February edition: Modern payment trends

Understanding the benefits of an acquirer-agnostic gateway

In the complex landscape of payments, businesses often find themselves dealing with the headache of monitoring and managing failed payments. Recent studies show that 41% of companies struggle to keep tabs on these occurrences, posing a common and persistent issue within the industry.

Addressing this concern is no easy feat! However, there’s one stand-out solution – the adoption of an acquirer-agnostic gateway. This approach means you're not tied to just one bank, offering flexibility that's often missing in traditional setups.

With this type of gateway, you get access to major financial players, giving you the freedom to choose the one that aligns best with your business. Here at Total Processing, we've got a global network of more than 300 acquirers, providing businesses with a range of options.

Curious to learn more about the benefits of going acquirer-agnostic? Check out the details in our blog:

https://www.totalprocessing.com/reduce-declines-with-acquirer-agnostic-gateway/?

Is crypto here to stay?

Even with its recent fluctuations in value and ever-changing regulations, there continues to be a steady increase in the adoption of cryptocurrencies, with global ownership rising from 432 million to 580 million in 2023. It’s crucial for businesses to stay well-informed about these trends, allowing you to consider the value of introducing cryptocurrency as a payment method for your customers.

But why is crypto so appealing for businesses and customers alike? Let’s take a look:

Benefits for businesses

• Access to a new, tech-savvy customer base.
• Lower transaction fees.
• Capabilities for faster, less expensive and more accessible cross-border payments.
• Simple, real-time and secure money transfers.
• Prepared for potential shifts in the money landscape.

Benefits for consumers

• Potential for high return on investment.
• Protected from inflation.
• A safe and secure payment method.
• Effortless currency exchange.
• A very accessible method of making transactions in today’s digital age.

If you’re interested in accepting crypto payments, find out how to get started here: https://www.totalprocessing.com/how-do-crypto-payments-work/

Open banking vs. A2A payments: What’s the difference?

We’re going to finish off with a little knowledge tester! With its rising popularity, it’s unlikely you’ve not come across the term open banking by now. You may also have noticed open banking is often used interchangeably with account-to-account (A2A) payments. However, while all open banking payments are A2A payments, not all A2A payments are open banking payments. So, what’s the difference?

Open Banking

• Open banking is a broader concept that involves sharing financial information and services through secure, standardised application programming interfaces (APIs). It aims to enhance competition and innovation in the payments space by enabling the secure exchange of financial data between banks and third-party providers. Open banking goes beyond payment transactions and includes accessing account information, initiating payments and other financial services.

A2A Payments

• A2A payments specifically refer to transactions where money is transferred directly from one account to another. It's basically a subset of open banking, focusing on the transfer of funds between accounts. A2A payments may involve traditional banking systems and often require manual steps for initiation. While they facilitate direct transfers, their functionality is primarily centered around moving funds from one account to another.

And that’s a wrap! We’ll be back next month for more insights ??