What Is Payment Orchestration?
Do you need a payment orchestration platform for your company?
Whether your business is looking to expand into new markets, or you’re looking for a simpler way to process payments from multiple payment service providers (PSPs), a payment orchestration platform may be a suitable solution for you. This guide explains everything you need to know about these software platforms.
Payment Orchestration vs. Payment Gateway—What’s the Difference?
The main difference between payment orchestration and payment gateways lies in payment orchestration 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 payment 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 gateways
- Payment processors
- Payment acquirers
- PSPs
Although payment orchestration architecture is more complex than that of a payment gateway, the system provides a smooth, streamlined experience for both end users and administrators.
How Does Payment Orchestration Work?
Here’s a brief overview of how the payment orchestration process typically works:
1. Transaction Initiation
When the customer initiates a payment, the payment orchestration platform intelligently assesses all available transaction routes to determine the most optimal option for the payment.
The platform considers predefined rules and real-time data to make this decision, such as:
- Transaction fees
- Success rates
- Customer preferences
- Regional payment regulations
Once it has processed this information, the solution will route the transaction to the optimal path.
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 step provides a closer look at:
- 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.
- Operational performance: Tracking performance data can help you understand how well your orchestration platform is working to facilitate fast and easy transactions.
What Are the Benefits of Payment Orchestration Platforms?
Adopting a payment orchestration platform can help your business transform payment processes and gain a competitive advantage through the following benefits.
Simplified Payment Management
Payment orchestration consolidates all the PSPs 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
Payment 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.
Higher Transaction Success Rates
Because payment orchestration platforms can access multiple PSPs and analyze transaction data in real time, they can quickly identify optimal payment routes for reliable, cost-effective transactions. This capability improves transaction success rates and reduces the number of failed payments your customers experience.
Reduced Costs
Your payment orchestration platform intelligently determines the most cost-effective route for each transaction by rapidly analyzing data such as:
- Transaction size
- Currency used
- PSP fees
Enhanced Customer Experience
Payment orchestration platforms offer customers more options for which payment methods they can use, which creates a consistent checkout experience across all markets in which your business operates. This consistency provides faster and more reliable transactions for all customers, increasing their overall satisfaction.
Business Continuity
A payment orchestration platform provides redundancy by utilizing multiple different payment methods and service providers, which enables continuous payment processing even if one PSP experiences an outage or failure. Because you can turn to other gateways and PSPs to process new transactions, 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 payment 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 markets can be challenging when you’re working with multiple payment vendors. A payment orchestration platform can help you adapt to new markets by instantly connecting you to the various regulations and payment methods relevant to your target markets.
Flexibility and Control
Payment orchestration platforms are flexible and configurable, so your business can customize the platform’s workflows and rules to meet your unique requirements. This capability gives you more granular control over all payment processes and enables greater agility when a disruption requires you to pivot.
Reduced Time to Market
Add more payment options for customers in less time with an all-in-one solution that connects to many different PSPs and methods. Once you’ve determined which methods to add, you can make them available to customers in just a few days.
Who Uses Payment Orchestration?
Payment 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 payment orchestration platform.
- Have diverse payment requirements: Large companies or those with high transaction failure rates benefit from a payment orchestration platform’s ability to simplify transactions and consolidate payments from many sources.
- Are expanding: Companies looking to diversify their offerings and break into new markets can benefit from a payment orchestration platform’s cloud connectivity and centralized design. Compliance management becomes simplified and communication with vendors becomes less of a hassle.
Achieve Seamless Payment 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.
