Occasionally for one reason or another, an online merchant may need to change one of their partners. Sometimes it’s the payment service provider. In this post, I will share four points to consider when changing your payment service provider, so that the switch is as smooth as possible.

1. Ensure that the payment service will work in your online store platform 

The payment service is implemented in the online store platform through integration. A payment module is required and may already be available in many platforms. Assistance can generally be obtained from payment service providers in finding the integrations needed for different online store platforms.

It’s wise to check the availability and take the price of the payment module into account in the selection of the payment service. Modules may be a free of charge or they can cost up to hundreds of euros.

Switching to a different payment service may be difficult, expensive or even impossible if a ready-made module is not available. Of course, all payment service providers have instructions and documentation with which the integration can be made, but this requires coding skills and a familiarity with the online store platform.

2. Consider possible change to your online store’s cash flow

The settlement cycle and settlement delay may differ between payment service providers. The cycle can vary from daily settlements to weekly ones. The settlement delay in turn can vary from one day to several banking days. 

When changing payment service providers, be aware that money may reach your bank account at a different rate than previously. If you are used to daily settlements, you may have to adjust your cash flow if the future settlements have a few days or a weekly delay.

And for the sake of clarity, it should be said that a banking day is not the same thing as a weekday. A banking day is for example Monday from 8-16. So any transactions after 16 will be processed on Tuesday. If settlements are made based on banking days and this does not suit your own business operations, ask your payment service provider whether it’s possible to set the settlement interval within a real day (0-24).

3. Inform your accountant about the change

The information provided to the merchant about payments made in the online store may also vary by payment service provider. The accountant may have an effective approach or a system for the reports of a particular payment service provider. Handling a new format may cause additional work for the accountant. 

When changing your payment service provider, ask your accountant whether you’ll incur additional costs due to a different reporting format. Your accountant will also appreciate an advance notice of the upcoming reporting format changes.

4. Select the date carefully

Changing the payment service provider is not a long or difficult process, and for the most part it can be done very smoothly.

Despite this, schedule the change for a quieter time period so that it’s less likely to have an effect on your busiest sales season. Since this is a technical change to the online store, the functionality of the payment service should be carefully tested.

With regard to this, it’s worth reading the post we published earlier on about the busiest sales days and times of the year in Finnish ecommerce.

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