How to understand when it's time to switch to a White-Label payment platform

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Costs are rising, the efficiency of an in-house payment expert team is poor, and technology is lagging behind what your competitors are offering customers? All this is a sign that it's time to move on.

If the budget for a team of payment experts slips through your fingers month after month, it's time to rethink your payment decision and, possibly, change the platform to white-label.

In this article, we will figure out how to understand that the time has come for a change and explain how the process of transitioning to a white label payment management platform looks like step by step.

How do you know when it's time to switch to a white label payment platform?​

1. The expertise of the internal tech team is no longer enough for you.
   Everything has a limit. And even your team of seasoned payment experts have their limitations.
   Therefore, if your sales volumes are growing, and you notice that the team does not have time to cope with the growing expectations, consider this a sign from above - and switch to an external solution.
   Other advantages of the white-label payment platform include a huge number of available connectors, a simplified data management engine, and full technical support of the system from the software provider. The right provider will become your external tech team, fully competent and always ready to help.
2. You are no longer able to cover the costs of the payment team.
   Hiring an in-house team of professionals is a pleasure not everyone can afford. Not so long ago, we conducted a study of how much it costs on average to develop and maintain your own payment system. The results shocked us.
   According to our calculations, the platform with the most basic set of functionality will cost your company between 105,000 and 420,000 USD. And the spending doesn't end there. From the moment of launch, you will need a permanent team to maintain the transaction flow.
   The average salary of an experienced professional who will manage and monitor your payment flow starts from 3500 USD. Depending on the volume of transactions, you will need from 3 to 5 people in a team, which in total equals 17,500 USD per month in the salary fund (and this does not include bonuses and "goodies").
   These numbers will be significantly lower with the WL system. You just need to pay for the installation of the system and the monthly rate. Payment for the services of a team of experts is 100% borne by the service provider itself.
3. You are using outdated technology.
   The expectations of your target audience are growing every day. Accustomed to a smooth and easy payment scheme, your customers will never forgive you slow and outdated technologies. They will simply go to someone who is ready to offer them a quick one-click payment.
   For quick access to innovative technologies without declaring company bankruptcy due to their cost, you can turn to a white-label service provider. In an effort to gain the trust of as many customers as possible in an incredibly competitive market, the WL software provider is likely to have advanced technology and functionality.
4. You have lost a key employee and cannot find a replacement for him.
   The market is pretty empty. To the point where finding and hiring an expert falls into the asterisk category. And while you're on the hunt for a new key employee, team leader or DevOps engineer, your system is bleeding out. She needs the "care" of an experienced pro, and you cannot provide it to her.
   If this is your situation, then be aware. That this is another sign that you should consider switching to the WL platform. With it, you will not have problems with staff or technology. What's more, with years of experience in the industry, their team is likely to exceed your expectations.

And now, having figured out when to switch to a new system, we will clearly explain to you what the transition process itself looks like.

What to consider when switching to white-label payments​

1. Import of historical data.
   When switching to another payment solution, you should not neglect the importance of importing historical data that has accumulated over the years of using the platform itself. This data includes not only transaction statistics, but also recurring payments, refund history, etc.
   The details of this step depend on the duration of using the platform and the volume of accumulated transactions. Make sure that you are very clear about all the migration instructions to avoid leaking important data.
2. Import of anti-fraud settings.
   When migrating to a new platform, do not forget to transfer all settings of your anti-fraud module as well. By settings, we mean the transfer of whitelists and blacklists to protect data from more frequent cases of online fraud.
3. Integration of all required connectors.
   You need to make sure that the new system you are migrating to can offer you all the payment methods you have used before. If some of the connectors are missing, you need to agree in advance about their integration. Integration of a new payment method can take weeks (or, in the case of Akurateco, up to two weeks). Therefore, you should foresee this moment and prepare for the transition in advance.
4. Providing smooth onboarding for merchants.
   Your task is to migrate to the new system without your customers even noticing it. To do this, you should establish clear communication with users and step by step guide them through the entire procedure in order to avoid overlaps and misunderstandings. Also, pay special attention to token migration well in advance.
5. MID migration.
   Finally, keep in mind that you need to set aside a separate chunk of time to port your MIDs and test them. Finding problems early, rather than on the fly, saves you reputation and money.

These are the basic steps to take to transition to a white-label payment platform. The details may vary depending on the specifics of your transactional data, its volume, etc. But we tried to convey to you the basic and most important input data for starting the process.

If you have any questions about the transition, the Akurateco team will be happy to answer them and share their many years of experience in the payment industry, as well as introduce you to their innovative white-label solution for your business.