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Orchestrating the omnichannel

merchant ecosystem

By Martin Herlinghaus
AEVI The digital business model is all about integrations.
Specialized, task-based apps that communicate via APIs are
he world of retail payments at one time was fair- dismantling former legacy information silos that separated
ly well carved up between acquirers and ISOs POS, payments, and back-office systems ranging from
who sold merchant accounts, and value-added accounting systems such as QuickBooks to sophisticated
T resellers (VARs) who sold the technology infra- enterprise resource planning solutions.
structure and connections between POS software and pay-
ment terminals. Each side of the divide was fairly happy These task-specific apps form part of a wider ecosystem
and content to only challenge the other on the margins. by exposing application programming interfaces (APIs)
Then the world went digital, and the race was on to forge to allow for an easy integration with other players. That
alliances aimed at delivering integrated payment solutions. has resulted in the popularity of app marketplaces, which
draw in software partners who are able to integrate with a
The POS forms the heart of the merchant ecosystem larger merchant ecosystem by using relevant APIs.
today, managing the payments and data flow throughout
the system. Different players approach this opportunity The key digital integration layer consists of "cloud-business
from different vantage points. Integrating payments into tools" that merchants use to run their businesses and
merchant-facing business solutions, independent software industry specific "digital industry plugs" that merchants
vendors (ISVs) started signing up merchants for integrated use to address their digital channels. This can range from
payments, relegating the acquirer to the role of back-office digital appointment scheduling for salons, to integrating
provider. into ecommerce providers such as Amazon and eBay, or
food delivery services for restaurants.
The market for payment solutions is evolving quickly, and Orchestrating the ecosystem
traditional providers must choose how to evolve their own
businesses to take advantage of opportunities and respond Businesses have a wealth of cloud-based software-as-a-
to new competitors. Some have already taken strides to service (SaaS) offerings to choose from to meet their key
refashion their business models. Some acquirers bought business needs. Even smaller merchants utilize a multitude
their own ISV channels (TYSY buying Cayan and Vantiv of SaaS offerings to connect with customers, staff and other
absorbing Mercury). Other acquirers sought to get closer stakeholders across all channels. The challenge lies in how
to merchants again, making strategic purchases of POS those apps communicate with each other and exchange
system propositions (First Data buying Clover, U.S. Bank relevant data.
buying Talech).
Easy cross-app data sharing is extremely valuable in
Some of the more assertive and especially bigger ISVs orchestrating a company's various endeavors and to
ventured into payment processing as payment facilitators allow for cross-channel, cross-functional efficiency. An
(payfacs), taking on the merchant risk themselves in integration platform-as-a-service (iPaaS) solution can
exchange for speeding up merchant onboarding, better equip solution providers with the ability to implement YOUR BUSINESS IS UNIQUE
control of the merchant experience and a much higher integration projects involving any combination of cloud-
share of the payment economics based and on-premises endpoints, including APIs, mobile
devices and even Internet of Things objects. YOUR LOAN SHOULD BE TOO
All ISOs and acquirers have options. One alternative is
to reposition as technical enablers to emerging ISVs and An iPaaS provider harmonizes access to applications and
payfacs, as well as merchants. Some ISOs may opt to reinvent data sources by offering smart connectors that surface
themselves as wholesale ISOs or payfac enablers, while normalized APIs and business objects (virtual data Unlike other financial institutions, we understand that every business is different.
more traditional retail ISOs might focus on becoming great resources). While all iPaaS providers offer workflows,
integration consultants, creating new business solutions by the consumer/SMB-focused providers concentrate on At Boca Capital Partners, we ensure that all residual loans are designed to fit your
mixing and matching relevant industry players. integrations among cloud-based business apps using business needs. Get a loan from $50,000 to $2,500,000 that best fits your business today!
Integration is essential simple point-to-point workflows (for example, sending an
automated welcome email when a customer signs up to a Call Now: 844-531-4957
As the heart of the digital merchant ecosystem, the POS not newsletter) that can be executed by even a non-tech person.
only manages most of all store-based integrations, but also
acts as the main integrator towards the digital plugs, such Some ISVs offer integrations to iPaaS providers to allow BOCA
as syncing inventory across all channels. merchants additional integration access points to other CAPITAL
PARTNERS bocacapitalpartners.com info@bocacapitalpartners.com
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