What is a POS system?
POS systems can be combined with other applications, such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, InsurTech, or TeleMedicine software, to create powerful programs that can handle a variety of business needs, as well as payments.
Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) looking to add payments to their product have countless software and hardware options to choose from. Most POS payment solutions use Semi-Integrated payment architecture because it keeps sensitive credit card data out of the ISV's and merchant's systems. This makes it easy for ISVs to add payment processing to their software, since most of the burden of Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance is shifted to the payment service provider. The Semi-Integrated payment solution can simply be added to an ISV’s app without having to rework their existing code to handle raw payment data and comply with PCI standards. Additionally, ISVs that embed payments into their software can monetize those payments to unlock new revenue streams for their business.
How does Semi-Integrated POS payment architecture work?
Semi-Integrated Ecommerce Transactions
Semi-Integrated solutions that perform online sales may also be referred to as hosted payment solutions. With these products, such as EPX Hosted Checkout, a checkout form is added to a business’s website, and the form fields that accept sensitive information are hosted by the payment processor’s servers. As soon as a user starts to enter sensitive payment information in these fields, the data is in the hands of the payment processor, completely bypassing the business’s environment. These Semi-Integrated ecommerce solutions are an easy, low-risk way for ISVs to add payments to existing applications.
Semi-Integrated In-Person Transactions
Making Follow-Up Transaction Requests
Semi-Integrated payment products often return a tokenized version of the transaction data in the response that they forward to the POS system. These tokens offer businesses a way to securely store transaction data and perform subsequent actions on it without having to handle any sensitive information.
For example, ISVs that integrate Kitchen Management Software (KMS) with a full-featured payment API add value for restaurant businesses by enabling them to perform tip adjustments, close batches, and make refunds, voids, and subscription payment updates from a server computer as opposed to the physical device where the initial transaction occurs. This means the functions can run at a time that’s optimal for the business, such as after hours of operation or overnight. When using a solution like North’s Server Post API that accepts secure transaction tokens for these follow-up functions, card data never needs to be collected from the customer a second time.
In order to use tokens to perform additional actions, all aspects of the integration must be designed to work together. For example, each product must be able to access inventory and transaction data from the same source to ensure that they stay in sync and that reporting is accurate.
Optimizing Embedded POS Payments
One of the keys to optimizing embedded payments is collaboration among all groups involved in the payment request process. Some payment providers develop their own hardware integrations to maximize efficiency during the payment process, such as North’s Ingenico SI API. Also, integrating directly with a payment processor means transaction request data is forwarded right to the credit card network and on to the issuing bank, making fewer stops and decreasing potential failure points, as well as the amount of time it takes for customers to checkout.
It’s also important to ensure that the number and location of the machines that will be sending requests to the payment processor are appropriate for the business’s size and demands. Server setups can vary widely, from a few company servers or on-site servers at each business’s location, to many servers that an ISV controls on the cloud. Systems with many clients may benefit from setting up additional localized servers in multiple geographical regions for improved processing speed. As a business’s client base scales up, more redundancy is needed to ensure that all payment systems are as reliable as possible. This can include adding servers, implementing automatic fail-safe procedures, load balancing, and more.
Benefits of Embedding Payments Into a POS
Embedded Point-of-Sale payments give your application direct access to transaction data, making it much easier for ISVs and those in the Business-to-Business (B2B) space to develop value added services, such as reporting dashboards, invoicing systems, online ordering, etc. Many payment products offer access to this raw data so that it can be presented to users in their existing UI. Additionally, connecting payments to other aspects of a POS system, such as loyalty accounts, can allow ISVs to enhance their existing business services. For example, if an ISV’s software product currently stores customers’ names, email addresses, and phone numbers, adding payment data could allow for the development of a loyalty program that offers rewards based on the amount a customer has spent.
Payment service products that include sales analytics can unlock significant advantages for ISVs and businesses that accept credit cards and digital payments. Insights such as transaction volumes over time, sales related to promotions, and more, can help businesses make data-driven decisions and meet goals for growth faster, and ISVs who embed analytics capabilities into their software provide greater value for their merchant clients. ISVs can even monetize their embedded payments, adding another revenue stream to their primary business model.
How To Get Started
North’s Sales Engineering team provides support to developers and business decision-makers to help navigate these factors and select the best possible payment solution. Contact us to learn more about how to connect your system to the North ecosystem.