(3/4) How to Choose & use™ your payment services
This short blog is number three out of a series of four, addressing steps a
merchant organization should take to choose & use their payment service
provider.
Future environment
Now it’s time for your organization to define what your future should look
like without any of the restrictions you might currently have. Look at your short-, mid- and long-term
E-commerce strategy and design it the way you would ideally like to see it
work. Identify the key processes as they
are deeply related to your E-commerce strategy. Evaluate each step in your
process and clarify why it’s important to your organization. Now you have
agreement about how the future payment strategy should look. At this instant
you need to apply any restrictions you might have which cannot be negotiated,
i.e. system-, regulatory- or corporate
requirements as well as back-office or risk management functionalities and so
forth. After these requirements have been applied to your E-commerce strategy,
you are ready for the next step.
Gap Analysis
A critical step in any assessment & improvement initiative is
performing a gap analysis. It identifies the deficiencies between your current
and future requirements and highlights the magnitude and scope of the change
required in order to choose and use the best payment service provider. This
information is critical for creating a first RFP, assess and short-list payment
service providers and bring about the desired result. In addition, it allows
you to 1) determine whether a phased implementation of the new PSP or services
is appropriate, 2) prioritize implementation tasks, and 3) develop a realistic
timeline and budget for the implementation.
After completing your gap analysis, you may determine that your e-commerce
strategy is a little too optimistic or expensive, necessitating changes to the picture
of the future environment. Go ahead and modify your vision based on your
learning introducing must haves and nice to have. Modify any RFI/RFP documentation and don’t
forget to communicate the changes and the expectations to the involved parties. Continue...
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