We’re a revenue generating payments partner that works with customers in the Retail, Hospitality, Food & Beverage, Parking, and Financial Sectors. Our overarching aim is to make it as simple as possible for our customers to process all types of payments from the consumers they serve. Those payments may be made online or in person, at a point of sale in a store or other physical venue – any type of payment, anywhere.
Like other companies operating in the payments space, we've identified a number of trends that have emerged since the start of the pandemic. In my view, the top three are:
The rush from cash towards card-based and digital payments – Clearly this isn't a new trend, but it's one that's accelerated significantly over the past year, as shoppers increasingly opt to pay using safe, digital, and contactless methods.
Growth in new and more challenging use cases for merchants – Although digital payments offer merchants lots of opportunity, they can also bring higher operational costs if supporting lots of new payment methods, thus working with multiple partners. Omnichannel — such as Click and Collect in Retail, digital check-in for Hospitality, or advance ordering in Food & Beverage — is also on the rise, and it is set to create even more complexity.
The importance of being able to identify customers – Once pandemic-related restrictions start to lift, it will be critical for merchants to be able to recognise and attract their known and loyal customers. Merchants will want to be able to offer those customers personalised experiences, so they'll need to be able to connect the payment experience with what they already know about a customer. Having access to the right data — and being able to use it intelligently — will be key to success in this area.
Addressing key payment trends with Cybersource
To help our customers address these key trends, we've partnered with Cybersource. They met our requirement for a global partner that can provide a payment management platform for customers worldwide, and can scale easily in line with our customers' needs.
Like us, Cybersource has a keen focus on the quality of the payment experience. Part of that refers to making things easy, with ready-to-use integrations from the Cybersource platform into the online and ecommerce tools that our customers already use. Those capabilities mean we can quickly get our customers started with online payment experiences.
Finally, we also wanted a partner that's capable of innovation, and Cybersource definitely has this — especially in the digital payment arena, which is evolving so fast. In Cybersource we have a partner that’s also ready to innovate in future omnichannel use cases and simplify complexity — both of which matter a great deal to our customers.
Working with Cybersource, we've launched a new platform that will deliver secure, digital payment solutions to our customers. The platform will provide the flexibility for merchants to integrate their chosen shopping cart software with Planet's payment gateway. With a wide choice of payment options, consumers can pay in their preferred method and currency wherever they are in the world. As part of that integration, merchants will also be able to access Cybersource fraud management tools to monitor transaction risk, help preserve revenue, and give their customers the peace of mind that their payment details are safe and secure.
On top of that, we've integrated our new platform with the Cybersource Token Management Service to help create a smoother, faster payment journey that improves conversion rates. Shoppers will be able to pay in just one click, with no need to re-enter their payment details at the online checkout. The platform will additionally bring together all online and physical payments into a single view. This will allow merchants to recognise their customers by tracking payments across channels, and gain more insight into consumer shopping and spending habits, in order to offer more personalised experiences to customers in every channel.
Payment experiences you can count on
For any brand, the point at which you process a payment is the moment when you capitalise on all of the effort and investment that's gone into building the brand, creating the product or service, and identifying your consumers. Planet's role is to allow the brand to shine by providing the tools and systems in the background that make the payment experience safe, quick, and simple.
Our partnership with Cybersource brings additional capabilities to help us play our part flawlessly. We'll be in an even better position to support merchants in addressing key payment challenges and delivering brilliant experiences that can strengthen relationships with their customers.
To learn more about Planet's partnership with Cybersource, watch our video.
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About Rory O'Neill
As Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer, Rory O’Neill is shaping and driving Planet’s digital payment strategy with the ambition to simplify complex payments and generate revenue for merchants and spenders. A visionary and inspirational leader with proven success delivering growth in the global technology sector, Rory has nearly 20 years’ experience in international markets and has worked for brands such as Samsung, Blackberry, and General Electric.
About Planet
Planet is a revenue generating payments service and technology provider. Planet helps businesses meet the needs of their customers by simplifying complex payments, helping people spend freely. Planet serves 600,000 merchants and 100 partner banks across more than 70 markets on five continents, Planet provides a single payments platform that offers acquiring, VAT Refund and Currency Conversion services. Planet is part of the Eurazeo portfolio of growth companies. Planet acquired 3C Payment in August 2020.
About Cybersource
Cybersource helped kick start the ecommerce revolution in 1994 and haven’t looked back since. Through global reach, modern capabilities, and commerce insights, we create flexible, creative commerce solutions for everyday life experiences that delight customers and spur growth globally. All through the ease and simplicity of one digital platform to manage all payment types, fraud strategies, and more. Knowing we are part of Visa and their security-obsessed standards, you can trust that business is well taken care of – wherever it may go.
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