Payment Processing Basics

The evolution of payment methods is reshaping the way we pay, but how do merchants handle this constant change on a global scale? The past few years have seen an explosion in alternative payment methods (APMs) available to consumers, driven by rapid advancements in technology, growing consumer expectations for seamless experiences, and increased awareness of data privacy. With a myriad of options like digital wallets, cryptocurrencies, and mobile payment apps, consumers now expect the flexibility to choose how they pay. For large merchants, managing such a diverse ecosystem of payment methods can seem overwhelming. However, there are strategies to ensure a smooth integration and management of these options, ultimately providing the best customer experience: Partner with a reliable payment orchestration provider: A well-established payment orchestration platform can handle hundreds of APMs on a global scale, providing merchants with a unified platform for easy management, reduced operational complexity, and region-specific security features. Prioritize popular APMs: Focus on integrating the most widely-used APMs in your target market, while also keeping an eye on emerging trends to stay ahead of the competition. Optimize user experience: Seamless integration of APMs into your existing checkout process is crucial. Design user interfaces that cater to various preferences and devices, ensuring a frictionless payment experience for all customers. Prioritize security and compliance: As you adopt new payment methods, be vigilant about maintaining strict security standards and staying compliant with relevant regulations to protect your business and customers. Stay agile and adaptable: The payments landscape will continue to evolve. Be prepared to iterate on your payment processes and adopt new technologies as they emerge to stay relevant and competitive. By proactively managing the integration of alternative payment methods, large merchants can unlock new opportunities, provide better customer experiences, and stay ahead in the rapidly changing world of commerce. Source Ali Ahmed #payments #fintech #digitalwallets

I've processed hundreds of AP bills in my career. And I can tell you, most teams are doing it the hard way. So I put together a complete AP cheat sheet that covers everything you need to know about managing accounts payable efficiently. (Check the first link in the comments for the tool I use to automate this) → What is Accounts Payable? AP represents the money your company owes to vendors and suppliers for goods and services purchased on credit. It's one of those critical functions that can either run smoothly or become a complete nightmare → How to Calculate Accounts Payable The formula is pretty straightforward. Beginning Balance + New Bills minus Payments equals your Ending AP Balance. This calculation helps you track what you owe at any point in time → How to Forecast Accounts Payable You need to follow the BASE formula to create accurate AP forecasts. There are two methods I use with my clients. Method 1 is calculating Days Payable Outstanding. Method 2 is tagging each GL account to a payment cadence like Immediate, Net 30, Net 45, or Net 60. Both work well, it just depends on how detailed you want to get → Optimizing Your AP Function There are some clear dos and don'ts here. Set up group email addresses for AP communications instead of siloing everything to one person. Collect vendor agreements and W9 forms upfront, not when you're scrambling to make a payment. Invite vendors to their own portal for banking details rather than chasing them down via email. And please, don't blindly trust unverified vendors or process payments manually without proper approvals. → Common AP Roles The AP Clerk handles day to day bill processing and payment execution. The Controller oversees financial operations and AP strategy. The Procurement Specialist manages vendor relationships and purchase orders. → So How Do You Actually Automate All of This? Manual AP processing is slow, error prone, and really hard to scale. BILL handles the entire workflow in four steps: capture bills with minimal manual entry, route approvals based on your business rules, pay through multiple methods including ACH and credit card, and sync automatically with accounting systems like QuickBooks and Xero. For businesses managing multiple entities, BILL consolidates everything so you can approve and pay bills across locations in one place. Businesses save an average of 12 hours monthly and reduce their AP processing time by up to 80%. 98% of customers feel more secure with BILL, and most see benefits within two weeks. If you're still processing AP manually, you're losing time and money every month. BILL is offering a live demo plus a $100 Amazon gift card to see how their platform works. Check it out at: https://lnkd.in/eEwvHTX2 === How much time does your team spend on AP each month?

In the first half of 2024, £571 million was lost to card payment fraud in the UK alone, much of it driven by scams on social media. Fraud has clearly evolved, adopting more modern and sophisticated tactics. In payment, one standard governing how card data is protected, namely how it is stored, processed, and transmitted, is the PCI DSS directives. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard was created in 2004 and has been the backbone of payment security for nearly 20 years. This year marks a big shift. Its latest version, PCI DSS v4.0, will become mandatory in March 2025. This is the first major update in over a decade, so worth taking a closer look at the key changes. Overall, PCI DSS v4.0 focuses on critical aspects such as encryption, authentication, network segmentation, and vulnerability testing, ensuring businesses are better equipped to handle the 'modern' security threats that are increasingly sophisticated too. ◾As such one of the key changes is the introduction of a flexible compliance approach. This means merchants can choose security measures that best fit their specific needs and risks. This approach is well-aligned with how businesses today manage their security challenges. In the same way that authentication frameworks are becoming more adaptive to varying levels of risk, other security measures are also evolving to be more context-specific and scalable. ◾Another key update focuses on the Stronger Authentication framework. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is now mandatory for all accounts accessing sensitive payment systems, including remote administrative access. Specifically, MFA is required for all accounts that interact with the Cardholder Data Environment (CDE). ◾Stronger encryption and better key management are now essential. Businesses must use modern encryption methods instead of outdated ones. They also need to improve how encryption keys are created, shared, and stored to reduce the risk of data breaches and unauthorised access. ◾Given the industry’s shift towards real-time data processing, the latest guidelines also encourage automated monitoring and the use of tools that enable businesses to detect and flag non-compliance in real time. 👉🏽#Paymentexperts any perspectives to share on #pcidss🎙️? --- 𝑾𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆? 𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑃𝑎𝑦𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠, 𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙, 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ. 𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑦, 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝐿𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑠. 𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒚𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒆? ◼️ Sign up to our unique Payment Assets Library here: https://lnkd.in/dVXjGkzB ◼️Follow Paypr.work [ˈpeɪpəwəːk] for more #paymentinfographics #paymentstrategy #payprwork #paymentinsights

How SEPA Request to Pay Works 💡 SEPA is an EU initiative that has set a framework of rules and standards to simplify and harmonise euro-denominated bank transfers across Europe. It’s a framework that allows individuals, businesses, and governments to send and receive euro payments across Europe as easily and cheaply as within their own country, standardising how bank transfers and direct debits work across participating countries. The aim is to achieve speed, low cost, and interoperability ⏱ SEPA Request to Pay is not one of the payment rails, but rather a messaging layer that sits atop SEPA Inst and SCT, adding an extra ‘smarter payments’ capability. It allows a payee to send a structured request for payment to a payer, who can then approve, reject, or defer it. Step 1 - Payer information identified Payee identifies and captures information from the payer such as IBAN through an entry screen/portal or directly from the payer. That can be the Payee presenting a screen, a company sending an email.. And the payer sending identification details in response. Step 2 - Initiation of Request to Pay The Payee initiates the payment request using the Payer information adding this to the standard message format and pushed to the SRTP layer via the Payees Payment Service provider. The request includes: 🔹 Amount to be paid 🔹 Purpose/reference 🔹 Payee’s IBAN 🔹 Expiry or due date for the request Step 3 - SRTP forwards the request to the payer's PSP The payer’s bank receives the SRTP request and notifies the payer. This could be via: 🔹 Banking app push notification 🔹 Embedded API in third-party wallet/app 🔹 Email or SMS 🔹 In-app message The payer sees who’s requesting the money, the amount, a due date, and Accept/Reject/Defer options. Step 4 - The payer responds to the Request Now the payer sees the request in their respective application, they can action the request. The payer can: 🔹 Accept and pay now 🔹 Accept but schedule for later 🔹 Decline the request 🔹 If the payer accepts, their PSP initiates a payment via SEPA, usually via SCT if supported by both PSPs, using: Payer’s IBAN, Payee’s IBAN, Amount and Reference from original request Step 5 - Payment is submitted and routed via SEPA Inst The PSP validates the request and submits the payment to the SEPA Inst network, where it is: 🔹 Cleared and settled in real-time 🔹 Funds are moved within seconds SEPA Inst ensures: 🔹 Irrevocable settlement 🔹 24/7/365 processing 🔹 Instant credit to the payee Step 6 - Confirmation Sent The payer gets a notification: Payment successful. The payee gets an alert: Funds received, and the SRTP request is marked complete or closed. If the payer had chosen to defer, the message would remain pending, and the request might be re-notified later until it expires. The request and payment is now complete. Source: Jas Shah - https://shorturl.at/vNG2T #Innovation #Fintech #Banking #Payments #SEPA #SRTP #RequestToPay #Processing #PSP #ISO20022

CFOs and finance teams are constantly bogged down by slow, manual expense approvals. Employees submit claims, managers delay responses, and finance teams waste hours chasing approvals. This bottleneck disrupts cash flow visibility, delays financial reporting, and creates compliance risks. Robotic Process Automation (RPA), using tools like UI Path, transforms this outdated process by automating policy checks, approvals, and escalations. Here’s how: ✅ Expense claims are auto-checked against policy compliance. ✅ Approved expenses move instantly to reimbursement—no manual processing. ✅ Flagged expenses are escalated automatically to the right person, reducing back-and-forth. Without automation, finance teams are stuck spending hours every week on unnecessary admin work instead of focusing on forecasting, cost optimization, and strategic growth. A CFO who adopted RPA saved 8 hours per week—freeing up valuable time for high-impact financial planning. If expense approvals are still a bottleneck in your company, it’s time to automate. RPA eliminates inefficiencies, ensures compliance, and lets finance teams focus on what really matters. Are you ready to transform your finance operations? Let’s connect and explore how automation can make it happen. #Automation #RPA #CFO #FinanceLeadership

Blockchain & Multi-Tier Supply Chain Finance: A Game-Changer for FMCG & Logistics Imagine a world where every supplier in a supply chain, from the mighty manufacturers to the often-forgotten sub-suppliers, gets paid on time, no questions asked. Sounds utopian? Enter blockchain, the superhero of transparency & trust, swooping in to rescue the underdogs of supply chain with multi-tier supply chain finance (MTSCF). MTSCF is like a relay race where each participant gets their medal right after handing off the baton, without waiting for the finish line. Blockchain acts as the referee, stopwatch, and medal distributor, ensuring no one cheats, no invoices are duplicated & payments arrive on time. FMCG: From Farm to Fork with fewer headaches Take Unilever, for example. Their tea supply chain includes smallholder farmers, who usually end up sipping bitter brews of delayed payments. By introducing blockchain, Unilever turned the process into a seamless tea party. Every tea leaf’s journey from farm to factory is tracked on an immutable ledger. Banks, seeing verified data, financed farmers, ensuring they weren’t stuck waiting for their money like forgotten leftovers at a buffet. Nestle’s partnership with Carrefour to track baby food & milk using blockchain. Imagine scanning a QR code on a box of milk & finding out not just its origin but even the cow’s daily schedule. This transparency reassured financiers, leading to faster payments across the supply chain. Everyone is happy - from farmers to supermarket shelves. Logistics: Tracking Containers & Payments with Style - Now, let’s move to logistics, where chaos often reigns supreme. Remember the meme worthy image of the Ever Given stuck in the Suez Canal? While blockchain cannot physically move ships, it ensures smoother financial flows even when ships are delayed. Meanwhile, DHL & Accenture used blockchain to track pharmaceutical shipments. Picture a vaccine shipment arriving at the destination, blockchain verifying every step of the journey, from temperature control to delivery time. Payments to logistics providers - triggered instantly by smart contracts. No arguments, no delays, no headaches. Why Blockchain? Because it turns a messy, finger-pointing supply chain into a well-oiled machine. Blockchain ensures: * Faster Payments: Smart contracts say, “Delivered? Paid!” Simple. * Trust for All: Even the tiniest supplier gets their due, thanks to verified records. * No Funny Business: Duplicate invoices? Counterfeits? Blockchain laughs in their face. Challenges or the fine print - Of course, blockchain isn’t all sunshine & rainbows. Setting it up can be pricey, and getting everyone in the supply chain to agree is like trying to organize a family road trip - messy but worth it. In conclusion, blockchain makes supply chain finance not just efficient but almost…fun? From Unilever’s tea leaves to Maersk’s container ships, it ensures everyone gets their slice of the pie - without the usual drama.

Do you expand globally? Your checkout strategy can't be one-size-fits-all. Here’s what drives online payments in key markets around the world 👇 🇧🇷 Brazil → Pix (40% of e-commerce, 252M transactions in a single day) 🇨🇦 Canada → Interac + Cards (domestic bank transfers + card-first market) 🇨🇳 China → Alipay + WeChat Pay (84% of online payments) 🇩🇰 Denmark → Cards + MobilePay (52% of transactions) 🇫🇮 Finland → Online Banking (30% of transactions) 🇫🇷 France → Cartes Bancaires + PayPal (dominant domestic card scheme) 🇩🇪 Germany → Klarna + SEPA (BNPL + bank transfer culture) 🇮🇳 India → UPI (57% of all transactions, 13B per month) 🇯🇵 Japan → Credit Cards (55% of online payments) 🇰🇪 Kenya → M-PESA (90% market penetration) 🇲🇽 Mexico → Cards + Mercado Pago (cards still dominate) 🇳🇱 Netherlands → iDEAL (92% of online payments) 🇳🇴 Norway → Vipps (leading mobile payment method) 🇵🇱 Poland → BLIK (420M transactions in 2024) 🇵🇭 Philippines → GCash (dominant digital wallet) 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia → Cards + STC Pay (fast digital adoption) 🇸🇪 Sweden → BNPL + Swish (23% of online transactions) 🇺🇸 USA → Digital Wallets (39%) vs Cards (31%) The bottom line is clear: Customise solutions for different markets. 😉 ----- 👋 Hi! I'm Max Shevlyakov and I talk about the payment industry to strengthen this community on LinkedIn. Feel free to connect with me!

𝗣𝗖𝗜-𝗗𝗦𝗦 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 Every time we tap a card, save a card online, or enter card details on a payment page… there’s a hidden layer silently protecting that transaction. 👉 PCI-DSS. Most people in payments hear the term often. But very few understand: • why it exists • what problem it solves • and how deeply it impacts real payment systems 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗣𝗖𝗜-𝗗𝗦𝗦? PCI-DSS stands for: 👉 Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard It is a global security standard created by major card networks to protect cardholder data. It applies to: • merchants • payment gateways • processors • banks • fintech platforms • anyone storing, processing, or transmitting card data 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗣𝗖𝗜-𝗗𝗦𝗦 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 Imagine if businesses stored: • full card numbers • CVV • track data • PIN information without strong security controls. One data breach could expose millions of payment cards. PCI-DSS exists to reduce that risk. 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 👉 CVV must NEVER be stored after authorization. Even if encrypted. This surprises many people in the industry. 𝗣𝗖𝗜-𝗗𝗦𝗦 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 “𝗛𝗧𝗧𝗣𝗦” It affects: • APIs • backend systems • databases • logs • employee access • network architecture • monitoring & audit trails In real production systems, PCI changes how payment infrastructure is designed. 𝗣𝗖𝗜-𝗗𝗦𝗦 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀) The infographic also covers how PCI-DSS evolved over time: • PCI DSS 1.0 (2004) • PCI DSS 2.0 • PCI DSS 3.x • PCI DSS 4.0 • PCI DSS 4.0.1 (2024) 👉 showing how payment security evolved with modern threats, cloud systems, APIs, tokenization, and digital payments. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗼 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 Because businesses wanted to reduce PCI exposure. Instead of storing real PAN: 👉 systems store tokens. That became one of the biggest shifts in modern payment security. Payments feel simple on the surface. But underneath, security, compliance, encryption, tokenization, monitoring, and risk controls are constantly working together. 📌 Refer to the infographic for the complete breakdown. 👍 Like if this helped 🔁 Reshare to help others learn payments 💬 Share your experience or questions #FinTech #Payments #PCIDSS #PCI #PaymentSecurity #CyberSecurity #PaymentArchitecture #DigitalPayments #CardPayments #Tokenization #Encryption #FraudPrevention #RiskManagement #PaymentGateway #PaymentProcessing #CardData #DataSecurity #PaymentSystems #Visa #Mastercard #RuPay #AmericanExpress #Amex #Discover #JCB #DinersClub #UnionPay #UPI #NPCI #MerchantPayments #BankingTechnology #InformationSecurity #ProductManagement #PaymentsEcosystem #EmbeddedFinance #FintechIndia

🚨 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐈 — by DEUNA👇 Modern payments no longer just process — they reason, adapt, and optimize. This post breaks down the architecture of an AI-native payments ecosystem — and how leading enterprises are using it to reduce friction, improve approval rates, and drive intelligent growth. — 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐈 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 AI connects the dots between data, security, speed, personalization, and behavior — enabling intelligent action in real time. 🔹 Security → Real-time fraud scoring and behavioral anomaly detection. Microsoft leverages AI to detect coordinated fraud attacks across geographies, using real-time IP fingerprinting and dynamic 3DS decisions. 🔹 Speed → Automated decisioning and optimized checkout logic. eBay deploys AI models to streamline its global checkout flow, dynamically adjusting the experience by market, device, and payment method trends. 🔹 Personalization → Adaptive routing and dynamic UX. Checkout.com enables merchants to personalize payment options at checkout based on customer history, issuer behavior, and local preferences. 🔹 Behavioral Data → Continuous learning from patterns in issuer behavior, retries, fraud triggers, and consumer habits. — 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐈 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 (hypothetical examples) 1️⃣ Unified Data → Consolidation of data from PSPs (e.g., Getnet, Stripe, Payplug), fraud tools, CRMs, and internal commerce systems. → eBay standardizes transaction-level data across global PSPs and marketplaces to enable unified performance insights and routing logic. 2️⃣ Agentic Intelligence → A reasoning layer that evaluates and ranks millions of routing paths, retries, and fraud strategies based on expected outcome. → Getnet merchants in LATAM use ATHIA to switch routing strategies in real time during issuer outages. 3️⃣ Machine Learning → ML models tailored to commerce — optimizing for approval rates, fraud risk, customer type, and payment method behavior. → Google uses ATHIA’s ML models to proactively adjust retry windows for license renewals based on historical bank acceptance timing. 4️⃣ Analysis & Visualization → Data is transformed into dynamic visualizations that surface anomalies and opportunities without requiring deep SQL or manual dashboards. → Stripe provides merchants with visual routing breakdowns and simulated outcomes — 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞: 𝐀 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐬 — 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 ✅ Contextual checkout experiences by geography and device ✅ Lower transaction costs via intelligent acquirer routing ✅ Higher approval rates through dynamic retries ✅ Reduced fraud and false declines with adaptive scoring AI in payments is no longer experimental. It’s the backbone of scalable, programmable commerce. Intelligence in motion. — Source: DEUNA ► 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐬: https://lnkd.in/g5cDhnjC ► Connecting the dots in Payments... | Marcel van Oost

Payments Infrastructure: A Hidden Lever for Commercial Growth In the world of high-level commerce, we often treat payment processing as a utility. However, the architecture of your payment stack specifically the choice between 4-Party and 3-Party networks is a strategic decision that impacts both your margins and your customer data ownership. The 4-Party Model (The Open Ecosystem): Visa and Mastercard act as the technological backbone connecting multiple players (Issuers, Acquirers, and Merchants). The Scale: Unmatched global acceptance. If your goal is friction-less volume across 200+ countries, this is your engine. The Bottom Line: This convenience comes with a "complexity tax." With so many hands in the pot, transaction fees reached a staggering $224B last year in the U.S. alone. The 3-Party Model (The Vertical Integration): American Express operates as a closed-loop system. They are the Issuer, the Network, and the Acquirer all in one. The Data Advantage: Because they own the end-to-end journey, their CRM and rewards capabilities are often superior. They don't just process a payment; they own a high-value relationship. Strategic Trade-off: While acceptance reach is slightly narrower (178 countries), the focus is on Quality over Quantity. Amex cardholders typically represent a higher lifetime value (LTV) for premium brands. The Leadership Insight: As we look at the 2023 figures—where merchants could have saved $49B if fees had stayed at 2009 levels—it is clear that payment strategy is now a CFO priority. We must stop viewing payments as a back-office cost and start seeing them as a data and loyalty asset.