The merchant services industry is more competitive than ever, driven by the growing variety of payment rails, new providers and evolving customer preferences.

For businesses such as payment services providers (PSPs), keeping up with merchant demands while managing fragmented and often costly payment processing systems has become a critical challenge.

In this environment, differentiation is key. Modulr’s wide range of innovative merchant payment solutions help create a seamless and efficient experience that is both scalable and actively helps its clients scale.

Working together with merchant services businesses, this means better visibility, control and insight across the payment lifecycle, helping merchant service providers become more efficient as they grow.

In this blog post, we will explore:

1. A complete payments ecosystem for merchant services providers

2. Growing competition and merchant expectations

3. Building efficiency into payments

4. Scaling with your business

   
   
   

A complete payments ecosystem for merchant services providers

Whether processing payments for a few clients or handling a massive volume of transactions across Europe, Modulr enables merchant services providers to consolidate various payment options into one ecosystem, accessed via API and supporting multiple payment rails. This simplifies complexity while offering the brand benefits of a complete white-label payments solution.

Modulr’s payment infrastructure goes far beyond faster payments and robust integration. It offers instant access to real-time data and insights, allowing merchant services businesses to work faster, make informed decisions, and respond to evolving market demands more effectively.

With better information at their fingertips, businesses can work smarter to attract and retain merchants by delivering more value, through swift and secure payment methods, enhanced reconciliation capabilities, and automated processes.

Growing competition and merchant expectations

Merchant services has developed deep expertise as a sector when it comes to accepting card payments and ensuring a smooth buyer experience online and in-store. But with the introduction of new players, technology and price pressure, merchant services businesses face stiff competition.

Merchants now have a wide array of PSPs to choose from, making it easier for them to switch providers if they feel they’re not receiving optimal service, but making it harder for merchant services businesses as a whole to simply compete on price.

Modulr's platform provides merchant services with the infrastructure to do more, by giving them access to a broader set of rails and collection models, alongside smoother account-to-account outbound payments.

These tools allow PSPs to differentiate, and offer services that their merchants demand, such as:

• Access to a wide range of ways to pay and get paid, such as VISA, Mastercard, Apple and Google Pay, Bacs, SWIFT, Faster Payments in the UK and SEPA Instant across Europe, as well as support for regulated BNPL providers to accept payments and manage refunds.
  
  
• The ability to issue physical or virtual cards, giving merchants easy access to VISA and Mastercard networks and their payment protections, as well as the ability to create card programmes as loyalty schemes via specific merchants or merchant groups.
  
  
• A seamless checkout experience for merchant’s customers through Modulr's API and using Open Banking Payment Initiation to pull funds from UK accounts. Together with GBP Direct Debit functionality, merchants can efficiently collect recurring payments and can ensure they are always paid on time.
  
  
• Account creation in an increasing range of currencies, including GBP, EUR, USD, CZK, DKK, NOK, PLN, SEK, CHF, HKD, and JPY.
  
  
• Instant settlement at the point of sale, giving merchants faster access to their funds and improving their MS experience by reducing manual reconciliation. Doing so both boosts merchants’ cash flow and their operational efficiency, reducing the risk associated with traditional slow settlement cycles.
  
  
• Real-time notifications of settlement, allowing merchants to plan effectively and act as soon as funds arrive in their account.
  
  
• Reduced risk of fraud through a range of confirmation and authentication automations within the API, including Confirmation of Payee, virtual card solutions and automated transaction notifications.
  
  
  

Building efficiency into payments

Traditional payment processing through high-friction legacy banking infrastructure can be slow and costly. Settlement cycles can drag out, causing delays in merchant payouts that slow down merchants and their suppliers. 
Many merchant services providers also struggle with a lack of payment flow visibility due to reliance on third-party providers. This makes it difficult to monitor payment status, resolve issues, and predict cash flow. 

Modulr addresses these challenges by helping merchant services providers offer:

• Instant fund settlement in merchants' accounts 24/7, via Faster Payments in the UK and SEPA Instant in Europe.
  
  
• Confirmation of Payee checks to reduce the risk of misdirected payments and boost trust and security within the payment flow.
  
  
• A consolidated payments ecosystem through Modulr’s API, with automated rules to split, sweep or supplement funds in specific accounts. This is backed up by real-time webhook notifications, providing instant and transparent data for merchant services providers seeking to streamline payment processes and reduce costs.
  
  
• Automation of repetitive tasks such as settlement confirmation, allowing merchants and service providers alike to reallocate resources to more strategic areas, driving growth and improving efficiency.
  
  
• Unlimited unique accounts available for each merchant, alongside single-use card generation, enabling efficient buyer-specific reconciliation for merchant services businesses managing a high volume of payments with higher accuracy and lower risk.

Scaling with your business

Whether you’re expanding into new markets, handling larger volumes of transactions, or introducing new products, Modulr provides the flexibility and support you need to succeed.

Our platform is designed to adapt to changing business needs, offering both scalable infrastructure and the assurance of a solution addressing today’s most critical payment methods, currencies, and regulations.

In a world where merchant payments services are under constant pressure to innovate, the infrastructure and tools to thrive will need to remain one step ahead.

If you want to understand how Modulr could help improve growth and efficiency across your payment service, learn more about our range of solutions.