Changing/Adding Payment Providers

If you choose to swap out your current provider for another, there are several factors to consider.

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Replace or Add?

While some processors provide global coverage, other processors specialize in specific geographic regions or market verticals. You may find it advantageous to use different payment processors depending on the region, currency or service offered. Instead of simply replacing your existing processor, consider adding one or more additional providers to more specifically meet your business needs and goals.

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What payment options do you offer?

While almost all processors support basic credit card processing, some support an array of other payment options as well. You want to ensure that your new processor supports not only the payment offers you currently use but also supports any additional payment options you are thinking of adding in the future.

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Gateway vs. Processor

Do you currently use a payment gateway or a payment processor? A payment processor works with the acquiring and issuing banks to process and settle the payment. A payment gateway sits between the payment processor and the merchant to process a payment request. Using a payment gateway provides a level of flexibility to change the underlying payment processor without impacts to your front end systems and can sometimes provide additional payment options not available directly from your payment processor. Depending on your needs and volume, using a payment gateway can be a more expensive option than using a payment processor directly but can also reduce costs associated with future changes while providing additional payment options. When you are making your decision regarding a new processor or gateway, check with your Vindicia representative or send an email to Vindicia support at support@vindicia.com. We can help you with recommendations and connect you with representatives of the processor of your choice.

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Testing

After you have selected your processor (or gateway), you must perform some testing. Depending on the processor or gateway you select, you may need to modify your integration to Vindicia systems as some processors have specific requirements that necessitate changes to how you are using Vindicia APIs. Either way, you want to perform some testing in your test environment first before moving into production. Vindicia recommends you build a full suite of test cases including but not necessarily limited to:

• Stand-alone payment method validation
• Initial subscription purchase with a payment
• Initial subscription purchase with free trial conversion
• Subscription renewal purchase
• Subscription cancelation
• Subscription upgrade/downgrade
• One-time purchase
• Partial refund
• Full refund
• Adding a new card
• Changing cards

You want to test essentially every scenario where the new processor comes into play. If you are adding a new processor and not simply replacing your existing processor then the list of use cases is likely to increase as you want to test to ensure transactions are routed to the correct processor. In this case, add to the list above a test case for each routing criteria. For example, if routing is currency-based, add a test case for each acceptable currency. If routing is card-based, add a test case for each acceptable card brand, and so on. You must direct Vindicia to activate the new processor and routing rules (if any) in your test environment. To do this send an email to support@vindicia.com explaining the change you want to make, for example, change processor from Processor-A to Processor-B, or add Processor-B. Be sure to include the credentials for the new processor as well as the criteria for routing transactions. Vindicia makes the configuration changes for you in your test environment. When your testing is complete you can notify Vindicia again to make the necessary changes to your production environment as well. As an alternative to a DIY effort, Vindicia can work with your technical team to configure and test your processor changes to help ensure timely completion. Contact your Vindicia representative or email Vindicia support at support@vindicia.com for more information about the cost of this service.

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Monitoring

Not all payment providers were created equal. When you change or add a processor, do not expect your payment success rates to stay the same. They will go up or down depending on the processor and their relationship with and response to the information provided by the issuing bank. Payment success rates are also impacted by service type, geographic region and price point. If you are changing or introducing new pricing elements in parallel with changing your processor, that can further impact your payment success rates. You will likely also see a change in your renewal rates and by extension a change in your rate of passive churn. These rates may increase or decrease, again, depending on the processor you have selected. You will want to closely monitor both your conversion rates and your renewal rates for several weeks if not months to ensure the change in payment processor has not adversely impacted either your conversion rate or your renewal rate. If you are unsure how to do this, contact your Vindicia representative or email Vindicia support at support@vindicia.com and we can provide you with strategies in this area.

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Payment Process Considerations

When you select a new processor, the following are a few additional factors you want to consider.

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Account Updater

Account Updater (AU) is a service offered by payment processors that allows Vindicia to receive updated credit card information for your subscribers. For example, if a subscriber’s credit card has reached its expiry date and the subscriber has been issued a new card, Vindicia can be automatically notified of that change. For a more detailed explanation, see Account Updater Explained. The AU service is critical in helping Vindicia fight passive churn on your behalf. If you are using this service with your current processor, check with your new processor to ensure that they also offer this service. Likewise, if your current processor does not offer this service, consider selecting a processor that does when updating your processor. If your new processor does not support AU, Vindicia also offers an AU service. However, Vindicia’s AU may not be as robust as the AU offered by some processors. For more information about Vindicia’s AU service contact your Vindicia representative or email Vindicia support at support@vindicia.com.

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Chargebacks

Vindicia routinely monitors your chargeback rate and, optionally, also fights chargebacks on your behalf. Some processors offer an automated chargeback data feed. This enables Vindicia to more closely monitor your chargeback rate and to more effectively fight chargebacks on your behalf. Depending on your chargeback needs, you want to select a processor that has strong support for chargeback monitoring. If you are interested in learning more about what Vindicia can do to help fight and win your chargebacks, please reach out to your Vindicia representative or email Vindicia support at support@vindicia.com.

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Refunding

The ability to refund subscribers is often a critical step in maintaining customer satisfaction and avoiding unwanted chargebacks. It is unlikely that your new processor can refund transactions captured and settled by your current processor. For this reason, you need to run your current processor and your new processor in parallel for some period of time. How long depends on how far back you are willing to give a subscriber a refund. The good news is that Vindicia always issues the refund against the processor that processed the original transaction so you do not have to figure out which processor to use.

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Vindicia Retain

Vindicia Retain provides a strong tool in the fight against passive churn using advanced techniques gleaned from our years of experience in the payment industry. Not all payment processors can support the techniques used by Vindicia Retain. If you are using Vindicia Retain already, you want to select a payment processor that has the same level of support, if not greater support, as your current processor. If you want to learn more about how Vindicia Retain can help you reduce passive churn please reach out to your Vindicia representative or email Vindicia support at support@vindicia.com.

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Vaulting Credit Cards

Payment processors often support different options for providing the processor with the subscribers’ payment information. You can either have Vindicia vault the subscriber credit card information and pass that to the payment processors or you can have the processor vault the credit card and provide Vindicia with a token. In the latter case, Vindicia then passes the token to the processor for each payment. The difference lies in where the PCI burden rests and which entity is responsible for AU. If Vindicia does not have the full credit card information (Vindicia does not vault the card) then Vindicia cannot perform AU. An inability to perform AU may impact your payment success and renewal rates. If you are moving from a processor where Vindicia is vaulting the credit card to a processor where Vindicia is given a token, or vice versa, you may need to do a migration to upload the credit card data into the Vindicia system or to generate tokens for the existing credit cards. For more information on migration of payment information, contact your Vindicia representative or email Vindicia support at support@vindicia.com. Parent topic:Payment Management