#image_7 Over the past decade, software integration has become a popular way for payments companies to earn a market advantage in vertical industries and user groups. As payment processors began to utilize Application Program Interface (API) code to import customer payment data into proprietary POS and business applications, a new sales dimension emerged in the industry focused on software makers and their end user markets. 

Capturing electronic payment data was once a stand-alone process with most merchants either hand entering the financial information into accounting systems or manually uploading daily batches. When the automated technology was introduced, it didn’t take long for POS, accounting and enterprise resource planning (ERP) providers to understand the value proposition of having day-to-day payment data built into the customer interface. Profitable partnership channels emerged throughout the industry, bringing with them more sustainable and loyal merchant services customers.

Accordingly, payments sales professionals evolved into more diverse business technology experts and the adoption of integrated payments by enterprise software companies became a norm. Merchants, both large and small, now expect applications with fully integrated payment data, as well as enhanced security and compliance features.

#h2 An integration pioneer

Leading the charge, Sage was a payments industry front runner in the API revolution. Already known for its robust business ERP and accounting applications, it made perfect sense for Sage to go another step toward linking data from its payment applications to its proprietary business systems.

“Sage is the grandfather of payment system APIs,â€ said Joseph Smutz, Sage Director, Product Integration. “When Sage released its first integrated applications for merchants, the overall concept of payment data automation and enterprise level integration was barely emerging.â€

Today, the Sage complement of enterprise level payment APIs has evolved into an expanded suite of technologies that will facilitate almost any over-the-counter POS and/or eCommerce business need. The Sage API suite easily accommodates high level security features such as tokenization and encryption, PA-DSS “Hostedâ€ solutions for web and on-premise transactions, mobile SDKs, recurring payments, automated account updating, with more to come soon including EMV (Europay, MasterCard, Visa) compliance.

All of these solutions are powered by the legacy Sage gateway and are fully supported by a dedicated in-house team. Every Sage integration customer receives dedicated integration team assistance, co-marketing options, implementation reviews, and certification. Furthermore, the Sage implementation process occurs through a quick set of standardized steps to ensure customers are up and running smoothly and quickly. The Sage customer support regimen also includes sample documentation, a dedicated set of team members to see each project through and a variety of turnkey options that result in an easy to implement solution configured to each customer’s needs.

If accounts require more advanced integration options, the Sage integration team will work closely with the customer to define a scope and enhance the standard implementation plan with technologies that accommodate the specialized requirements.

“It’s not uncommon for our integration team to meet with enterprise clients to design a custom solution that fits a unique business model or processing environment,â€ Smutz continued. “In these cases, we blend together the best combination of third-party plug-ins and custom technology to satisfy the customer’s integration needs.â€

According to Smutz and his team, these projects sometimes produce a new turnkey technology that can be added to the Sage API library. This library has been steadily building since Sage implemented its integrated solutions and includes a vast array of turnkey API code for popular features such as virtual terminals, recurring payments, “Buy Nowâ€ or ExpressPay buttons, “Donate Nowâ€ prompts, eCommerce, mobile commerce, and small-to-medium business integration with Sage One.

And, as far as partnerships go, Sage is proud to have an A-list of long-standing relationships with top brands including eCommerce providers such as Shopify, Magento, K eCommerce, Prestashop, and WooCommerce, as well as the Wix, WordPress and Yola website platforms. They also support on-premise and cloud-based software partners such as Salesforce.com, Spreedly and CAP Software.

If you have an interest in exploring the integrated payments channel further, click here to learn how to boost your portfolio through the <a href="http://www.SagePayments.com/GoNow">Sage integrated partner program</a>, or call a Sage ISO recruitment representative directly at 888.453.4564.

Click here for more information about <a href="http://www.sage.com/us/partners/payment-solutions/isv">Sage referral and ISV partners</a>.

<a href="https://www.sagepayments.net/developer/Default.aspx?Registration=enroll">Developer information</a> can also be found here.
 

