Payments and the sharing economy: Turning challenges into value-added services

Software platforms and marketplaces play a pivotal role in the democratisation of e-commerce and the rise of the sharing economy.  Setting up an e-commerce platform has never been easier, where business can start selling products, services, skills or other assets online, even for sole traders with minimal start-up capital. As for consumers, there is a sea of choices just one swipe away, irrespective of geographic location, or how niche the industry is.

As the sharing economy continues to grow from strength to strength — PwC estimates it’ll be worth $335 billion by 2025 — and so will software platforms and marketplaces.

However, global growth and success also create unique challenges, including payments processing. Paysafe’s recent study shows that payments are a hot area right now for disruption to the marketplace and end-users are becoming increasingly used to expecting a multitude of payments methods handled from just about anywhere in the world.

Payments for software platforms and marketplaces

Handling payments can be challenging, even more so in today’s global context, and the potential that cross-border e-commerce growth holds for any ambitious business model.

Aside from the often disparate cultural and economic realities in different parts of the world, there are also operational challenges to contend with. These include managing risk, splitting money between different accounts, currency conversions and compliance with a growing body of complex rules.

Partnering with the right payment services provider (PSP) allows platform businesses to offer sophisticated payment functionality without getting hamstrung by complex issues they cannot — and don’t want — to take on.

Specialist payment products such as Turnkey are usually white-labelled and work seamlessly, which means users aren’t diverted to a third party website when it’s time for payment. Regardless of your business model, Turnkey makes it easy to onboard your users and enable them to start collecting payments immediately.

Carla Erlick’s, SVP Business Development at Paysafe says: “The merchants that succeed are the ones leveraging a platform with an integrated payment solution. In order to land grab market share, platforms are going to need to make it simple for their sub-merchants to adopt new technology – including payments. Payment processors that have a good understanding of the market are very well positioned to facilitate this process.”

Payments can easily introduce friction, which frustrates customers and can result in lost business opportunities for merchants. By processing payments on-site, software platforms and marketplaces can stay in control of every aspect of the user experience and ensure it isn’t being disrupted.

To find out more about Paysafe’s Turnkey platform, click here.

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