7 Tips for Platforms Switching Merchants to a New Payment Processing Provider
Switching to a new payment processing platform is no small task but the benefits can far outweigh the challenges. The truth is, your integration into a new payments provider is just the beginning. This is because your merchants are still on your old provider’s payment platform.
This presents a new challenge:
How do you convince your current merchants to move to your new payment provider?
The why for migrating your merchants to your new payments provider
While it may seem easier to not “rock the boat” and just onboard net-new customers to your new provider, it’ll be more beneficial for you to get everyone aboard your new “ship” in the long run.
First off, there was a reason you switched providers. If some of your customers are still processing payments on that platform, you still have to deal with the issues, lack of features, or lack of flexibility that led you to make a move in the first place.
Second, having customers on multiple platforms makes it much more difficult to reconcile transactions as they are coming from different places and arriving on different schedules. This makes your payment operations team’s jobs substantially harder and more time-consuming.
Third, you won’t be able to offer a consistent experience for all customers or fully maximize your payments revenue. Why? Because most providers don’t offer interchange plus pricing for small to mid-sized businesses, let you create custom fee profiles per merchant, or white label your entire payments experience. This can limit your revenue opportunities and your ability to offer the best customer experience.
Convincing your current merchants to onboard to your new payments provider
We know how hard it can be to move all your payments business to a new platform. Here are seven tips to help get your merchants onboard with your new provider.
1. Give them a heads up
The first step is to let your current customers know you’re switching payment providers and to give them a timeline. This can be done through a series of email blasts, short webinars, or personalized outreach from your customer success teams.
2. Explain the benefits
Your customers don’t know what they don’t know. Tell them why you’ve decided to switch to a new payments platform (may we suggest Finix? 😉) and how this platform is better equipped to help you help them. Being transparent about your decision will not only help convince customers to onboard to your new provider but also help build trust in your brand.
3. Data is your friend
Show, don’t just tell. Put together a data package that demonstrates how your new embedded payments solution provides higher uptime, lower payment processing fees, and better support.
4. Offer incentives
Sometimes customers need a little incentive to make the move as it’s simply easier to keep their setup the same. For example, you could offer a 50% discount on their first month to sweeten the deal.
5. Make it easy
Another reason customers may be reluctant to uproot their current payment situation is a lack of technical know-how or support. Create clear and detailed instructions for migrating payments in advance. This way, your customers know what to expect and can prepare for the switch.
6. Provide support
Reassure your customers that you’ll be behind them every step of the way and that you’ll assist them in making a seamless transition.
7. Make it mandatory
You could also consider making it mandatory for your customers to onboard to your new payments provider. While this might seem like the scariest option, it shouldn’t be. If you follow the advice above, you can easily present the news as a positive update to your payment processing offerings. The key is to provide plenty of lead time for your customers and provide them with as much information and support as possible.
Benefits of using Finix as your payments provider
In keeping with our mission to make your payments life easier, we’ve also compiled a list of Finix features that benefit both you and your platform customers. These points can go a long way in helping you convince your customers to switch their payments.
High reliability (99.999% uptime)
Finix has multiple failsafes in place to help prevent service disruption for you and your customers. We handle billions of API calls each year while maintaining a 99.999% uptime.
Flexible pricing options
At Finix, you can choose between our Dynamic (interchange) or Flat-rate (blended) pricing options. Many providers only offer flat-rate pricing, which limits your ability to optimize revenue for you and your customers. With the interchange model, you can earn more revenue per transaction or pass the savings down to qualifying customers.
Level 2 and Level 3 processing
Related to the above point, Finix supports Level 2 and Level 3 (L2/L3) processing. With L2/L3, merchants with B2B, US-based transactions, and/or government-related purchases made via corporate or business cards have the potential for lower interchange rates. This is because more data is collected at the point of sale, which helps reduce disputes and chargebacks.
Custom fee profiles
We are one of the only payment companies that let you create custom fee profiles at the merchant level. This means you can configure different fee profiles by merchant type for more competitive pricing or to maximize the amount your platform earns on transactions.
Multiple payment methods
Finix supports card payments, alternative payment methods like Google Pay and Apple Pay, and ACH, so that customers have more ways to pay.
Better User Experiences
Finix provides the ability to white label your platform’s payment dashboard and onboarding forms. This helps create better, more seamless customer experiences and helps further instill trust in your brand, as they’ll see your branding instead of a third party’s (like Finix).
Payment analytics
Our reporting features provide deep visibility into your transactions and overall payments business. As soon as you log in to your dashboard, you’ll see daily, weekly, and annual payments data, along with the number of active merchants and chargeback details. You can also download an array of reports, including settlements, fee profiles, transaction interchange, and more.
Less tension and risk exposure
We help your platform become a one-stop shop for your customers. This is also beneficial for them as their sensitive information isn’t exposed to as many third-party companies. This also means fewer contracts for you and your customers to maintain.
End-to-end payments processing
Switching payments providers is a big deal, but it doesn’t have to be difficult for you or your customers. When migrating your payments to Finix, you have a dedicated team to help you along the way, which in turn, helps you better support your customers in doing the same.
The benefits of having all your merchants on the same payments platform more than outweigh the work it takes to get everything moved over. Payment operations teams will be able to reconcile transactions more efficiently, which frees up more of their time to focus on growing revenue. You’ll be able to offer a better and more consistent customer experience to all your merchants. And at Finix, because you’re able to create custom fee profiles per merchant and have more pricing flexibility, you have more potential to maximize revenue and offer more competitive rates.