Typical Integration Time: 1 day (programming time)

Cost of implementation: $1000

Cost to support payment processing functionality: $0 (payment processing company absorbs all cost)

ONLINE PAYMENT FORM

Any business software application that includes invoice printing functionality can easily include online payment functionality as an option for customers. This simple step can completely eliminate the need to print and mail paper invoices. Instead, electronic invoices which include a link to a secure online payment form are emailed to customers. The customer clicks the link and can pay the invoice online via credit card or direct debit from a checking or savings account. With a marginally more complex link, fields such as invoice #, amount, and customer number can be embedded within the link and auto-filled in the online payment form. Payment processing companies can often host this online payment form, so a user need not have a website to benefit from this type of system. See an example of this type of form.
While this type of integration is clearly the easiest to implement, it does have the drawback of requiring the customer to maintain a payment processing database separate from the main business application. However, most payment processing applications have customizable export functions that can be leveraged to transfer transaction results back to the main business application.

Typical Integration Time: 3 hours (programming time)

Cost of implementation: $300

Cost to support payment processing functionality: $0 (payment processing company absorbs all cost)

ADDITIONAL REVENUE POTENTIAL

There are multiple options for payment processing providers available to business software developers. However, some large companies do not offer the developer a revenue share. There are other choices—and it is best to select one that offers an ongoing revenue share for all transactions processed by the partners’ customers. In addition, the best payment processing partners also offer marketing programs, and technical support for their systems. The following is a breakdown of potential revenue.