What separates a payment orchestrator from a super PSP?

2022 has been a big year for payment orchestration, with the profile and relevance of the technology growing month-on-month, yet many organisations are still exploring the role of orchestration and how it fits into the existing payments ecosystem. Interacting with merchants across all verticals and sizes a reoccurring question we are asked is ‘are you a super PSP?’, or in other words, a payment service provider aggregator?

With more digital payment solutions available than ever before, merchants are navigating a complex landscape. Understanding what solution is right for you and what each player in the market can offer, can be difficult with extremely high stakes.

So, what separates a payment orchestrator from a super PSP?

Independence

Super PSP’s are appealing as they offer a large choice of options, giving you greater flexibility in payment strategy. However, with many white label solutions the ability to configure the software can be very limited, especially compared to a payment orchestrator. This issue is enhanced when a super PSP or other white label solution share hardware with other products, making these services’ servers more prone to downtime as well as security issues. Furthermore, as you are not in control of your hardware, technical support is external and can result in a lack of transparency and even conflict when issues occur. In some circumstances, this greater flexibility results in less control over your end-to-end payments.

The main challenge, therefore, with super PSP’s and other white label solutions is a lack of independence. In a fast-moving ecommerce environment, innovation across all areas is key with payments being one of the most challenging. Working with an independent provider, such as a payment orchestrator, you have greater control over the speed of innovation and your options, ensuring you can adapt and evolve alongside customer demand, at pace.

At BR-DGE we pride ourselves on our independence, providing a wealth of connections and technical capability to ensure you can make the right payment choices for your business needs.

Tokenisation

Having control over your payment data is an essential, ensuring you can manage the security and safety of your customers’ information, whilst also providing a frictionless experience every time.

Traditionally tokenised customer data is held in a vault by your payment service provider, but often this means you are tied into individual PSP agreements or have to request reporting information, preventing you from reacting quickly and adapting to customer demand.

With payment orchestration, your orchestrator captures and stores all your tokens from all your providers in one secure vault. With orchestration you can mitigate supplier lock-in and re-gain control of your vaulting strategy, empowering you to innovate and change suppliers as you see fit, all whilst maintaining a great customer experience at the checkout.

At BR-DGE we provide a secure, PCI-compliant payment vault that enables you to capture, store and transact via centralised tokenisation.

Data analysis

With a wealth of data captured through every transaction and interaction, you can adapt and evolve your payment experience to cater to the needs of your audience. However, some super PSP’s or white label gateways do not give you the full scope of your payment data, which makes innovation and insight difficult.

This makes accurate reporting and payment optimisation challenging as the breadth of data is not accessible and the problem is multiplied if you have several different financial channels, as aggregating and reporting data from multiple sources is costly and inefficient.

With a payment orchestration layer, all data from across your payment infrastructure can be pulled instantly into a centralised location, enabling you to review trends and make data-drive, real-time decisions based on accurate information.

At BR-DGE we have a comprehensive data reporting suite, ensuring you can collate, analyse and proactively act on data and reports in real-time.

Demanding more from your payments

The ecommerce world has evolved, and merchants are now demanding more from their payments. However, a super PSP only covers payment service providers. You need solutions that cover a broader mix of the payments ecosystem, to keep up with the latest alternative payment method and integrate the newest in anti-fraud or review tools.

Payments are no longer transactional and can be a great source of information and insight to the merchant, showcasing how and where to innovate and evolve.

Where payment orchestration differs, is the breadth of functionality and integrations. From review platforms designed. To counter the issue of fake reviews, through to the latest Open Banking and BNPL providers, orchestration is all about delivering optionality and greater choice for both the merchant and the end customer.

Although some super PSP’s will give you more options in the types of payment methods you can offer customers, as time goes on and the very nature and functionality of payments changes super PSP’s may struggle to offer the dynamic innovation you need. An orchestrator gives you the foundations to futureproof your payments for whatever comes next.

Conclusion

With payment innovation on the rise, it is important to understand the differences in the platforms and solutions available in the market. Super PSP’s can provide merchants with greater choice for their consumers, however the service does not allow for fluid innovation in your payments. Areas such as payment innovation, data analysis, and longer term future proofing require a different set of tools with more flexibility.

Payment orchestration gives you access to the entire payments ecosystem through a single API integration, giving you the building blocks to create your own payment strategy.

Want to find out more? Get in touch and learn what we can provide to your individual business needs.