SaaS providers in payments are attracting the attention of large and mid-sized banks, processors, and fintech startups who wish to shift from capital expenditure (CapEx) to operational expenses (OpEx). By offloading infrastructure management, maintenance, and support to SaaS providers, companies can concentrate on their core competencies. They streamline their expenditures, aligning costs with actual usage, and are less reliant on specialised expertise.
At OpenWay, we give clients the option of running their payment infrastructure on our top-rated Way4 digital payments platform in a dedicated SaaS model. Here, we will discuss how payment companies can enjoy the benefits of SaaS while retaining control over their creative business vision.
Shared SaaS involves a shared payment platform offered by a SaaS vendor, typically with a standardised service package. Service costs are reduced as customers are onboarded through partitioning within a single payment software instance. But since any adjustments made for one customer can affect others running on the same platform, providers often curtail the range of configurations available.
In payment areas where differentiation isn't important, like connection to payment methods or token vaults, a shared SaaS platform suffices. But if your goal is to capitalise on a gap in the market and enhance competitive differentiation, this approach has its limitations. Many payment-related as-a-service models present a set of similar infrastructure and services that they can manage and host efficiently while keeping costs down. But your business vision can find itself stifled if limited to standardised options, especially in the highly competitive and volatile world of payments. A tailored approach is needed – which is where dedicated SaaS comes in.
In dedicated SaaS, product configuration, the software, underlying environments, services, and compliance are taken care of in a hosting infrastructure specially reserved for the client. Service costs for this model are typically higher than shared SaaS, but it allows for a high level of service individualisation and higher ROI. Not only the functionality of the system can be tailored, but also the underlying technologies.
This customised approach provides the desired transition from CapEx to OpEx and it also ensures a better alignment with specific business requirements. Does your company aim to offer a specialised multicurrency credit card or BNPL service, a unique value-added acquiring solution, or a digital wallet that can turn into a super app? Using the dedicated SaaS model for a solution like Way4 allows the configuration of your specific products, services, workflows, and even APIs according to your business rules and strategies. Through API integration, SaaS users have the freedom to select preferred providers for each component of a new service offering.
As the payment industry is heavily regulated, SaaS providers must conform to the ever-growing number of compliance demands and standards. Way4 SaaS is operated by an OpenWay partner specialising in SaaS who is also a PCI-DSS certified service provider for major payment networks, catering to both acquiring and issuing members.
An experienced SaaS vendor fills in the gap of talent and skills, a growing challenge for all organisations. Since dedicated SaaS is implemented with the needs of each specific company in mind, a good vendor will train your team to manage as much of the system as you both agree on, saving the expense of administrative and operational support. OpenWay’s dedicated SaaS packages include personalised training programs and expert resources for implementation and maintenance.
Payment companies approach SaaS with different requirements. A new payment domain might prove too challenging for a company’s existing platform without extensive migration. By running it on a dedicated SaaS platform, they can gauge the performance of the new business model before investing heavily in it. Dedicated SaaS streamlines the process of entering new markets and enables swift expansion.
A flexible vendor like OpenWay can facilitate a partial or complete on-premises implementation. This is useful for companies running their infrastructure on SaaS who want to bring their acquiring or issuing in-house over time, but want their Visa and Mastercard touch points, risk management, or commodity modules to be managed via SaaS. Moreover, our Bring-Your-Own-License (BYOL) model allows clients with a pre-purchased Way4 licence to enjoy reduced recurring fees for SaaS.
Our clients worldwide are already bringing bold, creative business ideas to life with dedicated SaaS: local and cross-border POS, ecommerce acquiring, debit and credit card issuing, digital wallets, ATM and POS management, transaction switching services and more. We predict that even more payment companies will realise that dedicated SaaS or a combined approach with on-premise systems can become the cornerstone of their new business strategy.
About Dmitry Yatskaer
Dmitry Yatskaer is the Chief Technology Officer at OpenWay, with over 25 years of experience in the payment industry. He oversees the Way4 product development strategy and actively participates in OpenWay’s most sophisticated projects. He advises clients on the optimal payment solution architecture, new business line development, and large-volume card and merchant portfolio migrations. Dmitry has contributed to the successful launch of CMS platforms for ACB, Borgun, Comdata, Equity Bank of Kenya, equens, Worldline, Halyk Bank, Network International, Nets, SIX Payment Services, and others.
About OpenWay
OpenWay is the only best-in-class provider of digital payment software solutions for card issuing, digital wallets, merchant acquiring, BNPL, transaction switching, tokenization, and fleet payments, and the best cloud payment systems provider as rated by Aite and PayTech. Top-tier banks and processors, as well as ambitious fintech startups, have chosen OpenWay as their strategic partner. With its unique capabilities in rich functionality, fast-to-market, high availability and better ROI, the Way4 software platform guarantees an unparalleled customer payment experience.
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