The answers to these six questions will help you understand a payment technology company’s integration processes - and your developers will thank you.
Time to market. It’s key performance indicator (KPI) that independent software vendors (ISVs) forecast and track. And no developer wants to miss deadlines because payments integrations are overly complex and time-consuming. Before API integration was available, developers commonly faced that challenge.
However, decision makers vetting potential payment partners based on ease of integration need to look at more than whether the company gives you the chance to connect via API.
Questions to Ask Before You Invest Time into Writing Code
1. What’s the operating system?
Your development team needs expertise in the payment solutions’ operating system. Ingenico’s cutting-edge payment solutions are based on Android, which offers several benefits. First, many developers have expertise in Android, the most common operating system in the world, with more than 2.5 billion users. Therefore, it’s likely that at least a few people on your team will be capable of handling the integration.
Additionally, your clients may see Android as added value. For example, it can give them the opportunity to mirror mobile app experiences in-store or in the local bank branch. That capability allows them to create customer-pleasing, consistent experiences on all channels, a competitive differentiator.
2. What type of API does the company offer?
Your development team will tell you it isn’t enough to ask if the payments company has an API for integration with your software platform or app. They need to know which type of APIs is available.
Payment companies can offer a client API for hosted checkout using different payment methods on a browser or mobile and a server API that gives merchants access to payments functionality.
Possibly pull some technical information from this page.
3. How does integration differ for different products?
ISVs also need to consider the specific payment technology company’s products that it plans to integrate with. For example, Ingenico APEX devices, which are designed solely for sales transactions, are easier to integrate with than products based on the AXIUM Retail Core (ARC). ARC requires more instruction and time; however, it also provides businesses more flexibility and functionality.
4. Are you integrating with a product or a platform?
A payments platform that supports multiple payment technologies and device models is a more efficient – and cost-effective – integration than individual integrations that each support only one solution.
5. Does the API work both on- and off-device?
You’ll benefit from APIs that you can leverage both on and off the device, enabling you to use the payments solution in the cloud, on a PC or tablet, and with devices connected via USB or Bluetooth as well as on the payment terminal. This “portable” approach to integration can help you substantially increase your ROI.
6. Do you provide sample code?
Sample code is one of the most valuable things a payments company can provide to ISVs to simplify the integration process. Some companies have staff to give instructions and advice, but it’s usually much more helpful to show developers how to develop integrations. Leading payment companies will even provide sample code, which some developers choose to copy into their apps, saving hours of work.
Integration Knowledge is Power
ISVs fall into two broad categories: Those that do their upfront research and have a clear picture of what the integration process will be like and those that roll with the punches after they decide to partner with a payments company.
Making data-based decisions about which payment technology to integrate your software with will ensure you see return on your development team’s time and resources. Work with a payment technology company with decades of experience, making integration easier for development teams and more valuable for ISVs and merchants.
Contact us to learn more about what we can do for your company - and how we’ll make life easier for your development team.
