Need a Rock-Solid Payments System? Focus on Platform Stability and APIs

Pause for a moment. Think of how many software vendors your organization works with in order to conduct business.

It’s a lot, isn’t it? And that’s not just a lot of vendors—that’s a lot of decisions about who’s going to support your business processes. Few of those decisions are more foundational than this one: Who’s going to enable you to accept payments from customers?

Whether you sell products, services or subscriptions, you need a reliable and secure way to take payment. That puts ample pressure on you to choose the right payment provider. There’s a range of factors to consider, such as fees, security, compliance, customer support and features. However, two of the most important factors to be weighed (but can sometimes be overlooked) are platform stability and API quality.

Here, we’ll explain what makes them key building blocks for any payments system’s foundation.

 

WHY PLATFORM STABILITY MATTERS

When it comes to payment providers, platform stability refers to their ability to maintain uptime and availability in their solutions.

Availability is the degree to which a system can perform its intended function when it needs to. Good platform stability means that your payment provider can process your transactions without interruptions or errors.

Uptime is the percentage of time that a system is operational and accessible. Often, you’ll see solutions boast a 99.9%-plus uptime. Where the separation occurs among vendors is how many nines you see after that decimal, which can make a huge difference in your payment platform. Uptime of 99.9% means the software is down for 8.77 hours a year. That downtime is costly on its own, but when it’s your payment gateway, those are minutes where you can’t accept payments, potentially losing revenue, suffering reputational damage and frustrating customers.

In fact, in a controlled third-party study through TSG’s (The Strawhecker Group) Global Experience Monitoring (GEM) solution, CSG Forte was honored with the “Lowest Gateway Minute Outage Award” for 2022 and 2023, with uptimes of 99.990 and 99.995 respectively. This award recognizes the payment gateway provider that has the lowest number of minutes of downtime per year, based on data from over payment gateways representing approximately half of U.S. eCommerce transactions.

A great uptime is more than a number. It indicates the support and responsiveness you get from your payment provider. It’s easier to grow your business when it’s backed by a reliable partner.

Speaking of growth, you also want your payment platform to be scalable. It needs to remain stable when your payment volume increases, and it needs to integrate easily with the other applications when your tech stack changes or grows. That brings us to another key characteristic of a payment provider: a flexible API.

 

WHY A FLEXIBLE API IS IMPORTANT

An API, or application programming interface, is a set of rules and protocols that allows different software systems to “talk to each other” and exchange data. A payment gateway API lets you connect your organization’s existing systems, such as your website, mobile app, or customer relationship management (CRM), or enterprise resource software (ERP) to the payment provider’s platform. This way, you can process payments without leaving your own environment or redirecting your customers to a third-party site, and you can automate and program your payments operations, including claims, chargebacks, reconciliation and more.

A great API can make your payment integration faster, easier and more efficient. But it should also be user-friendly, helping you save time and IT resources in developing and maintaining your payment integration. It can also help you improve your scalability and flexibility, as you can add new features and functionalities to your payment system without disrupting your existing systems.

How do you know which payment gateway providers have standout API sets? Many merchants and integrated software providers (ISPs) look to TSG’s recognition in this area, too—specifically their API Best of Breed Awards.

CSG Forte earned TSG’s “Best of Breed API Set Award” for two consecutive years (2023 and 2024). This award recognizes the payment gateway provider that offers the most comprehensive, robust and developer-friendly API set in the industry. According to TSG:

“CSG Forte is receiving this award for its exceptional API Set, which encompasses API specifications, event handling, and guides and guidance specifications. The platform sets itself apart by offering APIs that create a user-friendly experience for developers utilizing their documentation.”

CSG Forte’s API is based on the REST architecture, which is the most popular and flexible on the web today. Our API allows organizations to access all the features and functionalities of our payment platform, such as tokenization, recurring billing, fraud prevention and reporting. Our API also follows the best practices of security, documentation and support, making it easy for organizations to integrate and troubleshoot their payment system.

 

THE BOTTOM LINE: MAKE IT EASY TO DO BUSINESS

Whether you’re assessing the stability of your payment platform or the flexibility of its API set, you’re trying to determine this critical aspect of a payments partner: How easy they make it for you to do business. When they’re easier to work with due to their solution’s reliability and scalability, it’s easier for your organization to grow.

Is the payment platform secure and reliable enough to handle your transactions with minimal interruptions? Does the provider integrate your payment system with your existing systems easily and efficiently? These are key aspects of payment solutions providers that every merchant and ISV should consider in their search for the right one.

Have questions on what other criteria you should consider and how CSG Forte can meet your organization’s needs? Talk to us today.