much goes on behind the scenes to support that effort and integrated payments are one key component. An integrated payment solution is the cornerstone connecting the systems and software that keep a business running smoothly.
Integrated payment systems offer seamless performance to optimize back-end business operations. By improving the functions of individual pieces, integrated payment systems can help strengthen your business structure as a whole.
What does integrated payments mean?
As the phrase implies, integrated payments connect the critical payment processing function with other vital business systems and software. When all the systems are compatible, it’s easier for a merchant to accept payments and consolidate important data.
An integrated payments solution enhances a point-of-sale system, helping optimize the features already available and offering additional capabilities. Even more importantly, an integrated solution provides access to the technology a business needs to evolve their operations over time.
Benefit #1: Integrated payments streamline operations
An integrated payments solution automates accounting processes, allowing a business to bypass the process of manually entering and reconciling transaction data, which is time consuming and prone to errors. With an integrated solution, payments are automatically posted at the time of sale. The integrated payment ledger displays the transaction history in real time, making accounting easier and more accurate and providing immediate access to transaction data and insights.
Benefit #2: Integrated payments provides better customer service
Keeping customers waiting in line comes with a cost. More than half of consumers surveyed said they would avoid or walk out of a store that has long checkout lines. An integrated payments solution helps speed up checkout because by reducing the time-consuming tasks required to complete a transaction manually. It also offers line-busting options such as self-checkout, online checkout and mobile checkout for payment acceptance throughout a business location. Additionally, without the distraction and stress of servicing a long line of customers, staff can focus their attention on one customer at a time.
Benefit #3: Integrated payments is a more customized solution
Another benefit of an integrated payments solution is that it can be customized with the features a business needs–now and in the future. A solution can be set up to work with a CRM system to provide insights on customer purchasing trends or be designed to track inventory, sales and deliveries. A business can tailor their integrated payments solution to provide the information they want to improve any area of their operations from marketing to accounting and customer service.
Turns out that customers are the main driver for investing in payments technology. According to the Worldpay 2020 PACE report, 57% of SMBs are investing in technology to for their customers. From contactless payments to payment apps, payment software is increasingly important for business success.
Finding the right integrated payments solution
How do you find the right integrated payments solution for your business? The good news is that there is an integrated payment system tailored to the needs and budget of virtually every type of business. A great place to start is by connecting with a global leader and innovator in integrated payments technology. To discover how your business can benefit from an integrated payment solution, contact one of our payments experts at Worldpay.