The Digital Payments Roadmap report, recently published by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), identifies high merchant fees as a significant contributor to the low adoption and use of digital payments by merchants. Additionally, high interchange and merchant card processing fees deter smaller merchants from accepting digital payments, as these fees negatively impact profitability.
Achieving optimal performance in digital payments is essential for businesses and for meeting the broader financial inclusion goals set out in the SARB’s Vision 2025 Framework and Strategy. The landscape of digital payments is constantly evolving, with new regulations, network mandates, and issuer preferences emerging regularly. To navigate these changes effectively, companies need a comprehensive toolkit that not only keeps them informed but also helps maintain high acceptance rates and ensures a seamless customer experience.
Intelligent payment routing, or smart routing, is a critical component of this toolkit. It automates the process of directing transactions to the Payment Gateway that offers the highest likelihood of acceptance at the low-cost high success rate, addressing the significant issue of Transaction failures
How Intelligent Payment Routing Works
Intelligent payment routing determines the best path for processing a payment to maximize successful transactions while minimizing costs. This can involve routing through different payment providers (payment orchestration) or networks, considering factors such as efficiency, reliability, and cost. Merchants can set criteria for automated routing based on their specific objectives.
Key Benefits of Smart Routing:
- Increased Revenue: By simplifying the payment process, improving acceptance rates, and enhancing customer experience, merchants can significantly boost their transaction volume and revenue.
- Lower Processing Costs: With the ability to choose the most cost-effective routing channels/ Payment Gateway, merchants can reduce their processing expenses.
- Enhanced Performance Analysis: Access to real-time data allows merchants to benchmark their performance and identify areas for improvement.
- Dynamic Routing: Merchants can establish rules such as BIN-based routing to route payments through the most efficient channels, managing risk and improving transaction success rates.
- Real-time Reporting: Smart routing platforms provide real-time data on payment trends like which Payment Gateways are having high failures, enabling continuous optimization.
- Easier Integrations: Multiple payment provider options through a single integration simplify working with both local and international PSPs.
- Wider Choice of Payment Methods: Adopting new payment methods like BNPL and digital wallets becomes easier as smart router directly integrates the Payment Method without integration efforts at merchant level.
- Increased Acceptance Rates: Automatically retrying declined transactions helps boost acceptance rates.
Smart Payment Routing Through Different PSPs
Payment orchestration involves smart routing through various payment service providers (PSPs). The routing software evaluates factors such as customer location, payment currency, transaction amount, and card type to determine the best provider for each transaction. This approach ensures that payments are processed through the provider with the highest
Conclusion
In conclusion, Smart payment routing is a vital tool for businesses looking to optimize their digital payment processes. By automating the selection of the most efficient and cost-effective payment routes, companies can significantly enhance their revenue, reduce processing costs, and improve overall payment performance. The ability to dynamically route payments, access real-time data, and integrate with multiple payment providers ensures that businesses can adapt to the ever-changing digital payments landscape. As digital transactions continue to grow, the importance of intelligent payment routing will only increase, making it an indispensable part of any comprehensive payment strategy.