Our hats go off to all the software developers out there. They’re creating some of the most amazing ways to interface with the world and make our lives and businesses better every day. Nowadays, most SaaS products, web applications or other technology requires a payment system on the back-end. When you’re at the point in development where you’re looking to integrate a payments solution, it’s important to keep these four considerations in mind.
1. Long Term Cost
When evaluating a payment partner for your software it’s important to keep the long-term costs in mind. Even though a processor may offer an upfront discount, you should think about what your 3-year and 5-year costs would be. By partnering with a processor that offers a lower per transaction fee, you’re not going to let payment bills get the better of you down the line.
2. User Experience
After the technical “bones” of your product, the next most important thing is the user experience. After all, no one likes to use software that is difficult to navigate, slow or confusing. It can be especially frustrating when the user experience around the payment process is the one that’s not working. When people are willing to pay you for your software, make sure that the process is seamless and easy with a good partner.
3. Technical Capabilities
It seems the choices for payment processing companies are somewhat limitless. If you search Google for “payment processors” there are over 5.5 million results! However, when looking for a processor that has experience with developers and has the technological prowess to integrate seamlessly with your CRM, accounting and payment systems, the list gets a lot shorter. Be sure to vet your processor for deep tech knowledge before you sign an agreement.
4. Partnership
At the end of the day, you can find a payment processor who might fit the bill. They are sensitive to your long-term costs, great at integrations and deliver a perfect user experience. It seems like everything is perfect, right? Well, the last factor in choosing a partner is exactly that. A partner. You’re not looking for a solution provider as much as you are looking for a company of people who are on your side and helping you achieve success. Ask to talk to the CEO, know the name of your sales representative and get a feel for the company you’re going to be working with beyond the basis points.
At Tidal, we’ve put together a complete, transparent service for our developer partners and we’re always working on making it better, just like you are. We provide clean and complete APIs to make accepting payments easy for our developer partners. Our goal is to make the process simple and to provide you and your end-users with a seamless payments experience.
