Top 3 Benefits of Using One Payments API Integration

Omnichannel in payments is just a fancy way of saying your business accepts payments across multiple channels. A SaaS platform that takes in-person payments (card-present) and online payments (card-not-present) is an omnichannel platform.

Having multiple ways to pay helps you build better experiences for your customers. Why? Because they can pick the payment method that works best for them. Providing more payment options also opens up more revenue opportunities for your business.

Finix is known for its developer-friendly payments API and simple, all-inclusive integration for online and in-person payments. While there are other payment providers (like Stripe) that also have single integration options, they don’t have the payment terminal selection that Finix does.

This means you’re locked into only using the provider’s proprietary payment terminals (typically from one manufacturer), which may not be the best choice for your business.

The importance of payment terminal optionality

This is where “the more the merrier” makes sense. Reason being—there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to what hardware and software work best for businesses. Each industry and business model have different needs.

Finix provides an array of choices for in-person payments terminals. This way, you can pick the technology that best matches your current configurations and budget. We're also able to cycle in newer terminals as technology evolves. You'll always have terminals to suit your needs.

Just like with online payments, we do most of the heavy lifting so you can focus on your main product. We provide hardware and software support. We also ship pre-certified, ready-to-use payment terminals for sandbox and production directly to you from our distribution center.

For the non-techies out there, API is short for Application Programming Interface. An API allows software applications and devices to communicate with one another.

Think of it as a means of independent collaboration for machines. No human interaction required—outside of building and integrating them, of course. They can’t build themselves…yet… (○﹏○)

What is an API integration?

An API integration is simply a connection between two or more applications. This connection allows the exchange of information between two software applications so that they can perform predefined actions and tasks.

How payments APIs work

Here’s a simple example of how APIs work in the world of payments:

Say you’re a SaaS company that provides appointment booking, inventory management, and payroll management for hair salons. To increase earnings and scale your business, you also decided to start processing in-person and online payments for your customers by integrating with a payments provider like Finix.

Once the platforms are linked via APIs, when a customer initiates a payment, data is transferred from your platform (e.g. a tokenized credit card number) to ours. Finix then begins authorization and capture. If you could visualize it, it would look something like this:

If your SaaS company already has payments integrated, it’s using an API, and likely more than one to get the job done. This is common and necessary as APIs are what let different software services communicate.

Regarding payments, however, there are a few reasons why using one integration for online and in-person payments is better for omnichannel platforms:

1. Reduced initial costs and development time

2. Easier integration and maintenance

3. Simpler reconciliation of transactions across payment channels

1) Reduced initial costs and development time

Any API integration requires at least some development. But the more integrations you implement, the longer it takes to get up and running and start processing payments. When using a payments solution like Finix, your business saves a significant amount of time and money. We’ve found that our single integration for in-person and online payments cuts development time by as much as 50%, as opposed to less modern, semi-integrated solutions. This is good news for your bottom line! Not only are you saving money using fewer developer resources, you’re able to get to market faster too. Who doesn’t want that?

2) Easier integration and maintenance

The complexity and maintenance of integrations also add unnecessary expenses and decrease your overall profits.

At Finix, one simple API covers all your online and in-person payments needs. This means you’ll save time and money on maintenance, as well as saving on initial development costs.

But don’t mistake simplicity for being less powerful!

Our API is sophisticated and efficient and runs on our own highly reliable infrastructure (99.999% uptime). We’ve just mastered the art of making payments API that you can seamlessly embed into your SaaS platform without overcomplicating the process.

3) Simpler reconciliation of transactions across payment channels

Another point to consider is reconciliation. While the integration process primarily affects engineering teams and your overall costs, reconciliation impacts the back office of your payments business. Using separate integrations for online and in-person payments makes reconciliation more tedious for payment operations teams. This is because funds arrive on different schedules from different sources, which makes it hard to determine the overall payments picture and see transaction volume as a whole.

Payments APIs are the backbone of offering embedded payments in your product—for the merchants you serve, as well as their end customers. APIs not only automate the process, but make payment authorizations more secure via tokenization of payment data and PCI compliance checks.

They also enable you to create frictionless customer experiences by allowing you to simplify onboarding and PCI compliance processes. Plus, you can create branded (white labeled) experiences for your customers.

Finix’s goal is to make your payments integration as easy as possible, while still providing exceptional reliability and state-of-the-art technology.