February 16, 2023
5 min
As we explained in our White-label PSP beginner's guide, a white-label PSP is an out-of-the-box solution that allows you to earn money by providing payment services to merchants under your brand. Using such a solution, you have an opportunity to enter the snowballing payment market fast and with minimal investment.
However, sifting through the ungodly amount of available options to find your perfect match may be quite an arduous task. Not only are they named differently (usually, it’s ‘white label’ plus ‘PSP’, ‘gateway’, ‘processing’, ‘platform’, etc.), but they have different features, and their capabilities vary greatly. That’s why we decided to lend a hand and prepared this brief checklist so that you could make a better-informed decision.
Checklist for choosing the right white-label PSP
Nobody knows your business needs better than you, so we’ll assume you know for sure what kind of capabilities your perfect white label should have (payments, payouts, recurring billing, fraud prevention, analytics, etc.). We also won’t be focusing on things like PCI DSS compliance or the myriad of supported payment methods — it’s a no-brainer your payment gateway solution provider should grant you these. Instead, let’s drill down to three main characteristics that are not that obvious but allow us to differentiate a truly great white-label payment gateway solution from an average one: a merchant portal, business tools, and customisation opportunities.
1. Merchant portal
Merchant portal, or merchant app, is a space you, as a payment service provider, give to your merchants. Merchants can use it to access and monitor information about their business activity, customers, settlements, etc.; manage payments and payouts; create accounts; add users; and control their access levels.
When considering a white-label payment gateway offering, scrutinise the merchant portal that comes with it. Your merchants' experience (and thus your success) with your payment gateway services will be built upon this self-service instrument, so it’s better for it to be straightforward and alluring.
As you scope out, pay attention to available account settings, merchant portal features, dashboards, analytics, conversion tools, etc. Also, check to see if all the necessary technical documentation is in place.
It is also important to point out who will host a merchant portal. Most payment processing services providers host it themselves, meaning no need for development efforts, but some allow you to host a merchant portal on your side.
2. Business tools
It may seem vague as you start, but odds are there will be no two merchants having the same needs among your clients. It is your task to cater to those unique needs and aspirations. That’s why flexibility should be one of the foremost criteria when choosing a white-label payment gateway solution.
As a payment provider, you should be able to meet your clients’ requirements and impose agile commercial conditions on each of them individually. Err on the side of the solution that offers flexible business tools for PSP:
- Fee management — you might want to set up different fees for different merchants.
- Accounting — balances and complete transaction records for each merchant and double-entry bookkeeping instruments.
- Technical ability to demand rolling reserve — it will come in handy when working with high-risk businesses.
- Flexible account settings — an opportunity to adjust commercial conditions for each client separately.
As for accounting, find out beforehand if the solution provider suggests doing it manually or automatically. Bear in mind that manual accounting requires lots of time and effort and can be error-prone.
3. Customisation
As an alternative to custom-built PSP software, the white-label solution you’re acquiring has to provide you with sophisticated customisation opportunities. These are the essential customisation options for PSP:
- Domain name — your merchants and their clients should see only your website name everywhere along their journey, not the domain of your solution provider. It creates a seamless experience and allows you to flaunt your brand, increasing trust and awareness.
- Payment page, or checkout — being a customer-facing element of the business, the payment page should be customisable. Typically, providers offer the ability to change the colour scheme, logo, and structural elements of the payment page or checkout (footer, header, etc.). For instance, our customers can make all these changes to their Checkout without bothering their developer, using user-friendly settings on the Dashboard.
- Documentation — white-label solution provider should have all the documentation and API references in place for you. If it is customised, there will be no mentions of the provider, only your company name.
Some white-label PSP providers go far beyond that, establishing more connections upon merchants’ requests or offering the ability to order a tailor-made solution. They can bring your ideas to life and cover the consultancy, design, development, deployment, and quality assurance for you. For example, you can order to develop your own unique merchant app.
Bottom line
Focusing on the three points covered above when choosing a white-label PSP will help you make a well-informed decision. Don’t stick with the first solution you come across. Do your research and book a couple of demos to take a look under the hood.
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