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Retail customers rarely consider the technology that allows them to make purchases anywhere using a wide range of payment methods, when the payment system is efficient and invisible. The new transaction acquiring solution recently launched by DCPayments goes further than that, leveraging the latest technology to take the friction out of the merchant side of the equation, offering seamless integration with existing systems and expanding the universe of available payment rails at a competitive per-transaction rate, with unparalleled reliability, security and uptime.
“Our acquiring solution was born out of a desire to focus technology on a core system for clients that allows for customization to make that system work seamlessly for them,” says Paul Twigg, chief technology officer at the DC Group. “We’re not dictating how they should do business. If even one business needs their payment system to run a particular way, we have the ability to make it work.”
He notes that retail customers are looking for a wider range of mobile and digital payment options, seamless tap-to-pay transactions, e-commerce channels and robust payment security. Responsive merchants are looking to satisfy those needs without establishing multiple vendor contracts.
DCPayments’ acquiring solution aims to be a one-stop shop for those merchants, by offering an all-in-one platform that provides a streamlined checkout experience. That includes e-commerce platform DCShop, payment widgets, payment gateway application program interfaces (APIs), smartphone tap payments through DCGlass and point-of-sale terminals. The feature-set was developed based on DCPayments’ extensive industry knowledge and consultation with clients and merchants and includes an 18-month road map for additional features.
“DCShop was developed because we found that some merchants would rather not partner with a major online shopping site, and wanted to market their products themselves,” Twigg says. “As part of our solution you have access to a full e-commerce platform. List your products, services, pricing, shipping capabilities, the tax piece, and then we’ll accept the payment for you.”
DCShop also offers a product information management system that allows clients to create a database of essential information for each product. DCPayments can then use that information to syndicate sales to sites such as Amazon or Shopify.
Clients can incorporate as many of the features into their payment system as they need. For those who are happy with the current user experience, DCPayments offers a series of APIs that can be incorporated into their system.
“They allow the existing user interface to talk seamlessly with our application,” Twigg says. “If you like your current app, you can keep it and still benefit from our state-of-the-art technology which operates behind the scenes. Our APIs allow us to add functionality such as 3DS (3D Secure) payments, which is used commonly in Europe but for fewer than 10 per cent of transactions in Canada. We know North America is going there, and we’re offering that capability today.”
The Digital Commerce Group (DCGroup), comprised of Digital Commerce Bank, DCPayments and Pateno Payments, was founded more than 25 years ago by Jeffrey Smith, a former retail business executive, and Susan Anderson, a lawyer – both turned financial technology and payments innovators. Since inception, DCGroup has been leading the charge in payments technology innovation in Canada.
DCPayments prides itself on complete ownership of its acquiring solution. The company develops the software from the ground up, owns the source code and employs its own development and security teams. Building, deploying and operating these systems allows the company to offer surprising flexibility to its customers.
“One example is that we include a landlord-tenant payment system, a very specific business case,” Twigg says. “We understand contract renewals and rent increases. If you’re managing payments on 20 to 30 properties, we offer landlords the ability to accept multiple payment options from tenants and to get paid quickly themselves. But it’s more than just payments — we want to help them manage the entire scenario. Do you want to do invoicing within the product? We do that too.” That is just one specific industry example of many for which DCPayments designs unique payments and technology integrations.
The company leverages its own technological efficiency to offer competitive pricing on transactions that can quickly improve the bottom line. With industry fees typically set at 2.9 per cent plus a transaction fee, DCPayments’ offering is very competitive, aiming to be lower than current industry norms.
Each transaction is also secured with end-to-end encryption, from point of sale to data storage.
Hands-on customer support assists clients with onboarding. The ultimate goal is to offer an acquiring solution that works flawlessly on behalf of merchants while alleviating even the slightest moment of delay or anxiety a retail customer might experience as they’re completing the most important step in the business world – making a payment for goods received.
“There are other anxieties in the world that people should be worried about — not this one,” Twigg says. “We’re working to ensure the system performs as quickly and seamlessly as technology allows.”
Learn about DCPayments and its acquiring solutions at dc-payments.ca.
This story was created by Content Works, Postmedia’s commercial content division, on behalf of DCPayments.