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Optimizing Resources: 12 Essential Tools for SaaS Companies

How to Find the Right Financial Expert for Your Business

Anchor: Accounting tests 

How to Securely Manage Online Payments: A Business Owner’s Guide

How Businesses Can Prevent Identity Fraud with ID Verification

The Future of Payments: Trends and Technologies to Watch in 2023 

Why Your Small Business Should Accept Mobile Payments

5 Critical Database Features That Help Manage Payment Transactions

Authenticating ownership of a bank account is a crucial step in ensuring the security and integrity of financial transactions. It is a process of verifying that the person claiming to own a bank account is indeed the rightful owner. This can be done through a variety of means, including providing personal identification, answering security questions, or providing a signature.

Ways SaaS Can Streamline Your Business Planning Process

Zero ChargeBack Payment Processing: There is a solution

Can you accept customer payments without having a Merchant Account?

How Push Payments | Consumer Permissioned Payments can solve the merchant account Merry Go Round for high-risk business payment needs?

5 Reasons Push Payments will change the online checkout landscape

7 Tips to Increase Your SaaS Website Leads and Sales

PushPayments, also called consumer-permissioned payments, can completely eliminate payment chargebacks and reduce payment processing fees by 50% compared to credit card payments.

How to Manage Your Investment Portfolio as a SaaS Business

How To Improve Employee Productivity with AI

5 Key Funding Options For Your Company

(via: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/phishing-fraud-cyber-security-3390518/)

How to Develop an SEO Strategy for Your SAAS Company

What Gig Workers Want in Payments

So, you're on your way to becoming a gig worker. Congratulations! You'll be joining the ranks of some of the most innovative and forward-thinking people in the workforce. But what do gig workers need to have a much-improved experience? Payments that fit their lifestyle and work habits for sure! 

Instant Payouts: A Guide for MarketPlace Instant Payout Providers

The world is changing, folks. Gone are the times when people would accept payments taking days to reach their accounts for work they’ve completed. Nowadays, when a freelancer or employee completes their job, they want to know that they’ve been paid immediately. 

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Why You Should Do a Jail History Check on a Business Partner 

From a financial and operational standpoint, entering into a business partnership is an excellent strategic choice. 

Instant Payouts: A Guide for Saas Platforms

The world is changing, folks. Gone are the times when people would accept payments taking days to reach their accounts for work they’ve completed. Nowadays, when a freelancer or employee completes their job, they want to know that they’ve been paid immediately. 

7 Essential Components That a Successful SaaS Website Should Have

How To Create An eCommerce Privacy Policy, And Why You Should Do So Now

Instant Payout Providers Help You Build Your Business

Instant Payout Solutions

8 Best Practices for Managing SaaS Contracts & Agreements

Effective Ways E-Commerce Companies Can Protect Customer Data

How to Optimize Your Online Payment Process for Higher Conversion Effectively

10 Actionable B2B Lead Generation Strategies for SaaS Businesses

How SaaS Companies Can Take Advantage of Account-Based Marketing

How to Improve Operational Efficiency Using Workflow Automation

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5 Tools To Conduct Surveys For Your Online Ventures

The Future of Laravel Development in 2022 & Coming Years

Why is Competitor Analysis Crucial to Drive Business Growth?

In the fast-paced era of automation and technological advancement, staying ahead in the business space is challenging. Especially when the market arena is noisy and full of intense competition, getting insights on your competitors becomes crucial for your business growth. 

First-hand tips on how to improve your website productivity

“You never get a second chance to make a good first impression”. What’s true in life and it’s especially true with how your website looks to new viewers. Just a ONE SECOND delay leads to your page losing 11% page views, a 16% drop in customer satisfaction, and a whopping 7% loss in conversion! One second! And 40% of customers will just give up if it takes more than five seconds.

It happens on a regular basis; prospective clients contact us because they have a SaaS application in development, usually nearing launch, and they need a solution to pay-out to people or companies that serve a role within the application's ecosystem, but who are not the primary beneficiary of the funds received from a credit card payment. 

2021 ACH Transaction Volume

11 Important Features for Accepting Payments on Your Website

PayFac or Payment Facilitation enables software platforms to both brand and monetize payment processing offerings while at the same time offering instant, hassle-free customer payments onboarding.

As of June 30, 2021, a new rule on supplementing data security requirements goes into effect for ACH originators that have an annual volume of 6 million transactions or greater. The rule requires the originators (and third party service providers) to protect bank account information unreadable when it's stored electronically. Basically, the sensitive bank account data needs to be tokenized. 

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Many banks and Credit Unions now offer drive through only service to their customers and members.  This has created a spike in the number of in-bound phone calls for Credit Unions. For many this has resulted in a less than ideal member experience.

10 SaaS Tools Every Business Must Use

A Pay by Text Virtual Terminal offers medical offices the ability to communicate with patients in a non face to face environment. 2-Way messaging means your office personnel can text patients and interact using their computer screen ( Virtual Terminal) like their cell phone. 

SMS stands for Short Messaging Service, and primarily involves texting by phone. SMS Payment Solutions allow businesses to:

Since the rise of AI, it has had a massive impact on different industries, and as years progress, it will continue to have more significant influences in more industries. This technology can efficiently scan through a large database and use the data to generate insights from which actions can be taken. AI technology is very result-oriented. 

Disrupting the ACH and Credit Card settlement and funding process via a Funding Report

Any software application having a requirement to accept payments will most likely need to integrate a credit card payment integration solution. Even applications with a subscription model will likely do so, even though ACH processing lends itself very nicely to models with a recurring payment component. The fact of the matter is that credit cards are the go-to payment modal in the card not present space. If you are part of a team on a SaaS payments project, here are some key areas that you should explore.

Having been supplying payment gateway integration solutions for over 20 years now, we certainly hear some common themes when discussing potential integration solutions with prospective clients. As one prospect put it, "I think it's now become part of the developers DNA that Stripe is the defacto integration solution." Who can argue with elegant API's and fairly ease of boarding, right?

What does the new NACHA ruling around WEB ACH transactions really mean and why has it been implemented?

If you work in the professional services industry then you likely have heard the buzzword, Fintech over the years. Fintech, or businesses that combine financial services with technology, have become somewhat of a phenomenon in recent years. These companies, often from Silicon Valley, are sleek, modern businesses that approach the finance industry with sophisticated technology to optimize business financing processes such as payments, banking, and more.

An ACH API integration enables a business or SaaS platform to automate ACH
payment processing and reconciliation. Any business that accepts recurring payments should leverage the ACH network for 2 compelling reasons:

Ease of IVR menu flow configuration and editing.

Legacy IVR systems can require developer assets to be used from the IVR payments partner when initially configuring a menu and IVR workflow and subsequent edits should the menu flow require a change. In many cases these can be extremely expensive to the using organization. We have heard instances where a using organization was quoted thousands of dollars to change from using a text to speech engine to using their own recorded voice talent. It should have be be as such.

SaaS businesses may run into billing errors every once in a while; however, it’s an unnecessary racket if the same mistakes are repeated, and they don’t have a functioning model that would save them from another billing error. To make matters worse, billing errors can cause your customers to lose trust in you as their billing authority, and might flock to your competitor(s).

How to Start Your Career as a Software Engineer in a SAAS Company

Nobody looks forward to a hospital visit, but collecting payments via SMS can make a patient’s hospital experience better. Paying by text means avoiding the crowded billing office, and  patients leaving the hospital, doctor’s office, etc. as soon as possible (instead of waiting to make a payment). 

PCI compliance doesn't apply to ACH Payment Processing, but to utilize a processing platform that is PCI DSS Level 1 certified certainly doesn't hurt security measures around your ACH origination method. NACHA doesn't have an established security certification process like the credit card world does, but they do require that processes, controls and procedures are employed to protect sensitive data like bank account information. ACH Tokenization accomplishes that.

SMS stands for Short Messaging Service, and centers around cell phone texting. SMS Payment Solutions allow businesses to text customers with payment reminders/confirmation and accept payment via the cell phone.

Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) is computer technology that offers automated secure payment by phone by replacing human interaction within call centers. A phone system offers voice prompts that route calls to an IVR system instead of utilizing live customer service operators. An IVR system can handle huge loads of calls that would otherwise require substantial man hours.

Agile Payments has been supplying various types of payments related tools for 20+ years, and one of those tools is Interactive Voice Response which allows companies to collect payments over the phone using automated IVR Payment technology.

While we are flat in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, our payments related inquiries have changed a bit. More companies are looking for ways to accept payments and donations and either eliminating or reducing the normal methods in which they typically accept payments.

SMS payments, or “Pay by Text payments”,  allow customers to pay for services or goods via a mobile phone text message. The customer typically receives a text prompting them to initiate payment via a website interface or additional text messaging. Almost any business that takes payments for goods or services can realize operational costs savings and an uptick in collected revenues by choosing to accept payments by text message.

The 2021 payments landscape demands sophisticated check acceptance risk mitigation tools. Businesses now have a new tool for collecting customer payments. SMS Payment Solutions allow businesses to:

When rent payments come due, you don’t want your property management staff overwhelmed! If your property management complex is closed on the weekends, clerks are likely to be overwhelmed as soon as they open on the next available business day. Likewise, today’s customers expect to be able to make payments whenever, wherever.

ACH API Case Study:

Today’s consumer expects service easily and instantly, with practically 80% of consumers expecting national brand service leves from their local service provider counterparts. Pay by Text solutions, or Short messaging service (SMS) solutions, are a great way for your Utility Company to offer a simple, effective customer service option.

Despite the convenience of online payments, 62% of utility customers claim to prefer making a payment without logging into a system. Likewise, more than ¾ of general consumers have claimed to make at least one payment per month via the phone. 

Call center payment processing varies from organization to organization in terms of how it is managed, but the most used methods are from one of the following methods:

78% of consumers have reported making at least one payment per month via phone payments, with 60% preferring our phones to make payments. This means storage facilities are in a prime position to utilize an IVR Payments system in 2020.

The waste management sphere is seeing a major increase in the volume of electronic payments. More than 3/4 of consumers expect local service providers to offer the same degree of service as national brands, which simply makes having an electronic payments system that handles credit cards/ACH payments necessary in 2020. Short messaging service (SMS) solutions are a great way for your waste management company to offer a simple, effective customer service option.

The public utilities and municipalities realm is experiencing a major increase in electronic payments. With 79% of consumers expecting local service providers to offer same level service as national brands, an electronic payments system that handles credit cards/ACH payments is a necessity in 2020. An Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system is a simple, effective way for your waste management business to provide more thorough customer service.

Ideally, organizations looking for a Payment Gateway Integration for SaaS start considering their options far in advance of the new application going live. Or in the case of an existing application, far in advance of the need to flip the switch on for the payment processing functionality that the new payment gateway integration will be supporting. 

If you'd like more detail you can view our whitepaper on Payment Gateway Intgeration 

We're continually surprised at the differing perspectives and priorities that various organizations and companies have for integrating to a Payment Gateway Integration. However, there is one constant; each and every integrating organization or their client using base that sells a service or product. To put it simply, they are looking to make a profit from their sales via electronic transactions. Aren't we all (profit)?

For SaaS applications with payment needs, eg Rentlee, a landlord platform offering rent collection, Payment Facilitation as a Service allows the platform to act as a master merchant account. This allows landlords to be set up as sub-accounts and begin accepting rent payments instantly. In the past Rentlee would have had to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and 6+ months to register with the card associations to act as a true Payment Facilitator.

Top 5 Things to look for in your Payment Facilitation as a Service Provider Search

What does a successful Credit Card Payment Integration look like?

Here are Top 9 Things to Look for from a Recurring Credit Card Payment Integration API

1-API availability: Does the partner offer a modern, elegant RESTful API

How Payment Facilitation as as Service can power revenue growth for SaaS platforms

By integrating a Credit Card Payment Processing solution your application users gain the ability to accept credit and debit card payments from their end customer.

Software applications that require payments functionality often can benefit from adding the ACH payment rail. That's especially true for applications that have a subscription or recurring payments component. Thus the application's management or stakeholders will look to various ACH Providers for discussing requirements and finding a solution that meets their needs.

Pay by Text payment solutions offer businesses a simple, cost effective method to securely collect customer payments.

Marketing products or services via mass media to consumers can result in an enormous number of consumer responses, sometimes flooding a call center or even some IVR systems. If the media used is television or radio, the consumer responses arrive at a narrow, but predictable time, further challenging an IVR system's capabilities. Having an IVR system that can handle the call load is just one critical issue that media marketers face in fulfilling their customer orders and accepting consumer payments.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR) has been around for quite a while now, and it's use for payments acceptance has grown significantly in recent years. With recent advents in IVR systems along with increased cell phone adoption, businesses and organizations now have more tools to bill their customers and collect and accept late payments by phone.

What is an ACH Transfer API, anyway? Quite simply, it's an API that provides the ability for a software application to integrate ACH processing capabilities for the purpose of providing the application to originate, manage and report on the transfer of funds between bank accounts.

If you're part of a SaaS dev team or a stakeholder and have determined that your application has a need for an eCheck API, have you defined your requirements?

Best IVR Payment Systems: What to look for in your IVR Payment search

An IVR Payment Solution creates new customer option that allows customers to pay bills or invoices without involving business staff or resources. Customers dial into a  phone and connect to an automated IVR system that interacts via voice prompts with the caller, allowing them to pay amounts due without human interaction from the business side.

ACH API Providers are organizations that provide an API for the purpose of integrating a software application to originate and manage ACH transactions. 

Many software applications have a need to accept payments, and many require the need to integrate payments functionality via an API. For some of these application organizations, integrating to a credit card API isn't enough and have a need to integrate to an ACH Payment API.

IVR Transactions: Interactive Voice Response for Inbound Customer Payment Transactions

IVR Transactions occur when customers call into an IVR Payment Solution.

IVR Payment Software: What are your options in your IVR Payment Solution search

IVR Payment  Software Solutions offer payment options that allow clients to pay bills or invoices via self service. Customers dial into a  phone and connect to an automated IVR system and interact via voice prompts, allowing customers them to pay amounts due without human interaction from the business side.

PCI Compliant IVR Payment Gateway Solutions – Interactive Voice Response for Phone Based Customer Payments

An IVR Gateway provides automated phone based payment acceptance solution for organizations.

PCI Compliant IVR Tokenization Solutions – Interactive Voice Response for Phone Based Customer Payments

Credit card data is required to be handled in a PCI compliant manner. IVR Tokenization is the process that securely exchanges full credit card number for a non-sensitive replacement value in an IVR Payment Solution.

IVR Billing - 24/7/365 Automated Customer Payment Center

IVR Phone Payments- 24/7/365 Automated Customer Payment Center

Software organizations that serve a customer base having recurring payments can better position themselves by integrating to an ACH Payments API. There are many reasons this is true, but the underlying fact that allows this is that these type organizations have a customer base of a subscription nature and who know their customers well.

If your organization is looking to integrate ACH payment processing, you likely have compiled a list of what your requirements are that are needed from the ACH API Provider. Integrating organizations can differ greatly in their needs, so be sure to have your transaction flows documented.

Many organizations are stuck in the world of managing their Canada EFT transactions by way of file submission. In some cases using antiquated windows software that is limited at best in ongoing maintenance. Fortunately there are Canadian EFT API integrations available.

Payment Facilitator Provider: Who do you work to become a Payment Facilitator?

A Payment Facilitator or PayFac  acts as a the Master Merchant. The  Payment Facilitator role is to quickly and easily onboard their sub merchants or SaaS platform users to facilitate credit, debit card  and in some case ACH transactions for participants in their payment ecosystem. The Payment Facilitator is responsible for regulatory compliance and has financial risk of their sub-users.

In the past the only Payment Facilitator Provider offering was to become a  “True PayFac”. Becoming a true Payment Facilitator is expensive, time consuming and requires staffing to meet compliance and risk mitigation demands. In essence you become a payment business in addition to to your core SaaS offering.

In 2020 the payment landscape demands sophisticated check acceptance risk mitigation tools. A Check Verification Process mitigates check acceptance risks at the point of sale, with verification options ranging from automated routing number check and negative database options, to near real-time inquiries into current checking account status.

While the ACH network is still a batch network, utilizing an ACH Payment Gateway API can do wonders for software applications in enhancing their capabilities by communicating with a real-time communication integration. Let's examine some of the modern communication tools available from these ACH gateways.

Payment Facilitator Companies

A Payment Facilitator takes on the role of the  Master Merchant. The primary benefit to becoming a Payment Facilitator is that you can quickly and easily enroll your app users and enable processing of  credit, debit card and in some case ACH transactions .

As an example: A SaaS offers an invoicing solution eg QBooks. Businesses that want to leverage their invoicing solution complete a simple application and 15 minutes or so later they are approved and set up to accept customer payment. For our example let’s say the business name is “Best Landscapers”.  They applied and are now approved and ready to bill/invoice there customers using the QBooks platform.

Payment Facilitator versus Payment Processor : What’s the Difference

Payment Facilitator Programs

Payment Facilitators [Payfacs] are  Master Merchants that process credit and debit card transactions for their sub-merchants within their payment application.

Payment Facilitator Tools

A Payment Facilitator takes on the role of Master Merchant. This allows them to set up their application users to accept payments. The major benefit to becoming a Payment Facilitator is to quickly and easily onboard sub clients or SaaS platform users to facilitate credit, debit card  and in some case ACH transactions .

An example: A SaaS offers an business management solution for Yoga Studios. The software is call Yoga101.  Yoga 101 uses Payment Facilitator Tools to allow quick sign up and provide payout and compliance functionality.

SaaS companies that offer payment processing solutions must decide whether of not become a Payment Facilitator or engaging in a Payments Partnership is the most viable solution for their business. Neither is 

Text payment solutions offer businesses a fantastic tool for automating payment and especially late payment collection.

An insurance company looking to streamline payments by phone had the following issues:

• The insurance company was looking to provide excellent customer service, but the volume of calls received made doing this a difficult challenge. The Insurance company’s most frequent calls were from clients making payments. Agents spent significant time processing payments manually, resulting in expanded average call handling and hold times. The Insurance company was looking to automate this process.
• Automating payments meant that the Insurance company had to have a PCI compliant solution that did not expose sensitive card data.
• The Insurance company sought to drive down operating costs while balancing superior customer service.

The Solution

• The Insurance company integrated the AgilePayments IVR platform to build a user-friendly workflow to handle its payment processing needs. The AgilePayments solution offered a modular, intuitive solution build, customized to the Insurance company needs.
• The Insurance company’s application was built and deployed in AgilePayments secure, PCI-compliant network. This allowed the Insurance company to utilize the AgilePayments platform to both operate and maintain a secure environment to process critical customer financial data.
• Data analysis and tracking allowed the Insurance company to measure automation rates and to monitor how customers used the IVR payment application.

Results

• Following deployment of the Insurance company payment IVR application, close to 90% of payment-related calls were handled by the automated IVR payment system. This reduced average cost per call from over $4 to about 30 cents, or over 90% reduction in costs.

Utilizing AgilePayments IVR platforms enable Insurance companies to significantly improve their customer service offerings while at the same time dramatically reducing costs. With an automated payment application in place, live agents spend more time providing high-touch service for customer inquiries.

Recent news has once again exposed the reality that there are inherent risks for a third party ACH processor in handling and processing payroll transactions for a company who handles payroll for multiple companies or even a single company's needs. 

Payment Facilitation allows a SaaS application the ability to accept payments on behalf of its end users. The platform users complete a simple application and in minutes can begin accepting credit cards and in some cases ACH Payments.

This ability to onboard clients without having the user apply for a traditional merchant account [that can take days and require supporting documentation like bank statements and tax returns] offers a friction-free onboarding experience.

Payment Facilitation at its core offers instant onboarding of platform users. If that is not an absolute necessity there are alternative that will better meet needs. See Payment Processing Partnerships.

What is Canada EFT?

Property management applications are extremely popular today. There is rarely a week that goes by where we are not contacted by a software application that serves property management in some way or another. Often, we are discussing payments solutions with many at one time.

Applications that have a subscription component can differ in many ways, but almost universally there is an advantage for the application to integrate to an ACH API for origination and management of recurring payments. requirement, maybe not. Advantage to integrate and offer, most certainly.

One of the common problems that subscription based applications

A Payment Facilitator can be thought of as a Master Merchant that facilitates and processes credit and debit card transactions for their platform users.

Managed Payment Facilitation : What is it and is it right for your SaaS

For a business owner, selecting the best and most cost-effective method of accepting customer payments can be confusing and overwhelming, particularly as the range of payment options continues to grow.

A payment aggregation solution offers a platform the ability to act as a master merchant and instantly onboard application sub-users. These users can complete a simple form and in minutes begin accepting payments.

The 2019 payments landscape has inherent risks for any SaaS applications.

For example, imagine you are a business owner with 500 customers that you bill $100 per month on a recurring basis. Your business runs and plans based on $50,000 per month coming in the door on a regular basis. It took a long time and a lot of work to get to the point where your business generates that amount of reliable predictable income. You pay salaries, rent, handle plan development, and manage marketing campaigns ALL around that recurring revenue.

Bank Account Owner Authentication Service: Moving Beyond Check Verification Services

The ACH Facilitator : What you must know

Have a software application with a payments requirement and want to enter the Canadian market? We'll show you how.

Overview
Payment Rails
EFT API
Processing Costs
Recurring Payments
Payment Facilitation

Overview: For software applications, especially those that serve a vertical base of client user organizations, one logical way to expanding market reach is to open up the application to countries outside your initial geographical focus. Often the logical choice is a near or adjoining country. In the case of applications that were born is the United States the choice is commonly Canada.

SMS Payment Provider | Pay by Text Provider 2019

Looking to leverage or provide MarketPlace Payments? What you must know

MarketPlace Payment Solutions

The role of the Payment Gateway for MarketPlace Payments

When evaluating technical payment solutions that address the primary needs of a MarketPlace Payment solution the integration to the Payment Gateway plays a vital role in the MarketPlace success. For platforms considering launching or monetizing their MarketPlace payments play a vital role in both the success [or failure] of the platform as well as a primary revenue driver6.

MarketPlace Payments and the Merchant of Record: What does it mean?

Canada Electronic Funds Transfer is easiest and most cost effective solution to managing Canadian ACH, allowing businesses based in Canada to debit checking accounts for one-time or recurring payments.

Canada Electronic Funds Transfer processing options are scarce compared to the ACH processing providers available in the United States. Options are limited because of the small number of banks that run the payments sphere. This makes it difficult to gain access to Canada EFT processing.Utilizing a canada electronic funds transfer allows Canadian businesses to debit checking accounts for one-time or recurring payments.

The decision to become a Payment Aggregator or Payment Facilitator (Payfac) has massive implications for a SaaS application provider.

Payment facilitation is the process by which one entity, a master merchant, processes or facilitates payments on behalf of a base of sub merchants.

For the SaaS provider, the potential advantages of becoming a Payment Aggregator can be compelling. The Payment Aggregator model can seem very attractive, both for ease of onboarding and potential revenue generation.

Payment Aggregation, or Payment Facilitation (Payfac), allows a SaaS company to act as a master merchant for its users. The SaaS provider onboards its clients via a fairly non-intrusive application process, and this easy, fast onboarding makes it simple for the SaaS company’s users to begin accepting customer payments very quickly.

Becoming a Payment Facilitator, Payment Service Provider [PSP] or Payment Aggregator. Being a Payment Facilitator can be thought of as being a Master Merchant, facilitating credit and debit card transactions for sub-merchants within your payment ecosystem. Becoming a PSP (also known as PayFac) lends itself well to some businesses that fall into the software provider classification. However, with the many advantages come some unique challenges. We’ll discuss both in this article.

Becoming a Payment Facilitator, Payment Service Provider [PSP] or Payment Aggregator.

In Payment Aggregation, being a Payment Facilitator can be thought of as being a Master Merchant, facilitating credit and debit card transactions for sub-merchants within your payment ecosystem. Becoming a PSP (also known as PayFac) lends itself well to some businesses that fall into the software provider classification. However, with the many advantages come some unique challenges.

The number of SaaS companies looking into payment processing on behalf of their customers is growing rapidly. More and more companies are looking at Payment Aggregation | Payment Facilitation as an attractive option to provide a service that offers fast, easy onboarding for their customers and generate new revenue streams in the process.  

Payment aggregation or payment facilitation allows one entity, or master merchant, to process or facilitate payments on behalf of sub merchants.

For the SaaS provider, potential advantages in becoming a Payment Facilitator (aka Payment Aggregation) are compelling: payment facilitation drives ease of client onboarding and unlocks a new stream of revenue generation.

Payment facilitation, or operating as a “PayFac” allows a SaaS company to act as a master merchant for its client base. The SaaS provider onboards clients via a non-intrusive application process -- making it simple for the user base to quickly begin accepting customer payments by credit card or ACH Payments [some providers offer].

An interview with MyEvent.com. Early adopters of the PayFac business model MyEvent.com has successfully implemented payment facilitation and used it to grow their business and acquire new clients.

Recently, PYMNTS, a leading payments and commerce industry news site published a piece on PayFacs based on an interview with WePay co-founder Richard Aberman.

Hyperbole aside, we want to examine Mr. Aberman’s view and provide some balance to the conversation for companies exploring payment facilitation.

Payment facilitation, or PayFac allows a SaaS company to act as a master merchant for its client base. The SaaS provider onboards clients via a non-intrusive application process -- making it simple for the user base to quickly begin accepting customer payments by credit card.

So you want to be a PayFac? The 1 question you must answer

We get frequent inquiries from SaaS platforms and start ups about becoming a PayFac or Payment Facilitator.

Businesses that are Payment Facilitators [Payfacs] are in essence Master Merchants that process credit and debit card transactions for their sub-merchants within their payment application.

If you’ve considered becoming a Payment Facilitator (PayFac) for your SaaS customer base, you’re familiar with the term “KYC,” or Know Your Customer. As the payment processing industry continues its trend of explosive growth, however, KYC might be more accurately termed “CYA.”

As the idea of Payment Facilitation gains traction, more and more SaaS companies are exploring becoming a PayFac. Conceptually, it is an attractive feature to introduce: fast, easy, onboarding and new means of revenue generation. In fact, independent software vendors and SaaS companies are poised to generate $4.4 billion in revenue from payment processing alone by 2021.

There exists a number of issues that need consideration prior to becoming a Payment Facilitator or Payfac, however.  While the benefits of facilitation are clear, companies cannot overlook the essentials of selecting a facilitation partner. The nature of your partnership will be key in ensuring appropriate customer service, profit generation and risk or liability mitigation.

Steps to becoming a Payment Facilitator are outlined below.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

SaaS platforms and Software vendors have a unique opportunity. Whether you already offer some type of payment collectionoption or have an application that has the potential to leverage payments there has never been a better time to explore your options.

Payment facilitation or payment aggregation allows one entity, the master merchant, to process or facilitate payments for a base of sub-merchants. For SaaS providers these are typically application end users or customers.

ACH payments and disbursements aren’t new. ACH payments have been around since 1974, and by the end of 2016, the total volume of ACH processing exceeded $40 trillion. If you have made monthly AutoPay payments for your mortgage, paid a credit card bill or received salary as direct deposit, those transactions were via ACH.Any SaaS application that has a user base with recurring or subscription payments needs must include ACH payments as a payment rail option. In many cases ACH should be the defacto payment method for anything recurring. The simple fact is that ACH transactions have much lower processing costs than do credit card transactions. Further, credit card decline rates can cause havoc with recurring payments because of much higher decline rates. How the SaaS development team decides to manage recurring payments should be their choice. They may opt to utilize the ACH API’s recurring scheduling system or, manage the recurring schedule within their application.

For software applications that have an end-user base in a subscription model or include recurring transactions, an ACH Processing API is a must. Sure, few of these SaaS applications would want to discount the use of credit card processing because it's a commonly used payment modal, but being subscription based sets the application into an area of knowing their customer base much differently than some business that sells widgets on a one-time basis to consumers that might never revisit or occasionally purchase goods or services. Moreover, customers of these subscription based businesses more than likely rely on receiving their goods or services that the organization and SaaS provides.

Recurring ACH API For SAAS Platforms

How can an ACH Transfer API help your business or SaaS?

An ACH Transfer API provides an additional payment option: Using the ACH network allows a business to debit or credit checking and savings accounts.

Some applications are more favorably aligned with acceptance of eCheck (ACH) transactions than others. Applications that are proprietary and align themselves well with eCheck acceptance and only support their business can often start out with using an external transaction management tool for payment origination and management. On the other hand, applications that are used my multiple organizations or businesses are far less likely in being able to get by with utilizing an external payment management tool. Let's examine some key areas that factor in to whether and when an ACH Integration might make sense.

Even though 2019 is only two months old, there are many new apps available for both Android and Apple devices. From improvements in health to new tech assistants, these apps will be helpful now and into future.

The majority of the time payment rejects are accidents, and making customers go through the hassle of the sale process again will undoubtedly lead to a fraction of those sales being lost. By leveraging checking account verification tools businesses can reduce the chance of losing customers over simple data entry errors. Businesses that rely on future billing are especially vulnerable to bad check data, utilizing ACH Check Validation Providers can dramatically reduce bad check acceptance and the subsequent workflow problems.

We receive regular inquiries from start-ups as well as established businesses that believe they have a killer app that can be the next Venmo or Zelle.

Businesses that have employed Interactive Voice Response technologies for acceptance of payments are generally more familiar with an IVR solution that focuses on inbound calls. Inbound IVR Payments do a wonderful job at eliminating customer service time spent on the phone where they provide customers their invoice amounts and details about the receivables, then collecting payment information where they enter it into whatever payment origination software that they are using for processing. 

Advances in the online payments sphere have now made it possible for businesses to verify bank account ownership. This real-time checking account verification can confirm that a consumer or business owns the account, and is authorized to transact.

Verifying Bank Account Ownership via an online application provides businesses with comprehensive, instantaneous insight into the person/business whose check payment the business wants to accept or enroll in a recurring billing plan.

The ACH Check Validation Services allow merchants to reduce check acceptance risk at the point of sale (both online and in person). Available options include:

Payment Facilitation Problems: What you should know about potential funding issues

Payment Facilitator Provider

Payment Facilitators [Payfacs] act as Master Merchants that process credit and debit card transactions for their sub-merchants within their payment application. Typically a Payment Facilitator would be a software platform that serves a specific vertical market eg Event ticketing.

A Payment Facilitator or PayFac assumes the role of Master Merchant. Payment Facilitating allows the Master Merchant to quickly and easily onboard their sub merchants or in the case of a SaaS platform Payment Facilitating allows platform users to the ability to accept credit, debit card and in some case ACH transactions for participants in their payment ecosystem.

The ability to verify checking account ownership is a pivotal element of reducing the risk of enrolling a new customer with potentially bad check information.

The ACH or electronic check world unfortunately lacks the authorization component present with credit cards, making Bank Account Verification a necessity for SaaS businesses looking to mitigate payment acceptance risks.

Is Payment Facilitation a good option for your SAAS or Platform?

Bank Account Validation allows merchants to mitigate check acceptance risk at the point of sale by providing an opportunity to validate that an account is open and in good standing prior to the account being loaded into a recurring billing engine. This means that data entry errors, potentially closed accounts, or fraud can be caught before finalizing the sale.

Why a SAAS platform can become a Payment Facilitator but WILL NOT be the next Stripe

The SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) companies/startups have popped up all around the world. They are bringing value to people’s lives simply through the product and that has become a true hallmark of modern times.

Payment Facilitator Systems

A Payment Facilitator assumes the role of the  Master Merchant. The major benefit to becoming a Payment Facilitator is to quickly and easily onboard sub clients or SaaS platform users to facilitate credit, debit card  and in some case ACH transactions .

Let’s use an example: A SaaS offers an invoicing solution eg MyBooks. Businesses that want to leverage their invoicing solution complete a simple application and 15 minutes or so later they are approved and set up to accept customer payment. For our example let’s say the business name is “Best Landscapers”.  They applied and are now approved and ready to bill/invoice there customers using the MyBooks platform.

Account Verification Systems confirm that a bank account is open and in good standing prior to the account being loaded into the billing engine. This means that data entry errors, potentially closed accounts, or even fraud can be caught before the sale’s confirmation. Verification automation also completes the 2021 NACHA requirement for Bank Account Validation.

While authorization is a important aspect of the credit card sphere, the ACH realm lacks such an authorization component. When it comes to credit cards, a merchant knows they are getting paid at the point of sale because they can verify that the customer has the requisite funds on their cards at the time of payment. This reserves those funds for capture and settlement.

Unlike the credit card arena, the ACH world lacks an authorization component. Essentially, a merchant knows they are getting paid at the point of sale because credit cards allow you to authorize at the time of payment that the customer has the requisite funds on their cards. This reserves those funds for capture and settlement.

Because the ACH world lacks the verification component present with credit card payments, knowing How to Verify a Business Bank Account is a priority for businesses in the ACH realm.

Many business compensate for this lack of authorization buy implementing a Checking Account Verification system to mitigate payment acceptance risk. Without an ACH Verification System obtaining your new customer’s valid checking account information can be a hassle.

Unlike credit cards, which can be authorized in real time, the ACH world lacks a real-time authorization component. Credit cards allow merchants to authorize a sale at the time of the payment, so the merchant will know that they are definitely getting paid. A business knows that their customer has the requisite funds on their card to make their payment in real time, and the funds are reserved.

So, we can see how credit cards are validated, but how can we Verify Funds for a checking account?

Understanding How to Verify Funds online is a merchant’s best bet to reduce check acceptance risks, and verification tools reduce payment acceptance risk by validating the customer’s bank account in real-time.

The validation process helps merchants lower their risks when accepting checks through the use of real-time verification tools. Most third party entities that offer Bank Account Validation services include negative databases, routing account number validation, and ATM networks.

The ACH world lacks the authorization component that is present in the credit card sphere. Credit cards allow merchants to authorize a sale at the time of the payment, so the merchant will know that they are definitely getting paid. A business knows that their customer has the requisite funds on their card to make their payment in real time, and the funds are reserved.

So, we can see how credit cards are validated, but how does the Bank Account Validation process work?

Businesses adopt Bank Account Validation systems in order to mitigate the risk associated with payment, without these systems your customers will most likely be required to do significant work to obtain correct or valid bank account information.

Checking Account Verification Services mitigate check acceptance risks at the point of sale, with verification options ranging from automated routing number check and negative database options, to near real-time inquiries into current checking account status.

How to verify a check is good:

Most checking account verification services utilize routing account number validation, which identifies the bank the check is drawn against. These databases can be checked in real time.

Negative databases are also often utilized. Based on positive and negative history of that checking account info, a report is generated regarding the account status. If the check is good or bad, a retailer can report that check status to the database. Many retailers contribute data to the network, so there are many millions of checking accounts to reference.

Most third party entities that offer a Checking Account Verification Service utilize routing account number validation and negative databases. The bank routing number identifies the bank the check is drawn against.

Unlike the credit card realm, the ACH world lacks an authorization component. Essentially, a merchant knows they are getting paid at the point of sale because credit cards allow you to authorize at the time of payment that the customer has the requisite funds on their cards; thereby reserving those funds for capture and settlement.

So what is the ACH Verification Process?

The lack of the authorization present with credit cards leads some business to implement a Checking Account Verification system to mitigate payment acceptance risk. Without an ACH Verification System your new customer may require significant work to obtain correct or valid checking account information.

An ACH Verification Process helps merchants reduce risks associated with check acceptance at the point of sale, in person or online. Verification tools allow businesses to significantly reduce payment acceptance risk by validating a customer’s bank account in real-time.

Verification options range from negative databases and automated routing number checks to basically real-time inquiries into current account status and checking account balance inquiries.

How to verify a check is good?

Most third party entities that offer an ACH Verification Process include the most basic tools: routing account number validation and negative databases. The bank routing number identifies the bank the check is drawn against. The databases holding this information can be checked in real time. Negative databases exist as a history [both positive/negative] of checking account info. Many retailers contribute data to the network, but recency is an issue because the customer’s last written check at a participating retailer is the last data point. This means that data can be out of date.

Unlike the credit card realm, the ACH world lacks an authorization component.  Essentially, a merchant knows they are getting paid at the point of sale because credit cards allow you to authorize at the time of payment that the customer has the requisite funds on their cards; thereby reserving those funds for capture and settlement.  

The days of organizations mailing out invoices and billing statements to their customers are slowly but surely coming to an end. Technology is making sure of that. What's replacing snail-mailed billing statements? It's not just one particular service type, but near the top of the list would be Bill Presentment Solutions. 

As the populations ages and customers of a younger age become bill payers of businesses and organizations, the greater the need for payment remittance to be accomplished through electronic systems. Electronic Bill Payment Services is one such system that businesses should consider adopting. Here's why.