Category: Business

Payment Channels Explained: Offer More Ways to Pay Without Adding Complexity

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Payments aren’t getting simpler—they’re getting more varied. Your customers might want to pay online, over the phone, in person or through a link in an invoice reminder. And while offering more ways to pay can increase completed payments and reduce delays, it can also create new headaches if each option lives in its own silo.

That’s why it helps to think in terms of payment channels, not just payment methods. A channel is the full path a payment takes—from the customer’s experience to the technology that securely authorizes the transaction and moves funds. Before you add new ways to pay, you need to understand which channels fit your business, how they differ and how to implement them in your organization in a way that stays cohesive, secure and manageable.

 

What is a payment channel?

A payment channel is any way a customer might make a payment or anywhere that you, a merchant, might accept a payment. A payment channel includes a payment method, such as automated clearing house (ACH), debit card or a bank account, and the technical infrastructure that allows businesses and financial institutions to verify transactions and send funds. The infrastructure might include steps like securely sending card information entered into a website or checking the transaction for potential fraud.

Retail channels are a similar yet distinct concept. Retail channels cover different ways people can shop, like brick-and-mortar stores, catalogs and online shopping sites. Payment channels are generally related to these retail channels but are more specific to how people make payments. They correlate to retail channels but leave some room for overlap.

For example, at a brick-and-mortar retail channel, you might process payments on a physical point-of-sale (POS) system—a cash register—as well as on smartphones or tablets within the store. Your catalog might accept payments by phone but also integrate into an omnichannel approach. Customers could walk into your brick-and-mortar store to pay at the POS, or they could shop the catalog online and pay via online checkout.

Payment and retail channels closely relate to each other. Since you definitely want to create a cohesive, omnichannel experience, it’s essential to consider what payment channels you might implement. Some of the most popular options include:

Physical POS systems

Most brick-and-mortar stores have a point-of-sale (POS) payment system of some kind. These systems allow businesses to take in-person payments such as credit and debit cards, cash and checks. A physical POS can use more traditional technologies as a standalone system, but mobile POS systems are also common. A mobile POS uses devices such as smartphones and tablets to process payments, often with attached card readers. This option works well for businesses looking for easy-to-implement tech or for those on the move, such as field service providers.

Phone and interactive voice response (IVR) payments

Payments made over the phone can come in one of two varieties. The traditional approach involves talking to an agent to communicate payment details and share card information. An alternative to these contact center payments is to use IVR to walk customers through the process without needing to talk to an agent. The customer can enter specific numbers or say certain words to make the payment. Both methods are popular with service businesses and recurring payments.

Online checkout solutions

Online checkouts can come in many forms for everything from e-commerce and subscription services to rent and utility bills. They might integrate features for managing shopping carts, storing the customer’s information for next time or setting up automatic payments. Supported payment methods might include credit and debit cards and Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions. ACH is the system used to electronically transfer funds between bank accounts and process electronic checks in the United States.

Contactless payments

Many cards now have integrated chips with near-field communication (NFC) technology. A compatible POS system allows customers to tap their credit or debit card to make payments. Digital wallets like PayPal and Apple Pay can also use NFC technology to facilitate card payments and bank transfers. You’ll find these wallets integrated with online checkouts and supported by physical POS systems, which can collect payment data wirelessly from a user’s smartphone or watch.

 

How offering multiple payment channels benefits your business

Person paying with a phone on a point-of-sale device. Caption: In a competitive landscape, offering convenience and choice can make a big difference in where your customers shop.

In a competitive landscape, offering convenience and choice can make a big difference in where your customers shop. Credit cards and debit cards are by far the most popular payment methods at the point of sale, but analysts expect digital wallets to become much more common. However, payment preferences can vary widely by industry, geography, customer demographics and other characteristics.

By offering a range of options, businesses and their customers can reap several benefits, including:

Better customer experience

With more choices, customers can make payments how they want. These methods often come with unique advantages. Cash doesn’t have any processing requirements or fees, while credit cards can offer rewards and fraud protection. Online or over-the-phone payments are convenient and fast.

With multiple options, customers can pick the right one for their situation. From a business perspective, a better customer experience from payment channels can make it more likely someone will make a purchase with you or reduce the likelihood that their payment will be late.

More sales opportunities

Different payment channels can create new sales opportunities. Taking online payments can help a local shop reach customers worldwide, while a POS could help a storefront business take payments from customers who don’t typically carry cash.

Flexible payment options can also help customers make payments on time, allowing businesses to maintain steady cash flow.

Additional features

Some payment channels support useful features. For example, online checkout systems can help customers set up automatic recurring payments, which you can’t do with cash payments. Online checkouts also offer branding opportunities. You could even create email or SMS text message payment channels by including a link to an online payment platform in emails and SMS text notifications.

 

Security and compliance considerations

Protecting customer information and meeting regulations is crucial for any organization collecting payments. Most payment channels use different technological infrastructures, so you’ll need to pay attention to security and compliance requirements. Make sure your solutions follow best practices for technology standards and protocols, like end-to-end encryption, tokenization and fraud prevention methods.

Depending on your industry and the payment channels you use, look for solutions that meet the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Working with a member of the Nacha Preferred Partner Program can help ensure security with ACH transactions, too.

 

How to set up multiple payment channels

Setting up multiple payment channels might sound complex, but a merchant service provider and a unified payment platform simplify the process. Here at CSG Forte, we use the Dex Payments Platform, a comprehensive solution for payment processing. Dex integrates with various online, in-person and phone payment systems for simplified management and various tools to meet customer needs.

Your team can integrate this highly customizable platform with application programming interfaces (APIs), or you can work with our experienced team to implement channels for your business. We can also help with hardware requirements.

CSG Forte offers full payment processing support for the following channels:

  • Physical POS: We can help build a physical POS solution and supply the tech, including card readers and our Virtual Terminal that turns existing computers into instant workstations. Our POS systems are PCI-validated with point-to-point encryption for extensive security.
  • Phone/IVR: Our phone and IVR services come with your own toll-free number and script-building assistance. Touch-tone and speech-recognition technology can help you build a great customer experience. We also have solutions to streamline and secure payments received through your contact center.
  • Online payments: Our robust online checkout solution is smart, speedy and stocked with options. Accept credit and debit cards and ACH payments, and allow customers to pay through your app or other platforms through robust APIs.

You can accept both credit cards and electronic checks on any of these channels, and each channel comes with our cloud-based Virtual Terminal for transaction management and our powerful payment gateway services. All of the reports funnel into the Virtual Terminal, so you don’t have to worry about piecing things together on your own.

These payment channels don’t necessarily have to correlate only to retail, as well. For example, government agencies could implement online payments to accept taxes on the web and leverage a POS system for in-office payment collection.

 

CSG Forte’s payment channel solutions for your business

Smiling man on a laptop. Caption: Payment channel solutions for your business

Whatever your industry, diverse payment channels can transform your approach. Expand options for your customers and your business with simplified payment processing. And what’s easier than setting up all of your channels with one company? Get started with CSG Forte today.

Embedded Payments: The Strategic Advantage for ISV Growth

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Key Takeaways

  • Embedded payments go beyond basic “integration.” For ISVs, it’s not just about connecting to a gateway—it’s about owning the full money-movement experience from sign-up to settlement, including automated onboarding, split payouts, risk controls and unified reporting.
  • The capabilities that predict whether embedded payments actually pay off include fast, compliant onboarding, tunable risk and fraud controls and real revenue levers like card-on-file durability, network tokens and smart retries that protect margins and reduce involuntary churn.
  • PFaaS is the fastest path to monetizing payments without new operational risk. Instead of building a full stack (gateway, acquiring, compliance program, settlement ops) from scratch, ISVs can partner with a PFaaS provider like CSG Forte to keep control of the customer experience and revenue strategy while offloading the heavy lift of compliance, risk and day‑to‑day payments operations.

Embedded payments have become a critical growth driver for independent software vendors (ISVs). By building payment capabilities directly into their platforms, ISVs remove friction for payers and merchants, leading to higher conversion rates and stronger retention. Beyond simplifying payment processing, embedded payments allow ISVs to unlock new revenue streams. For ISVs aiming to stand out, increase revenue and retain more merchants, embedding finance solutions within their product is no longer optional—it’s a strategic imperative.

 

What are embedded payments?

Embedded payments refer to payment functions that are built into a non-payment application or software platform. End users pay directly within the app or software interface, without being redirected to an outside payment portal.

Embedded payments are the most common type of embedded finance—financial services built directly into the user experience of a non-financial company’s app or platform. Embedded finance also includes insurance (such as product warranties or travel insurance) and financing at the point of sale (such as buy-now-pay-later or auto financing).

Embedded payment examples, by industry

  • Healthcare: A patient logs into the portal to view medical records. The patient can easily locate an outstanding balance and is able to pay it directly within the portal without being redirected to a separate billing site.
  • Property management: Tenants can pay rent directly within the tenant portal, streamlining the payment process for both residents and property managers. This not only eliminates the hassle of checks and manual payment tracking, but also integrates payment history, late fees and lease renewals into one centralized dashboard—making management more efficient and improving tenant satisfaction.
  • Government services: Residents can pay taxes, fees or permit applications directly within government portals, improving accessibility and streamlining the user experience while enhancing the agency’s operational efficiency.

 

Embedded vs. integrated payments

While the terms “embedded payments” and “integrated payments” are sometimes used interchangeably, they aren’t the same.

The term “integrated payments” is a broad definition to describe any payment functionality that is connected to a business’s core software systems. The payment system exchanges data with these systems to improve accuracy, simplify reconciliation and streamline workflows.

But the payment interface might involve a separate window, clearly distinct module or redirection to a third-party gateway or processor. The payer is aware of entering a payment zone and may feel uncertain about the security measures.

Limitations of integrated payments

Integrated payments don’t meet customer expectations for fast, secure payments. Redirecting users—especially less tech-savvy ones—to an unfamiliar checkout page with different branding can feel disjointed and raise security concerns. Payment integrations don’t meet software vendors’ and merchants’ needs, either.

Integrated payments have several drawbacks:

  • Transaction fees go to the payment processor—not the ISV: ISVs that partner with a third-party gateway only earn small, fixed referral fees for passing merchants to the processor. The processor keeps most of the high-margin revenue from the payment transaction fees.
  • They introduce operational friction: With integrated payments, merchants have two separate relationships—one with the ISV and another with the processor. This means more pain points. Because merchants must complete separate, external application and underwriting processes with the payment processor, onboarding takes longer. Merchants who experience chargebacks or delayed funding contact the ISV, who redirects them to the processor. This fragmented support damages merchant experience and may lead to churn.
  • They offer limited control over the payment experience: The ISV can’t fully control or customize the payment experience. This means they’re unable to design tailored payment plans, integrate unique billing logic or build real-time, consolidated reporting that fuses payment data with business data.
  • They provide less product stickiness: Since the payment processing relationship is external, merchants can more easily switch to another platform and simply migrate their existing processing relationship.

 

Why embed financial services?

By offering purchase, payment and billing software in one place, ISVs eliminate the hassle of managing multiple vendors and resolving disputes between them. Embedded finance differentiates ISVs from their competitors and overcomes the limitations of integrated payments.

It generates a new revenue stream: Embedding payment processing allows ISVs to tap into transaction fees every time a payment is processed within their software solution. This recurring revenue stream can significantly contribute to the ISV’s overall earnings.

It reduces friction for merchants and end users/payers, increasing retention: Embedded payments deliver the smooth, secure experience today’s consumers expect. Fast, easy payments boost conversion rates, on-time payments and payer satisfaction and retention. Happy merchants who experience the benefits of embedded payments are likely to continue using the ISV’s software platform.

It increases stickiness: The deeper the payment integration, the harder it is for a merchant to switch. When payments are embedded, moving to a new software vendor would mean migrating not just historical business data, but also payment processing accounts, terminal setups and reconciliation workflows.

It gives ISVs control over the merchant experience:

  • Onboarding: ISVs can facilitate merchant onboarding by pre-filling information and automating the application process.
  • Customized, industry-specific payment functionality: Software vendors can design custom payment features such as recurring billing, split payments and automated late fees that are tailored to their industry.
  • Cleaner reporting: Embedded payments dramatically simplify reporting by unifying financial and operational data into a single system, eliminating the need for manual reconciliation and data matching across disparate platforms.
  • Simpler support: The ISV handles all payment issues, including chargebacks and funding delays, leading to higher merchant satisfaction.

 

Build a system from scratch or partner with a service provider?

ISVs can assemble their own payment stack—gateway, acquirer relationships, compliance program, risk models, settlement ops—or partner with a payment service provider that provides the infrastructure and handles risk and compliance.

You must weigh the unique challenges and potential benefits of both options to determine the right path for your specific business needs.

Answer these questions

Your answers to the following questions will help you determine if building or partnering makes the most sense for your business.

Readiness:

  • What is the size and maturity of my business?
  • Have I explored all my options related to optimizing payments and reducing processing costs?

Costs:

  • Am I prepared to cover the additional costs required to build and maintain my own payment processing platform?
  • What talent would I need to hire to have the necessary expertise in-house?

Timeline:

  • How long will it take to become a payments processor?
  • Can I afford to wait that long?

Risks:

  • What is my risk tolerance for financial losses and reputational risks?
  • Am I comfortable assuming liability as a payment processor?

 

6 core capabilities your embedded payments partner should have

The right embedded payments partner simplifies the adoption of payment functionality. Here’s what to look for:

  • Industry flexibility: Choose a payments solution that can accommodate the specific requirements of different industries, ranging from property management to government and healthcare.
  • Rapid onboarding: Look for a partner who gets you up and running in days, not weeks.
  • Modularity: You should be able to choose which modules to include in your payment system. Your partner should allow you to embed solutions like recurring payments (autopay), text-to-pay, account verification and automatic updates.
  • Built-in payment card industry (PCI) compliance: Select a payments partner that provides Level 1 PCI-compliant infrastructure, including secure firewalls and network configurations, tokenization and encryption of cardholder data.
  • Fraud prevention tools: Fight fraud with automated account authentication that validates payment information before processing the payment.
  • Responsive customer support: Merchants must have swift, effective help when they encounter payment platform issues. Choose a payments partner who provides quality, consistent and knowledgeable support whenever merchants need it.

 

Partner with CSG Forte to embed payments easily and quickly

If you’re ready to add embedded payments and don’t want to build a payment stack, CSG Forte’s Payment Facilitation-as-a-Service (PFaaS) partnership option makes it simple and approachable.

You can white label a CSG Forte solution for seamless integration, fast onboarding, reliable payment processing and lowered risk.

Visit CSG Forte or talk to an expert to learn how we can help you boost revenue by embedding payments.

What You Need to Know About Multichannel Payments

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Payments aren’t a “channel” anymore—they’re the connective tissue of the whole customer experience. Customers want to move from reminder to checkout to confirmation in a few taps. If they can’t, they’ll delay or abandon the transaction.

Today, customers use multiple channels to engage, transact and pay bills—and their expectations keep rising. McKinsey’s 2024 Digital Payments Survey found that 92% of U.S. consumers reported making some form of digital payment over the past year, a new high. These digital payments include transactions made in websites or apps, as well as in-store payments through digital wallets, alongside adjacent behaviors like person-to-person (P@P). This underscores why organizations need a consistent, low-friction experience across every touchpoint.

Customers appreciate the convenience and ability to make payments in multiple ways when transacting. They also expect seamless, personalized experiences from your business. Providing multichannel payment options is one way you can meet their needs.

 

What are multichannel payments work?

Multichannel payment processing refers to the ability to accept customer payments across various channels. It offers your customers the freedom and flexibility to make payments using their preferred methods and platforms. That could mean paying in-store, on a mobile app, over the phone, or online. Multichannel payments provide your customers with a consistent, streamlined experience while making things easy for you to manage with one synergized vendor and solution.

Efficient multichannel payment processing also makes it easy to track customer behavior, preferences, and purchase history across various channels. With that info, you can deliver better customer service, marketing, and overall experiences.

 

How do multichannel payments work?

Multichannel payments offer a convenient experience no matter the path your customers choose. A customer may use your services or purchase your products and want to transact in a unique way. With a multichannel payment solution, you can make the switch between channels seamless.

Your customers can pay on their preferred channel—email, text, interactive voice response (IVR) or via a live agent—and switch at any point. You can simplify the payment process for your customers and merchants while keeping interactions personalized.

Multichannel payments link all your touchpoints through an integrated platform. This makes payments highly personalized and focused on your customer’s preferences.

 

What Are Multichannel Payment Processing Channels?

Typical multichannel payment processing channels include phone, in-person, email, and text.

1. Phone payments

Pay-by-phone IVR solutions allows you to accept payments 24/7. Leverage innovative speech-recognition and touch-tone technology to empower customers to make rapid payments using self-service capabilities.

Your customers can connect to your system at any time from any phone, following prompts to complete transactions. IVR payment methods provide frictionless payments and shorten your collection time. The self-service functionality will free your staff to focus on more urgent matters.

2. In-person payments

Speed up in-person payment processing with advanced contactless payment technology that makes point-of-sale (POS) purchases a breeze. Digital bill payment methods will continue to grow, but in-person transactions are still the preferred pay point for many consumers.

A contactless system enhances the offline payment experience, helping customers pay bills securely and efficiently while on the go. You can opt to integrate award-winning POS solutions with your current system or use the enterprise-grade POS terminals as standalone devices.

3. Email payments

Leverage email payment link technology to streamline billing for your customers. To accept payments through this channel, you need a trusted payment services provider (PSP) to set up a secure system that enables you to send customers a safe email link. This email link will take customers to an encrypted hosted page or NanoSite where they can make payments online. The link will also work when sent via text or through social media.

You can accept email payments even if your business doesn’t have a website. Email payment processing is versatile and quick. It removes barriers to sale and reduces late payments by supporting them via multiple methods, including:

  • Digital wallets
  • Credit cards
  • Debit cards

4. Text payments

Text-to-pay capabilities enable customers to make payments via SMS and MMS. When a customer initiates a bill payment, they’ll receive a message with a secure link. This encrypted link will take the customer to a secure gateway or NanoSite to complete the transaction, offering a seamless payment solution.

Text payments are opt-in services that help customers conveniently pay when you message them, reducing your past-due payments.

 

What is a multichannel payment platform?

A multichannel payment platform helps you manage multiple types of payments in one place. CSG Forte Engage provides secure, frictionless payment methods, allowing your customers to pay using their preferred channel anytime. This integrated platform offers:

  • Multichannel payments: Give your customers the power to pay at multiple touchpoints and via email, text, IVR, or live agents—with the option to switch throughout the payment process seamlessly. Enable customers to select payment options like autopay for recurring fees or installment payments.
  • Secure payment options: The live agent assist feature allows your contact center staff to create online invoices and send them directly to customers. With cutting-edge NanoSite technology, clients can securely complete transactions without sharing banking details or credit card information across multiple channels. This approach reduces the risk of sensitive information leaking.
  • Customized payment journeys: Rapidly deploy personalized payment journeys for your customers. Branded payment journeys can be activated for one-time, recurring, or future-date payments. You can send invoices with payment prompts, confirmations, or late payment notifications to a customer’s channel of choice.

 

The benefits of CSG Forte’s multichannel payment platform

Innovative multichannel payments offer your business several advantages. When you leverage our platform for multichannel payments, you can benefit from:

  • Fast implementation: Advanced solutions enable low-to-no coding, meaning integration takes days, not months.
  • Convenient automation: Multichannel payments reduce repetitive tasks through automation while still providing highly personalized customer experiences.
  • Secure transactions: Custom payment pages or NanoSites allow customers to transact with your business quickly and securely, reducing late payments.
  • High adoption rates: Multichannel payments increase self-service capabilities and encourage the adoption of digital payments, minimizing the costs associated with some offline payments.
  • Seamless testing: Your business can leverage multichannel payment capabilities to split-test elements of the payment journey. See what best works for your customers and use it to enhance their experience.

 

Partner with CSG Forte for secure multichannel payments

At CSG Forte, we leverage decades of experience to help your business scale payments and grow with smart, unified payment solutions. Our payment platform is designed to meet your ever-changing needs and customer preferences.

Want to learn more about how we can help you simplify and scale your multichannel payment capabilities? Get started by connecting with our team.

How CSG Forte Powers Long-Term Growth: The NCMS Success Story

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Key Takeaways:

  • CSG Forte’s stability and innovation help partners like National Cash Management Systems (NCMS) achieve long-term growth and peace of mind.
  • CSG Forte’s single-source platform simplifies payments, reduces risk and streamlines compliance.
  • CSG Forte’s commitment to continuous improvement ensures partners are ready for the future of online payments among several industries, including healthcare providers.

When it comes to accepting secure online payments, uncertainty is the enemy of progress. For many organizations, the difference between thriving and merely surviving comes down to the reliability of their payment partner. And while payment processors come and go and industry shifts can upend businesses overnight, National Cash Management Systems (NCMS) founder Scott Lewis has long relied on CSG Forte as a constant in the often-unstable payments industry—delivering stability, innovation and peace of mind year after year.

The story of CSG Forte’s 26-year partnership with NCMS is proof that partnering with a secure online payments provider can transform how businesses operate, adapt and grow. Through market upheavals, regulatory changes and evolving customer expectations, CSG Forte has empowered NCMS to not only weather the storms but to accelerate growth and simplify complexity.

The NCMS and CSG Forte success story isn’t just about payment technology—it’s about trust, partnership and results. This article will explain how CSG Forte’s commitment to reliability and forward-thinking solutions help NCMS stand out in a competitive market. This includes one of NCMS’s customers that was able to triple monthly transaction totals, achieve a 125% increase in volume and deliver the kind of seamless payment experiences that today’s organizations demand.

 

CSG Forte: Stability and security that lasts

CSG Forte provides the backbone of NCMS’s payment operations with its secure, scalable payment platform that adapts to industry changes. When other processors faltered, Scott said, CSG Forte continued to deliver consistent reliability—helping NCMS and its clients avoid costly disruptions and focus on what matters most: their customers.

Key capabilities in the CSG Forte and NCMS partnership includes:

  • Single-source payment platform: CSG Forte’s all-in-one solution simplifies operations, reduces risk and streamlines compliance for partners like NCMS.
  • Continuous innovation: CSG Forte integrates new payment methods and technologies, ensuring partners stay ahead of industry trends and regulatory requirements.
  • Dedicated support: CSG Forte’s hands-on service helps partners resolve issues quickly and optimize their payment strategies for long-term success.

 

Navigating an unstable payments industry

NCMS’s experience reflects a common challenge: instability among payment processors. Frequent changes and failures forced merchants to juggle multiple providers, increasing complexity and risk. CSG Forte’s partnership with NCMS solved this problem by offering a stable, reliable platform that could grow with their business.

 

A modern, single-source platform in action

By leveraging CSG Forte’s technology and expertise, NCMS was able to:

  • Consolidate payment channels for greater efficiency.
  • Simplify onboarding and reporting for easier compliance.
  • Benefit from ongoing product improvements and responsive support.

This partnership empowered NCMS to deliver seamless, secure payment experiences to its clients while maintaining the flexibility to adapt as needs evolved.

 

Clear growth driven by CSG Forte

NCMS shared volume and revenue metrics from one of its merchant clients that accepts online healthcare payments. The impact of CSG Forte’s platform includes:

  • Average monthly transaction growth: from 40,820 in 2021 to 91,831 between 2021 and 2025.
  • Monthly transaction total increases: from $3.93 million to $12 million.
  • Continuous improvement:
    • ~20% annual growth rate increase
    • 125% increase in transaction volume
    • 3X growth in monthly totals.

 

Why choose CSG Forte?

  • Reliability: CSG Forte’s platform delivers consistent, secure payment processing that partners can trust.
  • Innovation: Stay ahead with integrated solutions and new payment methods.
  • Support: Dedicated, hands-on service to simplify compliance and resolve issues quickly.
  • Growth: Proven results—partners see increased transaction volume, streamlined operations and lasting peace of mind.

The online payments landscape is known as one where the only certainty is constant change, and finding steadfast partners can seem elusive. That’s why the collaboration between NCMS and CSG Forte is particularly illustrative of the transformative power shared vision and commitment brings to a partnership. The shared journey is not just a story of improved payment operations; it’s a blueprint for organizations eager to embrace innovation without compromising reliability.

By combining cutting-edge technology with personalized service, CSG Forte and NCMS have built a partnership that not only meets today’s complex demands, but also anticipates the challenges merchants will face tomorrow. For organizations that aspire to minimize risk, maximize efficiency and drive sustainable growth, the choice of partner is more crucial now than ever before—and NCMS and CSG Forte demonstrate exactly what’s possible when trust and innovation converge.

Are you ready to redefine what’s possible in your payment partnership? Whether you’re looking to accept online healthcare payments or secure online payments in another industry, it’s time to take the first step. CSG Forte’s experts can guide you toward seamless transactions, robust support and future-ready solutions. So, reach out today; whether you’re seeking to streamline operations, safeguard your revenue or unlock new avenues for expansion, our team is here to empower your organization every step of the way.

Embedded Payments for ISVs: How to Monetize Payments Without the Risk

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If you’re an independent software vendor (ISV), payments are no longer a bolt-on feature. Customers expect to onboard, accept and reconcile payments without leaving your website or application. That’s why “embedded payments” has replaced simple gateway integrations: you’re not just processing transactions—you’re designing the entire money-movement experience, from sign-up to settlement.

 

Integrated vs. embedded: what ISVs really mean by “embedded payments”

Embedded payments are native payment experiences inside your software. Beyond taking a card, they often include automated onboarding (know your customer or KYC, and know your buyer or KYB), split payouts for service fees, risk controls and dashboards your customers actually use.

“Integrated” usually means you connect your app to a processor or gateway and offload the rest. “Embedded” extends into orchestration—how funds move among parties, how identities are verified, how disputes are handled and how the data shows up in your product reporting. If you operate a vertical SaaS or multi-sided marketplace, you almost certainly need embedded.

  • When platforms need more than a gateway, some of the common signals are:
  • You manage sub-accounts (franchises, locations, contractors, clinics).
  • You must split payouts or hold funds until milestones are met.
  • Your users demand white-labeled onboarding and unified reporting.

 

Evaluation criteria that actually predict success

Plenty of checklists exist, but three areas correlate best with ISV outcomes.

  1. Onboarding speed & compliance: How quickly can a typical merchant get from “create account” to “take first payment”? Look for automated KYC/KYB, clear status webhooks and tiered underwriting so low-risk merchants move fast while higher-risk flows get escalated. Competitors spotlight fast launches and single integrations.
  2. Risk & fraud controls you can tune: Vertical variance matters. A home-services marketplace needs different velocity checks than a point-of-sale ISV. Ask about account verification, support, tokenization and end-to-end encryption—core controls that reduce losses and scope without trashing the UX.
  3. Revenue levers (fees, markups, value-add): Payments should be a profit contributor, not just table stakes. Evaluate your ability to add value—card-on-file durability via account updater, network tokens and smart retries—and price for it. Integrating account updating software keeps card data current to avoid involuntary churn; its tokenization explainer is a good primer for why this matters to auth rates and retention.

 

Build vs. partner: PFaaS as the fast path

You can assemble a payment stack yourself—gateway, acquirer relationships, compliance program, risk models, settlement ops—or partner with a payment facilitation-as-a-service (PFaaS) provider that brings the scaffolding. Owning everything can yield maximum control, but it also imports regulatory overhead, capital requirements and operational complexity. PFaaS lets you keep the customer experience and monetization strategy while offloading the hard parts of compliance, settlement and scheme-level nuance.

Competitors talk up “single global integration” and “go-live faster.” That’s valuable—but the difference shows up after launch, when your support team handles exceptions and your PMs need to add features without undertaking six-month projects. Look for clear and multi-functional APIs, vertical fit and hands-on solutioning rather than generic solutions.

 

How CSG Forte helps ISVs ship faster

Think about hosted when you need speed; APIs when you need control. CSG Forte offers hosted flows (like BillPay) to stand up clean experiences fast—helpful if you’re validating a motion or need a branded portal while your UX team finishes native flows. The clickable Modern Bill Pay demo shows what those experiences look like end-to-end. From there, APIs let you move deeper into embedded: white-label onboarding, account management and reporting.

CSG Forte: support that matches mid-market realities
If you sell to regulated or quasi-public sectors (e.g., utilities, municipalities, healthcare), your buyers prize reliability, reporting and compliance clarity. CSG Forte’s bill presentment content and support library skew practical, with specifics on encryption/tokenization and portal capabilities—useful for procurement and IT reviewers.

Ready to accelerate your ISV payments journey? Whether you’re looking to streamline onboarding, tighten risk controls or unlock new revenue streams, choosing the right partner can make all the difference. Reach out to the expert team at CSG Forte today to discover how our tailored solutions can help you launch faster, operate smarter and deliver the reliability your customers demand.

The Key to Winning (and Keeping) SMBs With Modern Payments

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Small and midsize businesses (SMBs) run on cash flow, customer trust and time they don’t have to spare. When they evaluate financial partners or software providers, they’re not shopping for “payments” as a feature—they’re looking for an easy, reliable way to get paid across every channel their customers use. If that experience feels fragmented, slow or risky, they’ll bounce to a provider that makes it simple.

As payments move from a back-office chore to a revenue generation source, organizations of all sizes—from independent software vendors (ISVs) and fintechs to banks, municipalities, utilities, healthcare and property management companies—are out there competing for SMB relationships. The winners lead with modern merchant services: fast onboarding, flexible acceptance (card, ACH, wallet, text), recurring and installment options and built-in fraud and compliance controls. The common thread: give SMBs one platform that reduces operational work while improving customer experience.

Below is a practical guide to what SMBs value right now and how a unified payments platform helps you deliver it.

What SMBs expect from a payment platform

  • Omnichannel without the hassle: Customers want to pay in person, on a phone, from a bill, inside an app or via a link. SMBs expect tap-to-pay, EMV, QR, hosted checkout, embedded payment pages and click-to-pay links—running through one processor so reconciliation stays clean.
  • Cash flow visibility and predictability: Deposits that arrive when expected, with payout schedules and transparent fees. SMBs want recurring billing, payment plans and tools like Account Updater to reduce involuntary churn.
  • Fewer chargebacks and less fraud: Card testing, friendly fraud and synthetic identities hit SMBs hard. They need layered defenses that work in the background (velocity checks, device signals, automated risk rules) and clear workflows when disputes do occur.
  • No-drama compliance and security: PCI scope reduction, tokenization and secure storage of customer credentials matter. SMBs want to know sensitive data is handled the right way—without adding steps to every checkout.
  • A partner who answers the phone: When something breaks or a statement looks off, SMBs want support that’s accountable. That’s a competitive edge you can’t fake.

 

The case for a one-platform approach (and why it wins SMB loyalty)

Fragmented payment stacks multiply logins, reporting formats, settlement timelines and vendor support queues. A single platform creates consistency across acceptance, settlement, reporting and risk—and it lets SMBs add channels without reinventing the wheel every time.
With the right payment partner, you can:

  • Consolidate acceptance across card-present and card-not-present, ACH, digital wallets, text-to-pay, hosted pages and embedded flows.
  • Standardize reconciliation with unified reporting, so teams don’t stitch together spreadsheets to understand yesterday’s deposits.
  • Embed payments directly into software and portals (for ISVs, governments, healthcare, property management and more) while keeping the UI on-brand.
  • Scale features when needed—from recurring billing and installment plans to automatic account updates, tokenization and fraud controls—without bolting on yet another vendor.

The result: faster go-lives, lower total cost of ownership and a better experience for SMBs and their customers.

 

Cash flow, simplified: recurring installments and ACH that just works

SMBs live and die by cash flow. Give them levers that improve predictability:

  • Recurring billing & payment plans: Automate billing cycles (weekly, monthly, custom), add proration and let customers self-manage cards on file.
  • Account Updater: Reduce involuntary churn by automatically refreshing expired or reissued card credentials.
  • ACH with verification: Offer lower-cost bank-to-bank options with account validation to reduce returns and exceptions.
  • Flexible settlement and reporting: Know when funds will land, by channel, with reporting that matches real-world workflows.

For SMBs in services, subscriptions, HOA/dues, utilities, courts, clinics or rental portfolios, these capabilities reduce manual collections and the “phone tag” that eats staff time.

 

Omnichannel experience without operational drag

Customers don’t think in channels; they think in tasks: “Pay this invoice now.”
CSG Forte supports:

  • Card-present: EMV and tap-to-pay for in-person sales.
  • Card-not-present: Hosted checkout, embedded fields and invoice links.
  • Text-to-pay and email-to-pay: Send compliant payment links that pre-populate account info.
  • Self-service portals: Reduce calls and walk-ins by letting customers pay and set up autopay online.
  • Back-office tools: Virtual terminals and batch uploads for team-assisted payments.

Behind the scenes, tokens and a unified ledger keep transactions consistent across all touchpoints, so reporting and refunds are straightforward.

 

Fraud and chargebacks: layered protection that doesn’t hurt conversion

Fraudsters evolve quickly; tools should too. SMBs need risk controls that are configurable but not complicated.

  • Rules you can tune: Velocity limits, geolocation filters, allow/deny lists and device checks—set once, monitor always.
  • Secure when it makes sense: Add step-up authentication to high-risk transactions without forcing friction on every sale.
  • Dispute workflows: Clear visibility into retrievals and chargebacks with the evidence your team needs to respond on time.
  • ACH management: Account validation and data checks that reduce returns and downstream fees.

The goal: protect revenue while preserving a clean checkout.

 

Data, reporting and insights SMBs actually use

More dashboards aren’t the answer; the right views are.

  • Unified reporting across methods and channels so SMBs can see gross, fees, net and expected settlement in one place.
  • Deposits that reconcile—by batch, by location, by user—without manual gymnastics.
  • Operational alerts (e.g., spike in declines or unusual refund activity) that prompt action before there’s a month-end surprise.
  • Export and APIs for finance systems, CRMs and data warehouses.

For partners (banks, ISVs, fintechs), aggregated views simplify portfolio health, support needs and go-to-market planning.

 

Implementation without the headaches

Payments projects stall when teams underestimate data flows, PCI scope or edge cases (refunds, partial captures, offline scenarios). CSG Forte focuses on predictable go-lives:

  • Clear integration paths that include hosted pages, drop-in components or full API control.
  • Sandbox and sample apps to accelerate development.
  • Migration supportfor tokens, vaulted credentials and recurring schedules.
  • Change management that includes guidance for training staff and communicating to end users.
  • White-glove support: when you want a human to help troubleshoot or plan.

The outcome: less time wiring tools together and more time serving SMBs.

 

Proof points SMBs feel immediately

You don’t need to promise the moon—just deliver outcomes that matter week one:

  • Faster payments: text-to-pay links and hosted checkout reduce “I’ll do it later” delays.
  • Fewer declines and rekey errors: tokenization, card vaulting and Account Updater keep credentials current.
  • Lower total costs (not just rates): fewer vendors and fewer manual steps mean fewer reconciliation headaches.
  • Happier customers: more ways to pay, fewer calls and self-service options that work.

These are the levers that turn an initial “let’s test it” into “please move all of our payments over.”

 

A quick read on fees, compliance and risk (so there are no surprises)

SMBs deserve clarity:

  • Transparent pricing: understand card vs. ACH costs, add-on services (e.g., Account Updater) and how interchange optimization can help.
  • Compliance up front: PCI scope reduction with hosted fields and tokenization; data minimization across your stack.
  • Clear SLAs and support: know how to reach a human and what to expect when you do.

Predictability builds trust—and trust builds long-term relationships.

 

Why banks and ISVs choose CSG Forte to serve SMBs

Whether you’re a community bank, credit union or software platform, your SMB customers look to you for a complete solution. CSG Forte helps you deliver it—without building an in-house payments team from scratch.

 

For banks & financial institutions

  • Modern merchant services under your brand: under your brand: card, ACH, recurring or text-to-pay.
  • Operational efficiency: one set of reports and reconciliations across branches and portfolios.
  • Risk and compliance at scale: tokenization, PCI scope reduction and fraud tools that evolve with threats.
  • Revenue opportunities: interchange and ACH economics, plus higher stickiness when SMBs move all payments under one roof.

 

For ISVs and platforms

  • Embedded payments with clear developer docs and flexible integration models.
  • Faster onboarding so your SMBs start processing quickly.
  • Monetization options without compromising user experience.
  • Vertical depthfor sectors like government, utilities, healthcare, property management, education and professional services.

In both cases, the advantage is the same: a unified platform that’s reliable on day one and extensible on day 1,000.

 

Ready to help SMBs win with payments?

SMBs don’t need another login. They need one dependable platform that helps them take payments anywhere, protect revenue, reconcile quickly and grow. CSG Forte was built to make that the default—so banks, ISVs and growing businesses can focus on customers, not payment plumbing.

Let’s make payments your competitive edge. Talk to a payments expert to map your SMB use cases and integration path, or explore how text-to-pay, recurring billing, ACH and fraud prevention work together by exploring CSG Forte.

Unlock Seamless B2B Payments: How ACH Powers Modern Growth

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Every thriving business relationship relies on trust, efficiency and the seamless movement of money. Yet for too long, business-to-business (B2B) payments have been weighed down by outdated processes, endless paperwork and frustrating delays. But with the continued adoption and expansion of Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments, companies are finding new momentum—unlocking smoother transactions, reducing costs and powering growth without the usual financial friction.

Explore the value of this payment type for transactions between businesses.

 

What Are Business-to-Business ACH Payments?

Business to business ACH payments are electronic fund transfers between two companies. ACH payments provide a modern and secure method for processing fund transfers electronically. These transfers occur in the ACH Network and eliminate the need for paper trails that come with checks, money orders and other conventional payment methods.

ACH is a widely used electronic payment system in the United States and internationally. With this network so widely recognized, it can be an ideal solution for business to business payments between companies that are located in different states or countries.

Business to business transactions encompass a wide range of corporate processes, from paying advertisers and shipping companies to covering rent for office spaces. While many individuals have stopped using checks for their day-to-day payments, many businesses are still relying on these slips of paper to make large payments to other businesses. With corporate ACH payments, businesses can streamline a significant aspect of operations.

 

How Does Business to Business ACH Work?

All ACH payments start with two bank accounts—the Originating Depository Financial Institute (ODFI) and the Receiving Depository Financial Institute (RDFI). Essentially, there’s a bank account requesting a payment, the RDFI, and an account sending money to respond to the request, the ODFI.

In B2B ACH payments, this arrangement stays the same. However, rather than a corporate bank account and a consumer bank account, the transaction happens between two corporate accounts. The Clearing House or the Federal Reserve oversees the transaction by storing and processing the funds. Since these transactions are not direct from bank to bank, they can take one to two days to process.

The entire ACH process can be divided into four steps:

  • Authorization: Before funds can move from one account to another, the ODFI needs authorization from the owner of the account to transfer funds through ACH. During authorization, the business will have to provide the account and routing numbers for the corporate account and other details to verify the use of their funds. As a business requesting this authorization, you may send an email with a link to the accounting department, so they can complete the authorization process.
  • Initiation: The business then sends its information to the ACH provider or ODFI to initiate the transaction.
  • Request: After initiating the transaction, the ODFI can send a payment request to the RDFI to receive the necessary funds for a product or service.
  • Processing: As long as all information is correct and the RDFI account has enough funds to complete the request, processing can begin. The funds move from the RDFI account to the ODFI, and the business receiving funds will officially be paid for their product or service.

 

Benefits of B2B ACH Payments

Using ACH payments for your B2B transactions has many advantages, including:

  • Simplicity: ACH payments are easy to set up with the right ACH provider. Both companies involved only need to provide account information for their corporate bank accounts and work with a provider who supports the process. Most banks allow the ACH process to occur with authorization, so there’s no need to have a special account or change the way you manage financials for your business.
  • Speed: While there is a processing window for ACH payments, it is typically only a few days maximum. Even with this processing time, businesses will receive confirmation that funds are entering their account before they officially arrive. This aspect makes business to business ACH debit much easier than checks. Accounting teams don’t need to reconcile the bank account with several outstanding checks that have not yet been cashed.
  • Security: With many businesses still relying on checks for B2B payments, check fraud is a possibility. Businesses are particularly at risk because they send multiple checks with large amounts. ACH payments are completely electronic and verified through your ACH platform, so you know you’re genuinely receiving money from your client businesses, and information like account and routing numbers is kept private.
  • No processing fees: ACH payments are free of all processing fees, which is a major benefit to businesses that transfer money frequently between suppliers, clients and beyond. With so many transactions, small fees can add up and lead to large costs at the end of a month.
  • Low transaction fees: Transaction fees for ACH payments are often free or low in cost, depending on the financial institutions involved. Compared to wire transfers or credit card processing, these fees are incredibly cost-effective.
  • Electronic records: ACH payments have a clear electronic record you can access at any time, so it’s easy to manage invoicing processes, and you can cut down on paper records.

 

Implement ACH Processing With CSG Forte

CSG Forte’s Dex payments platform is the key to implementing ACH processing for your B2B transactions. Manage online, in-person and over the phone payments with a unified, cloud-based solution. With transparent reporting, you can stay connected to every transaction and manage your funds more efficiently.

Get in touch with us today to learn more or make an account with us to get started.

How Can ACH Processing Benefit Your Business?

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Imagine a world where cash flow is seamless, paper checks are relics of the past and getting paid—or paying others—happens almost as effortlessly as sending a text. Welcome to the age of Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments, where modern businesses are reimagining the way money moves and unlocking new levels of efficiency, flexibility and security. 

ACH payment processing continues gaining popularity as businesses and customers recognize this system’s many benefits. ACH processing is an electronic payment method that allows companies and individuals to send and receive money.

These digital transactions offer significantly lower costs and added convenience for recurring transactions. As a result of ACH’s benefits, many businesses are leaving paper checks and other payment methods behind in favor of this electronic option.

 

ACH Payments: What Are They and How Do They Work?

ACH payments are a digital method for sending and receiving funds. These transactions pass through the Automated Clearing House, an electronic funds transfer (EFT) system established by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, letting businesses and individuals send credit and debit card payments.

Businesses often use these payments to cover employee payroll or receive money for customer payments for goods and services. In many cases, electronic payments must obtain an authorization request from a credit card network or issuing bank. ACH payments instead go through the Federal Reserve or a clearinghouse to secure payments.

Once the request passes through one of these organizations, the receiving depository financial institution (RDFI) posts the payment to the requestor’s account. Businesses save money and time making money transfers when using ACH instead of credit card authorization. They can accept or send payments of as much as $1 million each day, and the system recognizes revenue faster, so you can receive or send funds in as little as a few hours.

 

Are ACH Payments Safe?

As a government-established electronic payment method, ACH transactions must follow strict federal regulations for safety in money transfers. Nacha, a non-profit organization, also regulates and runs this money transfer network. CSG Forte is a Nacha Preferred Partner. These controls make fraud rare, though not completely unlikely.

Here are a few additional ways your business can reduce the risk of fraud:

  • Choose a trusted payment provider: Ensure your provider complies with Nacha rules. You can look for Nacha-preferred partners for the most security.
  • Use microdeposits: The best payment providers offer microdeposits to verify recipient identity. These are two small deposits made to an account before formal transactions begin.
  • Seek information protection: Your provider should utilize tokenization and encryption to disguise sensitive data. These controls ensure only the intended recipient can interpret the data you send.

 

Benefits of ACH Payments for Businesses

Many businesses adopt ACH payments for ease, security and speed. This electronic money transfer method continues to grow in popularity, with companies carrying out 5.94 billion transactions using this method in 2022. Businesses compare these transactions to previous payment methods like paper checks and see distinct ACH payment benefits, leading them to adopt the system.

  • Lower Costs: Compared to electronic and paper payment methods, ACH transactions are one of the most cost-effective money transfer options. Credit card companies require network fees for processing transactions. These fees range from 1.5% to 3.5%. Checks also cost $2.01 for internal expenses like financial institution fees and $4 for external costs like personnel. Paper checks are often mailed, which is an additional expense when you factor in materials and postage. In comparison, ACH has a median internal spending of $0.15 and an external cost of $0.25.
  • Speed: ACH payments have faster processing times. Like all electronic processing methods, ACH is faster than payments like checks, which must be mailed and manually entered. Checks might also get lost, extending the time before the recipient receives money in their account.
    ACH transactions also process faster than many electronic transfer methods, sometimes within a few hours on the same business day. You can also schedule transactions for one or two business days away. With same-day transfers, you can ensure that payments settle the day your business sends them out.
  • Minimal Human Error: Human error can cause payment delays and impact organizations’ cash flow. With computer-automated payment through ACH processing, you reduce mistakes like incorrect payment amounts or errors in recipients’ account numbers. You can set recurring payments up once, ensure the information is correct and let the transaction repeat each billing cycle without needing adjustment.
  • Customer Convenience: ACH payments also have many benefits for customers, including the convenience of a one-time setup. For recurring expenses like rent or a subscription service, your business can request authorization once, then continue to take payments as needed. Customers like this method because it is convenient and they will always pay on time, avoiding late fees or lapses in service. Business-to-business transactions also work well with ACH because many companies are switching to digital money management tools.
  • Expense Tracking: With ACH, your business can record all income electronically, and the information is more easily accessible to bookkeepers. With ACH payments you can easily view transactions online and connect them to money received or disbursed.

 

Collect ACH Payments With CSG Forte

With CSG Forte’s complete payments solution with ACH processing, we make it easy for your business to send and receive digital payments. Learn how you can start accepting ACH payments and Get Started with CSG Forte today.

How to Improve and Future-Proof Your Authorization Rates

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Every time a customer’s payment fails, you don’t just lose revenue—you risk losing the customer entirely. That’s the hidden cost of low authorization rates, and for businesses from small and mid-size to legacy enterprise, those costs add up. U.S. firms lose out on as much as $157 billion in revenue every year. And chasing owed payments costs money, too. In fact, nearly 60% of businesses say resolving failed payments is expensive and time-consuming. That means businesses are spending time and money reprocessing payments, handling customer service complaints and chasing payments on outstanding bills—while revenue walks out the door.

Whether you’re managing utility payments, tax collections or subscription billing, failed transactions can lead to late fees, churn and costly customer service overhead. While that’s all bad news, the good news is most of it is preventable.

We’ll explain the ins and outs of a fact you might already suspect: Payment authorization rates are more critical than ever, and it just might be your payment platform that’s dragging them down. Fortunately, there are several steps your team can take to start improving authorization rates and enhancing your company’s performance today. You can start by accessing simple tools that protect revenue and future-proof your billing system.

 

The Hidden Impacts of Failed Authorizations

Failed payments aren’t just a momentary hiccup—they create ripple effects across revenue, operations and customer trust. At scale, the damage adds up quickly.

Authorization rate refers to the percentage of payment attempts that are approved by your customer’s bank. It’s a critical metric for any organization that processes electronic payments, whether for services, subscriptions or government fees. When a transaction is declined, you not only lose the payment—you may also lose the customer.

Consumers today expect fast, seamless payment flows. If a payment fails and the system offers no explanation or recovery option, customers often abandon the transaction—and sometimes the provider. In public-facing sectors like government and utilities, the impact can be immediate. A failed payment might mean delayed water service or mounting fines, and for staff, more time on the phone with confused or frustrated constituents. In one customer example, Dimmit County, Texas reduced call volume and shortened call times after implementing Forte’s text-to-pay solution—directly increasing authorization rates and collections, as well as employee and constituent satisfaction.

Recurring billing models—whether for accepting rent payments or monthly membership dues—are particularly vulnerable. A single failed renewal can lead to a cascade of late fees, service disruptions and unnecessary customer outreach. And because many systems don’t surface why a transaction failed, teams are left reacting to instead of preventing the problem.

In short: your authorization rate isn’t just a number. It’s a signal of how well your payment stack is performing—and how much money and trust you might be losing without even realizing it.

 

Common Authorization Decline Causes

If failed payments are costing businesses millions, what’s behind the drop-offs?

While insufficient funds are one obvious culprit, most failed transactions aren’t due to someone running out of money—they’re due to preventable issues with data, fraud controls or infrastructure. And, unfortunately, card holders don’t have much patience for declines—35% say they’ll abandon a merchant after they’re declined even one time.

Here are the biggest offenders:

  • Outdated or incorrect card data: Cards expire, get lost or are reissued after fraud alerts. If your system isn’t keeping up, the next recurring payment attempt will fail. Subscription businesses are particularly vulnerable—especially those without account updater services to refresh card credentials automatically.
  • Incomplete or mismatched data fields: Typos, missing address fields and mistyped account details can trigger issuer rejections. Rigid or outdated front-end forms often exacerbate the issue, especially when data validation is limited.
  • Overly sensitive fraud settings: Fraud filters are essential—but when they’re too aggressive or misaligned, they reject legitimate transactions. False positives hurt more than just the immediate sale—they frustrate loyal customers and undermine trust.
  • No retry logic: Even legitimate transactions sometimes fail due to transient issues—like brief network outages or issuer timeouts. Without built-in retry logic or fallback routing, those recoverable declines become permanent revenue loss.

Fortunately there are several ways to decrease your decline rates and boost your payment acceptance rates. For example, Lucas County, Ohio, improved reliability and reduced late payments by modernizing its payment stack to accept digital payments via multiple channels. The county didn’t have to foot the bill for an expensive overhaul to their entire infrastructure—it just added payment channel options and better account handling.

Each of these issues alone may seem minor. Together, they form a systemic drag on payment performance. And worse, they’re often invisible—buried in spreadsheets or issuer decline codes no one reviews.

Knowing what’s dragging down your authorization rate is the first step toward fixing it. In the next section, we’ll walk through proven tactics that high-performing teams use to keep their approvals—and their revenue—flowing.

 

Smart Fixes for Smarter Payments

Understanding the root problems is crucial—but it’s just the start. High-performing teams take proactive steps to fix the leaks through layered strategies: data validation, lifecycle hygiene, intelligent validation and authentication. These aren’t pie-in-the-sky solutions—they’re proven, and can lift authorization rates significantly. For example, Hall’s Culligan Water completed more than 4,000 cardholder updates without manual intervention.

Validate payment data upfront. Catch bad card numbers, expired dates, mismatched billing info, and typos before they reach the processor. Real-time validation reduces avoidable declines—plus it boosts customer experience by eliminating embarrassing failures.

Onboard account updating services. Recurring payments (think utilities or subscriptions) suffer when cards are replaced or expire. Account updater tools automatically refresh credentials with networks like Visa and Mastercard, seamlessly maintaining continuity.

Deploy smart routing and retry logic. Rather than sending every payment to the same processor, smart routing analyzes card brand, issuer, and transaction type for optimal routing. If a decline is “soft” (due to timeout or temporary issuer hold), retry logic automatically reattempts via a backup route.

By combining these tactics, companies ranging from insurance to retail to healthcare and several subscription-based business models can recover lost revenue, reduce involuntary churn and strengthen payment reliability.

 

It’s Time to Stop Losing Revenue You’ve Already Earned

Authorization rates aren’t just a technical metric—they’re a revenue multiplier. Every failed payment represents marketing dollars wasted, customer relationships damaged, and revenue delayed or lost entirely. Whether you’re a city utility department trying to reduce delinquencies or a subscription-based software platform fighting churn, your payment stack has a direct impact on business outcomes.

The good news? You don’t have to rebuild from scratch to make meaningful gains. Just a few small upgrades—like Account Updater or better retry logic—can lift approval rates by 10–15%. And that can translate to millions in recovered revenue.

Not sure where to begin? We’ve mapped it out for you. Start optimizing your payments today with CSG Forte and future-proof your revenue engine by building a smarter, stronger payments stack. Talk to an expert today.

What to Do During a Card Processing Outage at Your Business

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Whether you run an online store or a brick-and-mortar business, you depend on non-cash revenue. Debit and credit cards have become Americans’ preferred payment method, with an estimated 69% of us using cash for “few (if any) purchases” in the last year, according to research from CapitalOne.

So what happens when you experience a card processing outage or your system goes down? You can’t accept card payments, and your customers can’t pay. It’s an unfortunate situation, but card outages happen. Here’s what you can do if your card readers go down to reduce the financial and reputational impact on your business.

 

You’re Down, But Not Out

Most payment card transactions happen instantly. From the customer viewpoint, it’s just seconds from the time they tap or swipe their card until they get an acceptance message. Anything longer than a few seconds can frustrate customers. And while the transaction appears fast and smooth to the buyer, a lot is going on behind the scenes during those few moment.

You’re Down, But Not Out graphic

When credit card machines are down or there’s a credit card outage, that usually seamless process can’t happen. An outage can stem from several sources.

  • The merchant’s equipment could be to blame.
  • The Wi-Fi router might be acting up, making it difficult to connect to the internet. Refreshing your router or switching to a wired connection may clear up the issue.
  • The credit card processor itself is down. A Visa debit card outage may happen when Visa’s having connectivity issues, for example.
  • The software a business uses to process card payments may be experiencing a glitch or outage.

An outage, no matter its cause, can disrupt your business and lead to a drop in customer satisfaction.

 

How Does a Card Outage Affect Your Business?

Because card outages can have a tangible impact on your company, you should do what you can to make these issues as rare as possible. Some negative effects can include:

  • Loss of business: A credit card outage can cause an immediate loss of business. The customers who planned on paying with their debit or credit card are stuck. If you operate a physical store, some of those customers can switch to cash payments. If your sales are primarily online, your customers most likely can’t complete their purchases until the outage is resolved. You may notice a dip in sales on the day of the outage.
  • Unhappy customers: Cards offer convenience and security that cash can’t match, and many shoppers primarily carry cards because of that safety. If someone loses a debit or credit card, they can report the loss to their bank, pause and cancel the card so they don’t have to worry about losing actual money. If someone drops $20 on the street, that money is gone for good. When customers can’t use their preferred payment methods, they might take their business elsewhere.
  • Negative reputation: Frequent outages can adversely affect your business’s reputation. Customers may start to assume that your card machines won’t be working and may be more likely to visit your competitors. Faulty payment card equipment can also cause customers to question your business’s trustworthiness.

 

What Causes Card Outages?

Card outages can happen for a few reasons. Some issues are widespread and may affect multiple merchants and businesses simultaneously, while others occur only with your business.

  • Power outage: During a power outage, everything will be down. Your business’s point-of-sale (POS) system may not operate, and your computers won’t power on. If your customers are shopping online, they may get cut off from shopping if their own power goes out. First contact your electric company. Inform them of the outage so they can send out a crew to investigate and fix the issue. The electric company can also give you an estimate of when you can expect them to restore power. Some brick-and-mortar stores choose to add generators and backup power to their premises to keep their POS systems running if the power does go off.
  • Internet issues: Card payment processing needs an internet connection to work. If the connection gets interrupted, the payment can’t go through. Internet issues can take multiple forms and have different sources, such as a weak or blocked Wi-Fi signal. Also, check to ensure your router is functioning properly. Sometimes, moving the router or switching to a wired connection is all you need to do to solve the problem.
  • Provider outage: An outage may stem from the provider. Storms and severe weather may affect your internet service provider’s ability to establish a connection. Many service providers have outage maps online and keep their customers in the loop if there’s an issue in the area. In this case, all you can do is wait for the connection to be restored.
  • Hardware troubles: The hardware you use to process sales and read payment cards may have issues, which can look like a credit card outage. For example, the card reader may wear out or become unable to detect contactless payments. If the hardware isn’t updated, it can also stop working. Sometimes, the ports that connect your register to the card reader can become worn out. In that case, you may need to replace your hardware to get your system up and running again.
  • Software issues: In rare cases, the payment processor’s software may cause a card outage. If the payment processor goes down, your business and numerous others will be affected. It can also be the case that one of the major card companies, such as Visa or Mastercard, is experiencing an outage.

 

What to Do During a Credit Card Outage

During a card outage, you don’t have to wait for the issue to be resolved. Being proactive can help protect your reputation, get to the root of the issue and keep your customers happy.
Take these steps if your credit card system is down:

  1. Tell your customers: As soon as you detect a problem, tell your customers about it. Email people to inform them of the issue, put a message on your website or social media and post a sign on the door of your physical location. Explain what’s happening and how you’re working to fix it.
  2. Accept other forms of payment: The more payment options customers have, the more likely they are to complete their purchase. If you can’t accept credit or debit cards now, let people know which payment methods are working, whether it’s cash, e-Checks or alternative payment options like PayPal or Venmo.
  3. Troubleshoot: Try to find the source of the problem. It could be something you can fix on your own. Fix Wi-Fi issues by restarting the router or look for loose cables in your POS system. Check for updates on your software and hardware, as well.
  4. Ask around: If you can’t find an immediately obvious source of the problem, find out if other businesses are experiencing the same issue. Once you know the problem is bigger than your company, you can monitor the situation and inform the parties who are most likely going to resolve it.
  5. Offer a discount: Your customers may be inconvenienced during a card outage. One way to smooth over the situation and encourage them to shop with you again is to offer a discount code or coupon to use on a future purchase.
  6. Take steps to prevent credit card outages in the future: Being proactive can help reduce the chance of a credit card outage in the future. Purchasing a backup generator, switching internet providers and preparing for bad weather are helpful steps to take.

Another option is to address the issue before an outage occurs. You can do this by keeping your hardware and software up to date to reduce the chance of malfunctions. It’s also worthwhile to find a payment platform with a proven track record and stellar reputation.

 

Choose CSG Forte as Your Payment Platform

You need to have a payment platform that will have your back during a card outage and that will provide the flexibility you need to respond to any outage issues. CSG Forte has decades of experience as a complete payment solution. We’ll help you accept all payments and keep your business online. Contact us today to get started.