The Greatest Challenges Facing the Payments Industry

As a thought leader in payment processing, it’s up to my team at Talus Pay to get ahead of the challenges that our small business clients are facing and make sure we provide services that will prepare them for the next 12-24 months ahead.

When it comes to the future of payment processing and point-of-sale (POS) systems, three ideas come to mind:

• Sophistication
• Future-proofing
• True partnership

These are the three areas Talus Pay is focusing on in 2019 and beyond. Now, I’ll share some insight into how we’ll tackle these challenges to make payment processing easier for our clients as they open new businesses and expand current ones.

 

1. Sophistication

Over the last few years, technology and security has pushed major changes in software and hardware with the introduction of the EMV chip card. Those big shifts are finally simmering down and now it’s time to focus on the details — sophisticated upgrades to software systems and functionality that will continue to make the payment experience easier for retailers and, more importantly, their customers.

A recent study by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Forrester reports the following:  “The top initiative for payment leaders over the next 18 months is to better support omnichannel retailing scenarios.”

Small businesses will need to make savvy decisions about the improvements required to make sure their customers can pay any way they want — from cash to card to mobile contactless payments. That means my team needs to be prepared to help small businesses understand their processing options and advise them on the most cost-effective and high-impact choices available.

 

2. Future-Proofing

What other future challenges do small businesses need to be prepared for? The biggest hurdle that small businesses will continue to experience is selecting the right payment processing partner.

Deloitte’s 2019 payment trends report explains that “The greater prevalence of exponential technologies — distributed ledger technology (DLT) and cryptocurrencies, Internet of Things (IoT) as point of sale (POS), wallets, tokenization, and more—will expand consumers’ and merchants’ options for how to pay and receive payment.”

What that boils down to for our clients is fear about not having an adequate processing system that will future-proof their business, so they’re able to accept any type of payment a customer wants to present to them.

Talus Pay is committed to digging deep and understanding exactly what their business needs to manage payments right now and two years from now. With the speed that our world and technology is changing, it’s hard to predict beyond two years. But we’re working hard to put processes in place to make sure that Talus Pay and our clients are ready for whatever comes at us.

For example, while we definitely support mobile payments like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and other digital wallets, we can also help our clients put the right hardware and software in place, so they can approach new mobile payment processors to discuss adding their services in the future.

 

3. True Partnership

The essential driver behind all of these future improvements is the genuine partnership Talus Pay has with our clients. Why? Because there are more POS players in the market than ever and the options can be overwhelming, especially for a new small business. At Talus, we try to simplify the process and reduce confusion.

Service is truly our No. 1 product, and our customer care team has the right investigative skills to determine what payment processing hardware and software our partners need to run their businesses efficiently at the lowest cost.

We think it’s important to understand our clients’ businesses in and out, to know what types of payments they want to accept. We also need to understand whether they need loyalty programs, inventory tracking and other details that make their POS experience the right fit. Then, we deliver a custom solution that’s cost-effective and reliable. That’s exactly how we’re going to provide the sophisticated systems and future-proofing they need.

So there you have it — the three things we’re looking forward to over the next 12 to 24 months. We also look forward to thoughtful partnerships with forward-thinking small businesses that want to provide the best experience for their customers today and every day ahead.

 

Written by Scott Cruikshank, Talus Pay CEO