Getting Started for Business with Merchant Services

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Whether you’re starting up a new venture, taking your business to the next level or expanding your avenues, having the right Merchant Services for your needs is absolutely essential. To help you kick off sales this quarter, let’s run through what Merchant Services are and the various options available to you.

What are Merchant Services / MSP?

Merchant services are the terminals, technology or software employed by a business to take payments by EFTPOS, credit and debit cards. Therefore, the MSP or Merchant Service Provider is the company that manages the operation of these systems. After taking card payment, the chosen system would then settle the payment into the bank account linked with the terminal or software provider.

So which payment system should I choose for my business?

It all depends on your business needs; small businesses, for instance, would have different payment requirements to a large corporation. By the same token, a brick-and-mortar retail store would have different needs to a professional service provider.

There are loads of options available to all kinds of businesses. Let’s take a look at some of these now.

In-store terminals / Point of Sale (POS)

An in-store terminal or POS system is the method employed by a business to take payment for their goods or services at the cash register. This is a combination of software and hardware, including a monitor, barcode scanner, card reader, receipt printer and cash draw. The software component of a POS terminal may be deployed on premise via installed software or through a cloud-based system commonly known as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Cash and Eftpos terminals are primarily used in brick-and-mortar stores as they lack mobility or capacity to take online payments.

mPos (mobile POS)

 mPos solutions are a really convenient way of taking payments on the go. You don’t even need a website to get started, as payments are taken directly through an app on your mobile. This type of payment solution is perfect for pop-up businesses, personal trainers, sales reps and anyone who needs to take payments while on the road. mPos software also allows you to accept a range of payment options, including tap-and-go, to ensure you’re offering your customers the method they’re most comfortable with.

eCommerce / Shopping Carts

For eCommerce businesses, having a secure and reliable online payment solution is critical. Essentially, your chosen shopping cart will be integrated into your website, which will then connect with your MSP. Reliable shopping carts can provide seamless checkout processes for your customers and therefore encourage repeat purchases. Most innovative MSPs will be looking to expand their integrations and offer custom integrations, so keep an eye out for this when acquiring their services.

Hosted Payment

A hosted payment page allows you to accept payments through your website by redirecting customers to your MSPs hosted payment page. This method is an economical way of taking payments as there are no development or security fees involved with implementation. A good MSP will also be able to offer a branded page that reflects your website to make users feel like they haven’t moved away from your page.

What to look for when choosing an MSP?

For obvious reasons, merchants are eager to partner with a reliable and reputable MSP to manage their business transactions. However, this market is becoming increasingly saturated and it can be difficult for new businesses to distinguish which company will work best for them. If you’re looking to acquire your first MSP (or are unhappy with your current service), here are a few of our top tips to choosing the best MSP for your business:

  1. Before approaching an MSP, do some research into the options you are interested in acquiring for the specific needs of your business. If an MSP doesn’t offer the services or systems you’re interested in, move on to the next one.
  2. Look into the costs and recurrent fees of each MSP, making sure that your chosen one is good value for money compared with their competitors.
  3. Read the terms and conditions in the product disclosure statement or financial services guide to make sure you fully understand the level of service they are offering and whether it aligns with your needs.
  4. Look for online reviews and customer stories about their customer support; if many of their customers seem unhappy with the service, then maybe this particular MSP isn’t the best choice.

Why Latpay?

Latpay have more than 17 years’ experience delivering merchant facilities and bespoke payment systems to businesses of all shapes and sizes. We deploy robust, secure and innovative technology to allow your business to thrive – all with Level 1 PCI compliance. We also offer 24-hour dedicated technical support to ensure we’re here when you need help. To find out more about Latpay’s Merchant Facilities, follow the link or give us a call on 07 5515 0402

 

Payment Hub

Nuggets & Latpay Partner to Bring Secure Blockchain-Powered Payments to Global Merchants

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Lateral Payments Solutions adopts blockchain-powered payment interface from Nuggets to create next-generation payment solution –

London, UK – 03 January 2019: Nuggets, the blockchain-powered decentralised digital identity and payments company has today announced a key partnership with Lateral Payment Solutions, who will integrate the award-winning interface into their globally connected payment platform, to deliver next generation innovative technology to their merchants.

The integration of Nuggets’ technology with existing payment rails will mean merchants utilising the Lateral Payments Solutions platform no longer have to access or store consumers’ personal data. It will also remove the need for usernames and passwords, and the need to store personal information with third parties.

Alastair Johnson, CEO and Founder of Nuggets, said: “We’re delighted to be integrating with Lateral Payment Solutions, which will extend the reach of Nuggets to consumers who want to use it to pay with credit and debit cards. Lateral Payment Solutions has identified the significant opportunity of frictionless digital identity, payment and verification through blockchain, and we’re looking forward to maximising that opportunity with them.”

Since 2001 Lateral Payment Solutions has processed millions of transactions, across an extensive and diverse merchant portfolio. The integration with Nuggets will involve connecting the payment gateway via merchant digital identity to avoid the need for usernames and passwords – made possible by Nuggets’ unique blockchain solution.

Nuggets will continue to facilitate ‘anything, anytime, anywhere’ payments for Lateral Payments Solutions, building upon their existing technology base. The partnership announcement comes at a critical time within the payment sector, with the pending implementation of the EU’s Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) forcing providers to meet more stringent criteria.

Ian Vidamour, Director of Lateral Payment Solutions said “Our merchants process fast and simple payments via our platform – but they’re also increasingly concerned about how retailers and payment providers store their personal data. Our collaboration with Nuggets, and our integration of their blockchain technology tightened security around the storage of personal information which is why we’re so excited about this partnership”.

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Media Contact:
Sarah Wright
Cryptoland PR
+44 (0) 781 484 5376
sarah@cryptolandpr.com 

About Nuggets
Nuggets is an e-commerce payments and ID platform. It stores your personal and payment data securely in the blockchain, so you can make simple e-commerce payments and other transactions, without having to share your personal data with anyone – not even Nuggets.
For more information please visit: https://nuggets.life/

About Lateral Payment Solutions
Latpay are a leading Payment and Merchant Service Provider in UK, Australia and Canada offering an integrated online payment solution to businesses around the world. Comprising industry-leading payment technology, exceptional fraud and risk management capabilities, Latpay are proud to provide complete payment solutions to both conventional and bespoke e-Commerce challenges. For more information please visit latpay.com.au

Latin America, Where Cash is King

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Latin America has long been classified as an emerging market and with a total population of around 600M, the new business potential is obvious. Unquestionably the payments space continues to gather momentum within the Latin American markets but in doing so also presents challenges to international merchants actively targeting this region. As the areas covers around 25 countries, each local payment ecosystem will differ accordingly. It is therefore essential that merchants have a clear understanding on local purchasing habits which, if acted upon, will assist in transforming previously poor acceptance rates that, in the past, have been the bane of many a payments manager.

Local Payment Acceptance.

Put simply, indigenous payment methods are king, especially when it comes to fighting fraud. Local providers in comparison to the larger global payment operators will be able to offer enhanced customer validation by having access to local databases. Consequently, there are a multitude of local card and cash based e-commerce payment systems available across the continent that remain the automatic consumer preference at the point of checkout. Even though (for the moment at least) most credit cards issued by local banks aren’t enabled for cross border purchases, this is changing – Visa/Mastercard usage continues on an upward trajectory, albeit at a slow pace. As much as this trend is encouraging we must still remember that as many as 70% of the Latin American population still don’t have a bank account, therefore offering players viable alternative payment options remains key for any merchant or gaming operator that has designs on cracking these lucrative markets.

Lateral Payment Solutions can keep merchants ahead of the game via our single payment gateway integration.

Lateral Payment Solutions Adds Bitcoin Acceptance to its Alternative Payment Platform.

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Latpay are now offering merchants the ability to accept Bitcoin via our Alternative Payment Gateway. The solution is aimed at a wide range of sectors including retail, online gambling and binary options; this allows vendors and operators to accept Bitcoin payments at the point of checkout via a fast and simple interface.
Diversify payment acceptance options by offering a crypto currency.

Diversify payment acceptance options by offering a crypto currency.

Ian Vidamour, Director at Latpay commented: “In light of recent purchasing trends and analysis, we’ve been considering adding a cryptocurrency option to our Gateway for a number of months. In view of our findings and in keeping with an ongoing commitment to offer our merchant base more diverse online payment solutions, we’re thrilled to be able to offer Bitcoin as an additional payment acceptance option.”

Breaking Down the Barriers to International E-Commerce

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2016 is set to become another year of note within the ever-growing Alternative Payment (AP) sector. Recent figures suggest that APs currently account for €180bn of accepted e-commerce transactions globally, which is around one-quarter of the worlds transaction share.
Put simply, alternative payments are defined as any method of acceptance that’s non-debit or credit card related. Broadly speaking, they encompass digital wallets, bank to bank and prepaid solutions. And it is these payment channels that are set to increase their share of the online payments sector by outstripping credit card penetration within the next two years.

More Payment Options Increase Checkout ConversionMore Payment Options Increase Checkout Conversion

One of the biggest challenges E-commerce retailers of all sizes face is being able to successfully expand sales activities into overseas markets. Undoubtedly one of the cornerstones of any market expansion strategy is not only to understand country-specific regulations but also to be well acquainted with local payment practices. It is no longer sufficient to only offer Visa/Mastercard at the point of checkout. International customers have local preferences and therefore, in a bid to improve the overall customer experience, merchants must understand what payment methods are readily available to offer via their website.
By having these additional payment acceptance options in place, retailers instantly add more appeal to their site. As a result, they can expect to not only drive revenues through increased checkout converions, but also reduce cart abandonment at the same time.