A clarinette laying on a sheet of music, representing payment orchestration

What Is Payment Orchestration (And Why Is It a Game Changer)?

Payment Orchestration describes the mechanism of integrating and handling different payment service providers, acquirers and banks on a single, unified software layer. The Payment Orchestration software executes and manages the complete end-to-end payment process. That includes payment authentication, multi-PSP transaction routing, settlement, and much more. Also, Payment Orchestration encompasses processes such as risk management, secure customer data storing, Know-Your-Customer and Anti-Money-Laundering procedures, and the like. 

A Payment Orchestration Platform (POP), or Payment Orchestration Layer (POL) is the technological framework that manages user and merchant accounts, acquirers, payment providers, fraud detection services, etc., initiating, validating, routing and processing transactions involving those parties. In addition, a Payment Orchestration Layer handles payment processes such as reconciliation, billing and settlement, payouts and reporting. 

A Payment Orchestration Layer (POL) is the entry point to and the heart of a payment system, streamlining payment automation. With POL, e-commerce platforms and online service providers don’t need to integrate every PSP and every acquirer separately. Instead, they can consume the unified API of the payment orchestration layer, benefiting from a reduced integration complexity. Moreover, a POL simplifies system maintenance and development for platform owners and merchants and streamlines interaction with third-party service providers.

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Second Hand Clothing representing payment systems in online fashion resale

How to Get Top Payments for Online Fashion Resale 

Selling secondhand fashion online is as old as the web itself. 

We could argue that eBay was the first successful online marketplace to exist. 25 years later, pre-owned clothing is all the rage again with buyers and sellers. With new verve, fashion retailers have pushed into the resale market. A market which is projected to become a very lucrative one.

Brands like Dior, Chanel and Gucci have already adopted the practice of so-called branded resale. Many of their competitors are following suit. Some companies have run their online recommerce programs for a while now. A survey by statista proves them right: When it comes to digital features by luxury brands, customers look forward to resale programs above all else. For regular-income customers, the market is also in full swing. Fashion businesses in the mid-price segment have started resale programs, too. This includes those often labeled fast fashion. H&M, Shein and Zara are well on board. Even sports apparel brands adopt the practice – think Lululemon, Adidas, Nike or Decathlon.

But moving from e-commerce to recommerce comes with challenges for businesses – many of which relate to payment. This article will provide insights into the matter, discussing:

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A bottling jar with money in it, representing customer financing in fashion e-commerce

How to Tailor Consumer Financing in Online Fashion Retail? 

As e-commerce continues to grow, online retailers are constantly looking for ways to increase their customer base and improve customer satisfaction. One way they are achieving this is by offering customer financing options. In this article, we will delve into: 

So, let’s get to it.

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A high-fashion purse and a smart watch, standing for buy now, pay later in the fashion industry

The Pros and Cons of Buy Now, Pay Later in Online Fashion Retail  

Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) allows customers to buy something online, but pay for it after delivery. A BNPL payment can be made in installments over a period of time or as a full payment at a fixed date. Thus, the payment method is a novel variant of purchase on account, for short-term financing of goods. 

No traditional banking institutions have to be involved when paying in BNPL installments. What’s more, some BNPL companies even refrain from charging interest rates – a practice that banks still adhere to.

With the economic downturn threatening the margins of online fashion retailers, Buy Now, Pay Later can be a tool to keep customers happy in spending. 

In this article, we will have a look at the how and why. We will cover… 

  • Why the fashion industry is under pressure and how BNPL can help
  • What the core advantages of Buy Now, Pay Later are
  • What options you have when trying to get a Buy Now, Pay Later solution for your platform
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A street sign with two arrows pointing in opposite directions, symbolizing refund processes in e-commerce.

How to Build Powerful Refund Processing for E-Commerce 

Returns and refunds are a major concern for retailers. One important factor is cost. In 2021 alone, the combined value of all returns in the U.S. was $761 billion. What’s more, The fees that merchants have to pay to payment providers for refunds to the original source of payment add to this amount. Building their own e-wallet-based payment system can reduce these costs while improving the customer experience. But how to build an efficient refund processing for e-commerce platforms – that’s what we want to answer in this article. 

In the following paragraphs, we will take a look at: 

  • The difference between returns and refunds
  • The typical flow of a refund in online retail
  • The challenges of refunding payments
  • The advantages of an e-wallet system for refunding
  • The process of building one yourself

And: action! 

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A picture displaying a clock and money, symbolizing buy now pay later payments

How to Build Your Own BNPL Solution

Buy Now, Pay Later (also: BNPL) is shaking up the payment market. In 2020, it already made up 5% of annual e-commerce transactions, according to Bain & Company. And the trend is upward, as many online retailers plan to introduce BNPL payment options, as well. The key question for those companies is: 

What is the best way to set up a payment system that includes BNPL options? 

This boils down to the simple choice between turnkey payment systems by 3rd parties or a custom system built and run in-house.    

The first option is quicker and doesn’t require as much domain knowledge and development resources as the second one. However, it comes with disadvantages in the long run such as: 

  • Continuous fees that cut into revenue
  • Dependency on a third party regarding updates and features
  • Risk of so-called vendor lock-in, when the BNPL provider cannot deliver the service or changes the price structure, while no alternative provider is available
  • Possibility that the BNPL solution in question no longer fits the retailers’ business strategy as it evolves 

When building a custom payment system with Buy Now, Pay Later options, these problems can be avoided or mitigated. Companies are even better positioned with an e-wallet system, as BNPL processes can also be built on top of it. 

In this article, we provide an overview of how companies can build their own BNPL solution – and why this is even easier with a powerful e-wallet framework.

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A hand drops a coin into a Starbucks paper coffee cup, symbolizing the principle of a Starbucks bank

Is Starbucks Becoming a Bank? And If So, Should You Become One, Too?

Portrait of Camillo Crispino, Head of Marketing at trimplement
Camillo Crispino takes a deep dive into Starbucks’ embedded finance ambitions

Starbucks could be turning into a bank. Not that they talk much about this fact. But for a few years, the coffee giant doesn’t content itself with brewing up your morning cup of coffee only. They’re brewing up their own financial services, too.

At the center of this venture stands the Starbucks App and the in-house loyalty program Starbucks Rewards. Together, those components have formed an unlikely financial services ecosystem enclosed in the Starbucks brand. The Starbucks App allows customers to order and pay contactless in Starbucks branches. And by paying like this, they also gather loyalty points for the Starbucks Rewards program to spend on benefits.

This development has only accelerated over the years. Yet, it also has suffered pushback in the recent past, when Starbucks changed the loyalty points/free drinks ratio – making some items cheaper and others more expensive in terms of loyalty points to spend getting them. Yet, the outrage only proves how popular Starbucks’ Rewards program is.  

And one other popular practice related to the Starbucks App has made headlines over the last years: As user numbers of the Starbucks App rise, so does the amount of money deposited on their prepaid cards. Electronic money laying unused on card accounts… has Starbucks turned into a bank? And is this a business model, other companies might want to adopt? 

Well, don’t start depositing your spare change into a latte cup, just yet. Let’s take a look at what’s really going on behind the scenes first. In the following paragraphs, we will explore:

  • How Starbucks turned from a coffeehouse to a fintech player
  • Which benefits the company reaps from its financial services
  • If Starbucks is actually a bank now
  • How other companies can embark on the same route as Starbucks – and profit from it
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A gameboy showing the symbol of the super app WeChat.

How E-Commerce Companies Can Score High in the Super App World

Mobile shopping and service platforms make up a huge chunk of online commerce already – 43% of retail is expected to happen via mobile phone in 2023. Now, we see a next-level trend swap over from Asia, which might completely change the game: Super apps. Super apps (also: SuperApps, superapps and super-apps) bundle various digital services into a single consolidated, mobile experience. The term was first used by Mike Lazaridis, founder of BIackBerry, at the Mobile World Congress in 2010, picturing everyday apps that are “seamless, integrated, contextualized, and efficient” and form a closed ecosystem. 

Contemporary super apps set out to deliver on this promise. A super app is a collection of so-called mini-apps or applets. Thus, it forms a central access point for services of day-to-day life: 

  • Messaging
  • Social networking
  • Shopping
  • Payment
  • Insurance
  • Savings
  • Event and transportation

Customers can access a super apps’ service portfolio via a single sign-on (SSO) instead of multiple accounts. This convenience keeps them returning and increases brand visibility for businesses – which leads to a spread of the app among more users and ultimately higher revenue. 

Also, all mini-apps interact with each other in a context-sensitive way. They access a shared pool of customer data. This data gives businesses insights into customer behavior and is used to recommend user specific actions, goods and services within the super app. 

But can your company press START and enter the super app market? And what are the benefits of doing so even? This article will cast a light on this. We will discuss: 

  • Who are the big players in the super apps market?
  • Why are super apps a trend with customers you should not miss out on?
  • What are your options to power up your e-commerce business with superapps? 
  • How to put an electronic wallet at the heart of your super-app? 
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Banknotes from different nations, symbolizing local / alternative payment methods

Why Shooting For Alternative Payment Methods Is Half the Game

We don’t choose our favorite football club – it chooses us. The same is true for our preferred payment method. Worldwide, around 200 different payment methods exist, cautiously estimated. Every single one has its fans. And that’s not surprising: Our local payment culture influences which payment methods (or payment service providers) we prefer. Factors such as perceived payment trends, word-to-mouth, and genuine economic and regulatory conditions all shape our preference for one payment team or the other.

For every company aiming for a new market, it’s crucial to understand the local payment customs inside out. And that’s just the preliminary: Integrating local payment methods and providers can be complex and costly on the technical side. This article will help companies without a payment software background navigate the playing field. How to set up a custom payment system that simplifies payment method integration?

The article details: 

  • The benefits and challenges of local payment methods 
  • Why a custom payment system makes alternative payment method integration easier
  • How to set up a global payment system with CoreWallet, featuring an orchestration layer for local payment methods 

Let’s begin… 

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Fintech in the Time of Crisis

Tough Times for Fintech

Is fintech in crisis? trimplement co-founder Natallia Martchouk connects the dots.

After 2 years of Covid-19 pandemic, just when we thought that the hard times were nearly over, reality hit us in February 2022 with the war in the heart of Europe. We don’t yet know what the long-term consequences of the global economic situation will look like, but we already see the impact in different areas of our lives and businesses in the EU. Many countries take care of refugees from Ukraine, support the attacked country with weapons and ammunition, impose sanctions against the aggressor and bear the consequences of these sanctions suffering under the high dependency on Russian gas and oil. The population is struck with high inflation and rapidly increasing prices. Many small businesses struggle to keep their heads above water due to growing energy costs. Startups in different areas experience venture capital funding curbs and shrinking valuation. And fintech is affected by these negative developments, too. 

After the record year 2021, in 2022 the investments into fintech worldwide dropped from 226,5 billion USD to 107.8 billion USD. And it’s unlikely that the second half of the year will be as good as the first one. Most likely the deals that were closed in the first half of 2022 were negotiated at the end of 2021 / early beginning of 2022. That means, before the war in Europe and the recession started, under totally different circumstances.

A report by Andreessen Horowitz shows that fintech companies valuations have fallen from 25 times forward revenue in October 2021 to four times forward revenue in May 2022.

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