What Is Gateway Orchestration?

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Do you need a gateway orchestration platform for your company?

Whether your business is looking to add touchpoints or new channels, or you’re looking for a simpler way to process payments from multiple payment service providers (PSPs) and financial institutions (FIs), a gateway orchestration platform may be a suitable solution for you. This guide explains everything you need to know about these software platforms.

 

Gateway Orchestration vs. Payment Gateway—What’s the Difference?

The main difference between gateway orchestration and single-connection payment gateways lies in their architecture. Payment gateways provide a secure connection between the customer’s bank and the merchant’s website or POS system. While orchestration platforms are similar in concept, they offer greater functionality.

A gateway orchestration platform is a much larger application that provides a centralized location for all the payment solutions your business uses, including but not limited to payment processors and FIs. Although gateway orchestration architecture is more complex than that of a single-connection gateway, the system provides a smooth, streamlined experience for both end users and administrators.

 

How Does Gateway Orchestration Work?

Here’s a brief overview of how the gateway orchestration process typically works:

 

1. Transaction Initiation

When the customer initiates a payment, the gateway orchestration platform may offer user interface (UI) solutions to capture the payment. The platform may also point to alternative payment methods, optimizing cost and keeping a practical UI.

 

2. Processing and Reconciliation

Once the payment has been initiated, the platform securely processes it through the selected PSP in compliance with all relevant regulatory requirements and security standards. The platform then automatically reconciles the transaction to ensure your records remain accurate.

 

3. Data Analysis

As part of the payment process, the orchestration platform collects and analyzes transactional data. This centralization is key, providing the company with one source of truth. This step provides an efficient path to gather information about:

  • Payment trends: Stay up to date with evolving trends in payment technology to ensure your customers have the most recent, cutting-edge options available to them.
  • Customer behavior: Understanding when customers choose to pay bills, which payment methods they prefer and what devices they use to make payments can help you determine what options you should provide for an optimal experience.

 

What Are the Benefits of Gateway Orchestration Platforms?

Adopting a gateway orchestration platform can help your business transform payment processes and gain a competitive advantage through the following benefits.

 

Simplified Payment Management

Gateway orchestration consolidates all the PSPs and FIs your business uses into one centralized platform, eliminating the need to coordinate with multiple software vendors. Trimming your vendor list down to one platform that connects to all payment methods your business accepts can save time and frustration.

 

Robust Fraud Prevention and Security

Gateway orchestration platforms often come with advanced security and fraud detection features, such as machine learning algorithms and comprehensive analytics, to help protect your data. These features are also important for adhering to data security regulations like PCI DSS, patient privacy laws and the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) 27001.

 

Better UX

Because gateway orchestration platforms can access multiple PSPs and FIs, they can offer one single UI or application programming interface (API). This capability improves the customer experience by facilitating a coherent experience across platforms.

 

Reduced Costs

Your gateway orchestration platform offers alternative payment methods, such as Automate Clearing House (ACH) payments, which are a cost-efficient alternative to process:

  • Recurring transactions
  • Scheduled and automatic payments
  • Single-payment transactions when paired with account validation and recovery services

 

Business Continuity

A gateway orchestration platform provides redundancy by utilizing multiple different payment methods, which enables continuous payment processing even if one PSP experiences an outage or failure. Because you can keep processing with other payment methods, your solution minimizes your risk of downtime-related revenue loss.

 

Regulatory Compliance

It’s significantly easier to ensure your payment technologies adhere to data security regulations when you’re only working with one vendor and one centralized solution. A gateway orchestration platform simplifies compliance management by reducing the number of parties involved, which can help your company avoid noncompliance penalties and enhance security.

 

Straightforward Scalability

Expanding into new payments channels can be challenging when you’re working with multiple payment vendors. A gateway orchestration platform can help you adapt to new channels or processes by instantly connecting you to the customers’ favorite payment methods.

 

Reduced Time to Market

When you need to develop a new touchpoint, flow or process in your systems and application and that requires new testing and certification with your PSPs, you can add more payment options quickly with an all-in-one solution that connects to many different PSPs and methods.

 

Who Uses Gateway Orchestration?

Gateway orchestration is typically best for businesses that:

  • Experience high transaction volumes: The more transactions your business handles through each payment platform, the higher your costs will be. Businesses that process high volumes of payments each day benefit from the simplicity and convenience of a unified gateway orchestration platform.
  • Have diverse payment requirements: Large companies or those with high transaction failure rates benefit from a gateway orchestration platform’s ability to simplify transactions and consolidate payments from many sources.
  • Are expanding: Companies looking to diversify their offerings and add new channels and sales processes can benefit from a gateway orchestration platform’s cloud connectivity and centralized design. Compliance management becomes simplified and communication with vendors becomes less of a hassle.

 

Achieve Seamless Gateway Orchestration with CSG Forte

Quick, easy payments are a key component of the ideal customer experience, whether they’re paying in person with a digital wallet or online using a credit card. CSG Forte is a complete payment solution that handles every part of the payment process—from transaction initiation to analytics and reporting—so you can gain a competitive edge.

CSG Forte consolidates all your payment processes into one streamlined, integrated platform for easy management and high performance. Our solution offers high gateway availability and minimal downtime, enabling you to maximize revenue and provide your customers with the most convenient payment experience possible.

Learn how our solution can revolutionize your payment operations. Contact us today to schedule a free platform demo.