Embedded Payments Are the Future: Is Your Business Ready?

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Digital payments are evolving, and consumers live for it. If the business or financial institution does not have the ability to provide embedded payments, Today’s customers will only look elsewhere for the ease and convenience of a seamless payment experience.

recent discussions between Hal LaMarquez, Senior Vice President, Global Solutions, Brightwell, and Brian RileyDirector of Credit and Co-Director of Payments, Javelin Strategy & Research, takes an in-depth look at embedded payments and what businesses can do to meet the changing needs of the global digital payments space, how cross-border payments can be facilitated across numerous regulatory infrastructures, and how they can be adapted The business meets the expectations of new users for cross-border payments.

Importance of integrating global payment solutions into business product lines

The secret to building retention and loyalty lies in innovating the consumer experience. As more and more consumers opt for digital payments to conduct their everyday business, they want something seamless and simplified rather than having to jump from one platform to another.

“If you look at the industry today, most consumers work with third parties,” Ramakers said. “They leave the banking app to send money, which is not the best experience.”

Embedded payment solutions allow customers to buy items directly from their TVs, pay for taxis, and even send and receive money around the world, all without reaching for their wallets. This trend will only continue to grow.

“Over a billion people send or receive international remittances today. That’s roughly 30% of the global (consumer) population.”

“Globally, checks are still being sent across borders for vendor payments and consumer payments. The pandemic has changed the world, moving us forward five years. As a result, consumers have changed how they interact with companies and their financial institutions way. They’re looking for embedded solutions as they conduct business, whether it’s in a bank account, through a bank or through a process managed using digital solutions.”

Embedded payment solutions are key drivers of customer loyalty

Embedded payment solutions that allow customers to seamlessly and securely transact within a product or service can increase customer loyalty by providing a convenient and efficient payment experience. By integrating payments into the customer journey, businesses can improve overall customer satisfaction and increase the likelihood of repeat purchases.

“If it’s a service that a financial institution doesn’t offer, consumers will find it elsewhere,” Riley said. “Are you running the risk of sending customers to a money transfer operator, where they might be distracted by cross-selling happening within their ecosystem? Having that as an embedded service option becomes a breeze.”

“From a consumer standpoint, they want to do business where they get paid,” Ramakers said. Getting paid within the app and choosing to send money globally can be a convenient and seamless experience for users, making it a sticky feature that encourages continued usage.

“They go into the (app) to check their balance and realize they’ve just received a payment. Then they remember they have a family member in the Philippines who needs to send them money, so they want to send money directly through the app. Signing up for another money transfer app outside of the app is much more streamlined.”

Riley captures another aspect of embedded payments, providing valuable insight.

“When you also look at the social aspect of it, it becomes interesting because people align themselves with the product components they need,” he said. “Paying a mortgage or rent is an unemotional experience, it’s just A function of the things I have to do to pay my bills online.”

“But, for example, transferring $500 to my mother in the Philippines — that’s a must-have feature. It increases the overall stickiness of the relationship where the family payment is a commodity item. It’s a special item that one wants to do, They will do so for years to come.”

“It’s also important to understand the cultural needs of users and why cross-border payments are important,” Ramakers said on the topic. “In many cases it’s about supplementing and looking after their household income, family unit, etc.”

“While one lives in the U.S., the rest of their family is in the Philippines, India, and even Latin America. They’re supporting their families back home.”

Remittances often provide important financial support to families and help improve their standard of living. It plays a vital role in supporting family members by providing financial assistance for basic needs such as food, housing and healthcare. In many cases, it can also help families afford future education and other investments, improving their long-term prospects and economic stability.

Uncover Growth Opportunities Using Cross-Border Payments Data

Analyzing cross-border payment transactions can reveal a wealth of opportunities.

Many businesses lack the data necessary to understand customer behavior when sending and receiving payments.

“A lot of companies don’t realize the true size of the cross-border industry. When you start talking about 13% of people sending or receiving money, that’s a lot of numbers and you have to dig into your data to see that,” Ramakers explain.

“It could be your ATM transaction where the money is being withdrawn and going to the retail location there, or the POS transaction that’s happening. It’s interesting when we look at some of the major companies that are interested in understanding consumer behavior.”

By leveraging cross-border payment data, businesses can gain valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences in different markets, which can help uncover untapped growth opportunities. Analyzing transactional data can reveal patterns and trends that businesses can leverage to develop targeted marketing strategies and customize products and services to meet the specific needs of customers in different regions.

“When we look at the data with our partners, we see all these deals. It becomes very illuminating when a company starts to look at the data and realize what’s going on, it’s definitely going to lead to some huge Opportunity.”

That said, we want banks, program managers, and companies to keep these users in their ecosystems.

Knowing where to start is a common challenge for businesses

When it comes to developing effective embedded payment solutions, there is no one size fits all. Business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) transactions have their own payment nuances that need to be addressed.

“A few things are important about cross-border payments,” Riley said. “First of all, you have two worlds. You have B2B and B2C—these different ecosystems present some specific challenges. What you need is to have the infrastructure to make it work seamlessly.”

“You can’t have someone try to make a payment abroad and then get stuck in slow or ineffective processing.”

“So, think about it: There are over 200 countries in the world with different compliance requirements. Then there’s the data needed to complete those transactions. It’s not just a simple build. A resolution could take up to a year.”

This is why many banks, program managers and companies are turning to remittance and payment platforms to bring solutions to consumers faster than developing them in isolation. Additionally, platforms that collaborate and partner with the right payment network will drive more innovation in the cross-border payments space.

“A good cross-border solution is very difficult to create through a single partnership,” Ramakers said. “You need to integrate to multiple connection points, which is one of the things that makes it so complicated. You need to have access to the bank account to pay.”

“At Brightwell, we do this in over 180 different countries around the world. We also have access to over 290,000 withdrawal locations around the world. Combined with our recent partnership with Visa, this will reach over 5 billion leads to accounts Card Account Endpoint.”

“We’ve integrated over half a dozen different vendors, and on average, it’s really a drain, and it’s extremely expensive from a product and development standpoint. You take five to seven months to do this integration, and it’s a hard case to build.”

“Once you start integrating, you have to deal with the compliance component behind it. There’s a lot of strict regulation around cross-border payments, and many companies and financial institutions today don’t have that expertise.”

Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) are some of the many compliance and regulatory elements required to make digital money transfers work safely and securely.

“How do you simplify it? That’s one of the areas we focus on. We take that experience and ask ourselves: How can we apply what we’ve learned and our expertise? How can we apply it in industry? That’s what we do today with our what new products do ready to send money platform. “

After years of serving a global workforce and working with countless remittance partners, Brightwell understands the demanding process of building compliant and user-centric payment solutions. ReadyRemit solves these challenges, making cross-border payments easier than ever.

Integrating global payments into companies is more possible than ever

“First, if you’re going to integrate it into your application, then ease of use and cost are top considerations,” Ramakers said.

“You need to find a platform like ReadyRemit, and we have that capability, and we’ve done the work for you. We’ve fully integrated all the best tracks. We’ve simplified the experience.”

“We created the API and the SDK, and now customers can integrate the service into their solution more easily and quickly within 30 days or six weeks. You need to find a creative solution, and secondly, compliance. Please Remember: these are not just domestic payments.”

“We’ve learned a lot in 10 years dealing with cruise lines and global crews. So we’ve been doing a lot of cross-border payments around the world in that time. We have our own card program, It’s still being done to this day. Now we see the need for other companies to be able to leverage the various expertise that we have. Most of the companies out there are more about building their own brand. They have part network, they have part program. There hasn’t been a great unified aggregation platform that brings them all together and makes it easy to use. That’s what it really comes down to,” Ramakers said.

“No single provider can give you the fastest payments to every corridor, or the best coverage globally. By using an aggregation and embedded platform like we do with ReadyRemit, a lot can be solved for you these questions.”