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Payment orchestration involves integrating multiple payment service providers (PSPs) into a single platform. This can help enable smart routing and ultimately cut your cost management for payments.
Payment orchestration has become even more valuable for UK companies since the complexities introduced by Brexit. “Card not present” interchange fees for European transactions, for example, can be lowered, as well as routing through EU banks to overcome SEPA complexities. Compliance, authorisation rates and FX fees can also be improved as a result.
The payment orchestration market was estimated by Industry Research to be around $1.67 billion in 2022 but is expected to grow to $8.6 billion by 2028 – meaning an annual growth rate of just over 31%.
The core functions of payment orchestration are:
The benefits of payment orchestration include:
Understanding the historical development of payment orchestration helps highlight its current value and future trajectory – from the early days of e-commerce payment processing to the changing demands of e-commerce.
Early payment gateways
The first payment gateways were relatively simple systems that facilitated online transactions between merchants and customers. These early solutions laid the groundwork by establishing basic protocols for secure online payments.
Considering remote money transfers date back to 1871, it wasn’t until 1994, over 120 years later, that the first e-commerce transaction occurred – a Sting CD used SSL to facilitate the $12.48 purchase. It was in the same year that First Virtual Holdings created the first-ever online payment system, where customers could now make secure online credit card purchases. Four years later, PayPal was born.
Rise of Multi-Provider Strategies
As e-commerce grew, some businesses recognised the benefits of using multiple payment providers. Early examples come from high-risk industries that would connect to multiple PSPs, switching between them if contracts were terminated. It wasn’t until the proliferation of alternative payment methods (i.e. Skrill, Neteller, etc.) that created enough complexity to warrant payment orchestration.
“Head of Payments” suddenly became an in-demand job role, and software solutions for multi-provider API development rapidly emerged.
Initially, multi-provider strategies required manual management and integration of each payment service. However, managing multiple providers was complex and time-consuming which led to the development of middleware solutions to centralise payment processing. There are echoes in this trend with SaaS and cloud-based solutions which are optimised for minimal maintenance and operations that can scale efficiently.
Driver | How payment orchestration helps |
---|---|
Globalisation of e-commerce | Support for multiple currencies and regional payment methods |
Increasing payment complexity | Allows integration of diverse payment types (credit cards, digital wallets, cryptocurrencies) |
Demand for enhanced user experience | Development of one-click payments and intelligent payment method selection |
Regulatory compliance | Built-in features to ensure adherence to regional and international financial regulations |
Globalisation of E-commerce
The expansion of online retail across borders has increased the demand for more flexible and diverse payment options. It’s increasingly common for even the smallest of online business enterprises to serve customers from different countries. Payment orchestration platforms, which support multiple currencies, payment methods and regional preferences, are there to meet this growing demand.
Increasing Payment Complexity
As alternative payment methods have grown, businesses have required more advanced tools to manage them effectively. Modern orchestration platforms can handle a wide range of payment types, from traditional credit cards to emerging digital wallets.
Payment orchestration is also bridging the gap between legacy systems and modern payment requirements. For example, BR-DGE lets merchants improve their payment processes without ditching their traditional banks.
Demand for Enhanced User Experience
Consumer expectations for seamless, frictionless payments have driven innovation in orchestration technology. Platforms prioritise user experience in order to convert more visitors to buyers by utilising features like one-click payments and intelligent payment method selection.
Merchant Characteristics | Weaker Fit | Stronger Fit |
---|---|---|
Geographic Reach | Transacts in just one market | Transacts in multiple markets |
Payment Methods Supported | Only supports general-purpose cards | Supports many payment methods |
Number of Payments Providers | Uses a single payment provider | Uses multiple payment providers |
Payment Channels | Sells through a single payment channel | Sells through multiple payment channels |
Recurring payments | Bills on a one-off basis to random customers | Bills known customers on a periodic basis |
If you decide your business needs an orchestration solution, then you have a choice to make – build one in-house or use a third party.
Building an in-house orchestration system will enable mare more freedom to customise but this will come at a significant cost. As well as the time and monetary cost of the initial development and maintenance, there will be a significant amount of difficulty in getting the expertise required to develop the software as it is unlikely to be in-house already.
BR-DGE claims businesses can spend up to 5,300 more hours when internally developing, though the company will retain more control over the process.
For most businesses, paying for third-party platforms like Primer, Spreedly or BR-DGE are more viable options as will typically offer quicker implementations and lower upfront costs.
It’s difficult to determine a comparison of long-run costs, because in-house solutions require on-going maintenance and improvements. However, it appears that while in-house development grows ever more complex and demanding of resources, third-party solutions (as seen with the cloud and SaaS revolution) become more efficient.
In short, the size of the business and its pre-existing technical capacity will be a key factor in the decision, as most SMEs simply won’t have the resources or expertise to develop an orchestration platform in-house that gets near the capabilities of third-party solutions.
Below is a list of payment orchestration platforms to consider:
Primer is a UK-based fintech founded in 2020 by former PayPal employees. It provides a low-code infrastructure to unify payment services, allowing businesses to integrate multiple payment methods and services. It claims it’s the “first open infrastructure” to unify payments, and has recently announced 200% YoY growth. Primer is focused on allowing merchants to build sophisticated workflows without the need for additional engineering.
Spreedly, founded in 2008 and based in North Carolina, USA, is one of the oldest payment orchestration companies. They specialise in tokenisation and have an agnostic approach to payments with support for over 120 payment services via a single API. They have a comprehensive set of features, from advanced payment vault capabilities to account updater technologies.
IXOPAY is an Austria-based company that launched in 2016. It provides a modular, scalable payment orchestration platform that claims to reduce PCI scope by up to 90%. They have some other strong claims, such as improving authorisation rates by up to 15% via smart routing, as well as connecting to over 200 payment methods around the world. It offers independent payment routing and risk management to large merchants and white-label clients.
Corefy was established in 2018 and is a Ukraine-based payment orchestration platform. They offer the usual smart routing, analytics and centralised payment management solutions as the others, but stress that they can deliver up to a 40% increase in conversion rates. Instant payouts and direct fund transfers are possible, along with multi-business management through a unified back office.
Fabrick is an Italian fintech founded in 2018. It focuses on enabling open banking and payment services through its orchestration platform. This convergence helps businesses connect to a wide range of financial services, enhancing their ability to innovate and offer embedded financial solutions. They have a strong European presence, along with strategic partnerships with the likes of Shift4 and TerraPay.
BR-DGE, headquartered in the UK and launched in 2018, is a rapidly growing payment orchestration provider. Their success comes from their vast network of over 400 payment methods and solutions, and was the first firm to provide Visa Instalments. It has its own proprietary tokenisation solution and is proud of its strong customer service.
Worldline, founded in 1974 and based in France, is a global leader in payment and transaction services. It processes transactions from over 100 currencies and offers a comprehensive suite of payment orchestration solutions. This includes routing, fraud detection, and risk management aimed at large enterprises and financial institutions. Advanced escrow and mediation handling are also offered.
Hyperswitch is a relatively new player which started in 2022, with its base in India. It offers an open-source payment orchestration solution which was built with Rust in order to minimise latency. The focus is on providing dynamic routing capabilities and a cost-effective way to manage multiple payment methods and providers.
It’s clear that most platforms don’t publish their pricing. Hyperswitch and Corefy, however, are more transparent about their pricing than most.
Hyperswitch (see their pricing here)
Corefy (see their pricing here)
The role of machine learning will continue to grow within the payment orchestration industry. Machine learning has long been used for fraud detection and we will likely see predictive payment routing become a more important tool for orchestrators (i.e. they will be better able to predict which processors are most likely to approve transactions based on various factors, from customer location to the time of day).
Embedded finance, where businesses offer financial services within their own platforms, is also a trend we are likely to see more of. For example, Fabrick helps accept payments from various channels within a single dashboard, and this leads to the simpler implementation of loyalty schemes and automatic commission distribution. Going beyond payment routing and offering an embedded approach is improving customer experience, but also facilitates a more comprehensive ecosystem rich in features.
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