The days of integration being a just small project for internal IT teams are far behind us. Now more than ever we are seeing that API integration is crucial for your software, and modern SaaS (software-as-a-service) companies to not thrive but survive in a technology landscape where SaaS and cloud applications are constantly growing.
As technology rapidly evolves alongside customer expectations, adopting an API-first approach in payments has become critical. APIs are the building blocks of the next-generation of payments platforms. Several trends are driving the evolution of payments in 2021. To start, data remains the new gold. Its use in financial decision-making to deliver personalized products, services, and experiences is critical.
In creating payments platforms that cater to both the new and existing needs of both consumers and businesses, payments companies have quickly come to rely on APIs. Building next-gen payments platforms now require an API-first approach in product development. Not only are APIs facilitating new ways to pay, but they also contribute to the creation of a vibrant ecosystem where collaboration and personalization can flourish.
Card-based payment Interface needs at least three different types of payment transactions namely Authorize, Authorize & Capture, and Recurring. Since these transactions actually occur at the Processor level, the role of APIs here is to enable connectivity to the processors via a merchant exposed interface. This is where the market leaders such as Stripe, Square, or PaidYET have proliferated, exposing simplified APIs to a much complex payment processing infrastructure.
APIs are inherently flexible, allowing payments companies to provide tailored solutions to clients and easily leverage those APIs in new ways for future products. APIs can also be highly configurable (with the help of profiling, externally managed properties, and separation of build processes and environment configuration/deployment processes). The result is speed to launch and operationalize new products; they can be released in days instead of months.
APIs enhance the speed, flexibility, and efficiency of payments products, but they also enable companies to grow by helping them scale revenue. Partner sales via white-labeled products allow payments companies to scale sales. The business models for this are plenty. Providers may charge developers to access APIs based on how frequently they access a particular API or based on the type of API. Alternatively, companies can pay developers when they generate additional sales or bring in extra clients.
APIs are a critical driving force behind the evolution of payments, but there are still challenges payments companies face around building and integrating APIs. APIs help build flourishing ecosystems consisting of developers, partners, and clients. Developers aim to build new features on top of existing APIs to improve functionality while the original developers work to enhance the core. This type of collaboration fosters partnerships around products and creates a network geared towards innovation.
When it comes to Payment APIs, continuous and automated monitoring is required to ensure PCI-DSS compliance and prevent breaches. In a nutshell, APIs not only improve the speed and flexibility of product development, while saving money and generating revenue, but they also support innovation. Using the PaidYET API as building blocks for the next-generation of payment platforms can help your business win new clients, build extensive partnerships and networks, and create ecosystems that push payments forward in a way best suites to serve the next generation of end users.
Connect with one our B2B payments experts today at https://www.paidyet.com to get started.