What is a Payment Aggregator?

 

What is a Payment Aggregator and Why do you need one for your Business?

One of the most pivotal parts of business operation is smoothening over finance. It comes with a lot of paperwork and in the absence of integrated payment systems, it can mean loss of customers. Accepting payments is critical to keeping a business operational; if finance is the lifeblood of a business, the ability to take accept payments will have a multiplier effect on the business. 

By the year 2040, it is estimated that 95% of all global purchases will be done through e-commerce. For businesses that have not figured out how to accept payments from customers, it is going to become really difficult, however, there is a way out – via payment aggregators. 

While merchant accounts let your business accept card payments, holding the funds before they’re cleared into your business bank account. What if you could cut out the middleman? A payment aggregator does just that, serving as a go-between for businesses, card companies, and banks. So, what is a payment aggregator, and is it right for your business? Here’s how it works.

A payment aggregator, or a payment service provider is a third-party service that connects businesses to multiple payment gateways, allowing merchants to accept quick payment using a wide range of payment options without the upfront work of integrating their business with the payment processing system.

A payment aggregator is a go-between for your payment, taking away the hard work and giving you the freedom to take payment however you want to.  As long as your business or agency takes payment for goods sold and/or services rendered, a payment aggregator can do a lot in the area of helping to take seamless payment from users, customers and clients who transact business with your business.

 

 

Drawing the parallel – Payment gateways and payment aggregators

As a business, the question will have to be dealt with at some point; should the payment channel of choice be a payment gateway or a payment aggregator? For some, both can sound similar, however, they perform different roles. A payment gateway acts as a merchant service that in most cases helps to process credit card payments. Usually brand-specific, payment gateways take payments in a specific form and cannot allow for payments beyond the specified quota. Hence, there is a limit to the types of transactions any specific payment gateway can take. Payment gateways are usually limited to internet payment means.

This is the difference; payment aggregators can handle multiple transactions and can work for both online and offline touchpoints. Payment aggregators are fully end-to-end integrated payment systems that cater to all forms of payment for businesses.  It enables merchants to accept all payment modes, without having to set up separate accounts with banks or with each payment service provider or card company. Payment aggregators take on the task of integrating with all payment providers in order to provide a single solution for all payment acceptance. By using the services of a payment aggregator, your business can achieve all forms of payment acceptance. 

 

Parameter	Payment Gateway	Payment Aggregator
Role	Intermediary	Interface
Touchpoints Digitized	Online touch points including Website/ App	Online and/ or offline touch-points
Payment Options	Restricted	Multiple
Integrated Solution	Yes	Yes
Payment Success Rate (PSR)	As much as the payment gateway can manage	Significantly higher payment success rate
Ownership	Owned by public and private banks, merchants, vendors, and payment aggregators	Owned by Fintech players

Why do you need a payment aggregator for your business?

Using a payment aggregator can be a gamechanger for your business, here are the reasons why you should use a payment aggregator for your business: 

 

 

Swift Integration

Payment aggregators will help your business avoid the tasking process of connecting your businesses to payment channels; our payment aggregator solution helps businesses quickly plug APIs and get down to the core of doing business and taking payment. Using a payment aggregator like Moneta allows businesses to focus on what matters; transacting business, and taking revenue and the payment aggregator does the rest – taking payment and revenue.  The Moneta API is easy to integrate and you can begin taking payment as soon as you have plugged it in.  

 

Reduced Overhead Costs 

One mandate is clear, whether for business enterprises or government agencies, the cost of operation must be reduced if the business must stay profitable. Payment aggregators do not just help to take payment, with the right choice of an aggregator, you will be saving money that would have been expended on individual payment gateway registration, drawn-out contractual agreement and integration. With Moneta, you get an integrated payment system that helps businesses and agencies take payment and reduce the overhead cost while at it. 

 

Payment Management Ease 

For businesses, enterprises, and government agencies, receiving and tracking payments can be quite stressful. Using Nigeria’s foremost payment channel, Moneta, can help to remedy that situation. Payment aggregators, aside from helping businesses, enterprises and government agencies take payments, can also track and record these transactions. The record of these transactions can serve as a ledger that can be referenced and used as a payment tracking system. Think of a payment aggregator that adds extra functionalities that can be useful in the areas of payment reconciliation and financial dispute resolution, you are thinking about Moneta. 

 

Flexible payment options

As a business owner, you cannot be running the risk of losing customers to the lack of a payment merchant touchpoint that works for them. Rather than integrate with different payment gateways, payment aggregators allow for flexibility. As a business owner, this flexibility could be the difference between paying customers and those who will jump ship and move on to a competitor. For government agencies, onboarding to a payment aggregator will help to improve the experiences of users in the area of payment and revenue collection. If you want to take just cardless payments, payment aggregators like Moneta can help you get that done. Do you want a mixture of payment solutions and gateways? Flexibility is a necessity if you want to run a seamless business enterprise; would you not like your business to take payment using first-rate payment gateways like Flutterwave, Paystack, and the NIBSS. Moneta is up to the task.

 

Compliance with the Law 

The burden of compliance and risk mitigation are costly, you don’t want to be on the wrong end of the blade; taking payment is a risk and you have to be on the side of the law to be protected. Companies spend an estimated $180.9 billion annually on meeting risk and compliance measures, according to a survey of 898 decision-makers by LexisNexis. With payment aggregators, your business can be on the right side of the law.  

 

Works great for small businesses 

A lot of payment systems and gateways are not made with small businesses in mind; while some see it as a con, it is an advantage that payment aggregators can work for small businesses as much as it works for big corporations. With a payment structure that is attainable for all types of businesses, a payment aggregator can change the narrative of how you take payment in your business. Regardless of the size of your business, payment aggregators can help you redefine your payment endpoints and bring a more seamless experience to customers and clients that make use of the product and services that your business offers. 

 

Why Moneta makes all the difference 

With Moneta, you get all of the advantages that a payment aggregator brings to the table and some extras alongside. As Nigeria’s foremost payment channel, Moneta brings together the largest aggregation of payment gateways in the country and allows businesses to take payment however it works for them. 

With Moneta, businesses, enterprises and government agencies do not need to worry about how best to take payment. The best of all worlds is made available via a singular integration with the Moneta API. We understand that business owners and directors of agencies have limited time on their hands, hence, at Moneta, we are willing to walk you through the process of instituting your payment aggregator with our easy-to-use API. 

There is also the speed of approval that Moneta boasts, you will not find a faster payment aggregator built for Nigerian business by a Nigerian fintech. Moneta, coupled with the financial reporting system that it has onboarded can help your business reach new heights as you can keep track of your numbers and understand the metrics behind how your business has been faring all along. 

There is also the advantage of improving customer touchpoints, with Moneta’s integrated system allowing multiple touchpoints, customers can even pay offline with the payment structure of their choice. 

This is why we invite you to take a demonstration of Moneta and see how it changes payment for you and re-energizes your business model and enables you to focus on the things that matter while Moneta takes payment for you, almost automatically. 

Wouldn’t you take up this unique opportunity to get ahead of other businesses? Start a conversation with the team at Moneta now and solve the payment collection problem.