The digital transformation did not just emerge during the pandemic, but it rather took a significant acceleration as a consequence of people working from home and changing basic aspects of their lives. All of these changes are here to stay, there is no going back.
This new paradigm has been so significant that the European Commission has taken it as their way forward and has defined this decade as “The Digital Decade”. On April 9th, 2021, this institution led by Ursula von der Leyen presented their vision and guidelines to ensure that the benefits of digital transformation would impact the largest number of people and companies in Europe within the next 10 years.
The growth of digital payments
The possibility of paying through digital means was one of the issues that has had the greatest push during this transformation and that has brought more real benefits to people. According to a sample from the Bank for International Settlements, globally, these types of payments grew by approximately 50% from social distancing actions. In Europe, consumers using digital channels increased by 14% during the pandemic, reaching 95% of the total. In most industries, these increases would have taken two to three years in the previous context.
At the same time, Africa became the largest adopter of mobile money platforms, becoming almost half of the world’s registered customers. Approximately 70% of money transactions through phones in recent years have been made in this region.
These numbers mark the importance of correctly integrating a digital payments platform. Not only to give new tools to customers, but also to join the trend that has deepened in recent years and is on its way to becoming the rule of world trade.
What should be taken into account when integrating a payment platform?
Integrating a digital payment platform is providing a new consumer experience and a new way of relating to any brand. This is done through a digital payment gateway, which is the platform used to pay over the internet. The customer chooses their product, defines the payment method and adds their information (credit card number, for example). The gateway receives this data, protects it through its security systems, and sends the money to the seller, who is often miles away from the customer.
As there are many platforms, it is important for each company to know which is the one that best suits their needs. These are some of the basic questions to consider when choosing a digital payment platform:
- Ease of Use: Because each gateway has its own way of integration, it is important to analyze the requirements to determine if it suits what you are looking for. If the gateway is good but it cannot be integrated into your online store, there is no point in moving forward.
- Payment Management: When choosing a platform, the payment possibilities that we are going to offer to our specific audience is very important. If we know that our clients use Paypal or Bizum, the gateway selected must be able to integrate with them and it is always good to choose a platform that accepts as many credit cards as possible or at least the most used by our clients.
- Security: This is vital when integrating a payment platform to prevent money from ending up elsewhere. The most recognized gateways have some security requirements such as SSL certificates or Address Verification Systems (AVS). These protocols are what make it possible to confirm that a server is secure and that it uses encryption technology.
- Costs: In this type of platform the costs are variable. Before selecting one, the key is to analyze the commissions that these gateways charge for providing their intermediation service with clients.
These times have definitely changed. Today, integrating a digital payments platform has become a necessary step for any organization that offers products or services. However, it is a complex process that includes many edges and requires specific knowledge; errors in the configuration or choice of the wrong gateway can end up costing you a lot of money.
For this reason, having a technology partner to assist you in this digital transformation will help you avoid unnecessary risks. A solid strategic technology partner understands the needs of your company and will provide you with specific solutions in the shortest possible time.
If your company is in this search or has any questions regarding digital transformation, you can contact us and we will answer all your questions.