What’s the one thing that can most negatively impact an organization’s billing and payment performance?
Inertia
In many cases, standing still means falling behind. And yet, the prospect of change can seem daunting to the point where sticking with a suboptimal solution is better than taking your chances on something new. That is why Paymentus recently developed Accelerating the Billing & Payment Partner Search: 5 essentials Billers must identify to achieve long-term success.
This eBook uses new research to showcase the top areas of focus and questions all billers should prioritize to help speed their search for the ideal billing and payment partner. Here is an excerpt.
Essential #1: Integration Flexibility
What It Means
Integration flexibility is the foundational aspect that can single-handedly determine the long-term success of your billing and payment partner relationship. In this context, integration flexibility refers to two particular areas:
Solution deployment models
Compatibility with Core Operating Systems and Customer Information Systems (CIS)
Billers looking to modernize their platform must place a heavy emphasis on working with bill pay providers that can meet their specific needs without necessitating customizations.
Why It Matters
The integration is the official meeting point between the Biller, its CIS and its billing and payment partner. To deliver seamless connectivity throughout this setup and ensure peak performance of all functions (e.g., accurate billing, payment collections and processing, reporting and reconciliation, etc.), Billers must rely on billing and payment providers that can deliver integrations that fully meet their business needs and goals.
This is first accomplished by offering various solution deployment models. For instance, Paymentus offers Fully Hosted, API Integration and embedded models. This optionality gives Billers the ability to proceed with a deployment strategy that best meets their goals and technical requirements. A good partner will help educate you on which option may be best based on your current structure and business goals.
For example, suppose you have a strong existing web experience. A partner may advise iFrame integration because it allows for the whole experience to stay on your current site and save customers' payment methods through tokenization.
A second element of the integration is the ability for your bill pay partner to integrate with the core systems and CIS. This interoperability is essential so that current business-critical functions, like accounting software or resource management platforms, are maintained and do not become siloed. Here, the billing and payment solution must be fully integrated, with the ability to maintain connectivity and reporting, and securely scale as your customer data grows and evolves.
Finally, is your partner reliant on customizations in order to integrate with your platform? These might include development teams adding custom code to enable a feature. But these “fixes” inevitably add layers and create gaps and roadblocks to future innovations because building on customizations relies on further customizations. For these reasons, it is recommended Billers select solutions built on single-source code that are configurable to your needs. This removes the need for added work and development.
Three Considerations When Selecting a Bill Pay Partner
Deployment Model Flexibility – What integration models can prospects offer? Do you have the ability to choose a model that works best for your requirements?
Core Systems and CIS Integration – Are they integrated with leading providers? Can they accommodate a switch? Are they truly integrated so systems and reporting will not become siloed or delayed?
Customizations vs. Configurations – Is the solution reliant on customizations to achieve integration or when adding features later? What does this process look like?
Don’t settle when you can excel! Begin your modernization journey by downloading the complete eBook to discover the remaining four essentials, as well as a summary checklist of questions your team can use to identify the ideal billing and payment partner for your organization.
