You’re launching a startup. How can you choose the best mobile payment system? (2024)

Evaluate your startup's transaction volume, target market, and preferred payment methods. Consider fees, integration ease with your existing systems, and customer experience. Security features and compliance with payment regulations are crucial. Choose a system that scales with your growth and offers robust support.

Alright, choosing a mobile payment system should be simple. Here's my take:Cater to your crowd. Apple Pay, PayPal, whatever floats their boat. Don't force something awkward on them.Watch those fees! Nobody wants to bleed money on every transaction.Security matters. Breaches are the quickest way to ruin your rep. Avoid that at all costs.Make it easy. If you can't set it up, neither can your customers. Keep it simple.And remember, there's no perfect system. If someone ends up spamming your office with pizzas because of a glitch, well... at least you'll have lunch? :D

Before swiping right on a mobile payment system, understand your business model! Think channels: physical store, online, or both? Consider needs: on-the-go processing or fixed location? Transaction types: one-time, recurring, or subscriptions? Different systems serve different purposes and budgets. Choose the one that aligns with your unique business model for a smooth and cost-effective payment flow!

Understanding your target market is crucial to the success of your business. By identifying your customers and their preferences and behaviors, you can tailor your marketing and sales strategies to better meet their needs and expectations.Customer behavior refers to how customers shop, including their buying habits and factors that influence their decision to buy something. Three main factors that affect customer behavior are personal, psychological, and social. To understand customer behavior, you can conduct a customer behavior analysis. This involves observing how customers interact with your company at various stages of the customer journey. By segmenting customers into buyer personas based on shared interests.

Your target market should be outlined in your branding through demographics and psychographics. Then you can start to create the user journey. If you negate this part of the process then you won't be able to understand the customer experience that is required.

Integration Capabilities: The system should integrate seamlessly with your existing platforms, like your website, mobile app, CRM, and accounting software. Look for APIs and SDKs that are well-documented and easy to implement.Security Protocols: The payment system must comply with industry security standards, such as PCI DSS, to ensure safe and secure transactions. Also, look for features like SSL encryption, tokenization, and fraud detection mechanisms.Mobile Compatibility: Given the increasing prevalence of mobile commerce, the system must be optimized for mobile devices. This includes mobile-friendly checkout processes, compatibility with various mobile browsers, and perhaps even native mobile app support.

The integration process typically involves the following steps:Create an account: You need to create an account with the payment gateway provider and obtain the necessary credentials to access their API.Integrate the API: You need to integrate the payment gateway’s API with your website, app, or software. This involves writing code to handle payment requests, responses, and errors.Test the integration: You need to test the integration thoroughly to ensure that it works as expected. This involves testing various scenarios such as successful payments, failed payments, and refunds.Go live: Once you have tested the integration and are satisfied with the results, you can go live and start accepting payments.

Probably the most challenging element. But, a pre-requisite. Time and effort and multiple professional opinions should be taken. There needs to be a champion in the business that will 'own' this element. Start with the market leading brands and make contact with their legal department.

A veces es un poco difícil ya que un negocio está en constantes cambios y siempre se tiene que ver las distintas opciones de oferta y demanda en el producto a ofertar

Translated

One first question to answer would be if for your business the best way is to go direct or choose a Merchant of Record, which would liberate you from tax complexities.Physical goo's vs. Digital servicesOne geography or globalI'd recommend simplicity first and optimization at scale later.Also, there might be more margin for you to make via a great UX and Cvr, vs. Getting the best payment fees at the cost of a bad UX.

Time to Market: The quicker, the better. Add analytics so you can take informed decisions about it. - With analytics stats, decide whats the biggest problem to solve. Solve it and release again.- Rinse and repeat.- Once the userbase growth is growing, start to work in a more professional version using native technologies.- Remember, your product might not be as useful as you think, so it is uttterly important to let your users test it. If you are going to fail, fail fast. If you are not failing, then start a new version from scratch with all the proper technologies, bells and whistles.