Top Strategies for Easy Onboarding of a Modern Payment Solution

This article contains general information and is not intended to provide information that is specific to American Express, or its products and services.  Similar products and services offered by different companies will have different features and you should always read about product details before acquiring any financial product.

Integrating modern payment technology is no longer a tactical move to simply support digital payments — it’s a strategic necessity for companies that want to cultivate more business growth, reach higher levels of employee satisfaction, and achieve better operational efficiency.  

The calls for frictionless payment experiences, access to multiple payment options, and smaller processing windows are getting stronger. Today’s consumers are after digital-first experiences that are fast, accessible, and user-friendly.

For instance, a 2024 Federal Reserve survey of 2,001 U.S. consumers reveals that six in 10 adults identify convenience and ease of use as the most desirable qualities in payment platforms. And these expectations impact what employees expect from the payment solutions they interact with at work, too.

Modern spend and payment technologies are giving large enterprises new ways to rethink the financial tools and processes they use to automate payments and manage employee spending.

Future revenue growth will likely be fed by modern payment technology that enables new ways to better serve users and leverage supplier spend, employee travel accounting, and more.

Fast Deployment Options Help Accelerate Modern PayTech Solutions

Historically, new payment system deployment could disrupt workflows and be difficult to accomplish due to complex, lengthy processes: implementation, rollout, and integration, for example. Once the technology was up and running, onboarding users could be equally as difficult.

Today, however, modern spend and payment platforms are easier to deploy, while helping finance and procurement leaders do their jobs faster and more confidently.

In a 2024 Citizens survey of 202 U.S. CFOs and financial leaders working for companies that generate an annual revenue of between $50 million and $1 billion, nearly all respondents say they pursue digital payment options to:

• Refine cash flow forecasting (97%)
• Enhance financial visibility and control (96%)
• Improve the bottom line (91%)

Integrating a New Payment Platform: 6 Steps to Follow

Modern payment platforms may help simplify processes to create financial savings, which could enhance operational efficiency, and boost user satisfaction. There are six steps that you may consider following when you’re ready to roll out a new payment platform.

1. Assess the company’s status quo.

Companies tend to focus on improving sales and productivity rather than control spend. Before you can implement new payment processes and systems, you should first attempt to better understand what’s working and what isn’t when it comes to the payment processes and systems already in play. Where does your company need the most help?

 Take a close look at areas such as:

• Compliance and security
• Costs
• Error rates
• Interoperability
• Payment methods and channels
• Processing time

2. Evaluate and compare options for new payment platforms.

Once you know where you need to implement, you will be better positioned to understand which types of new payment platforms to pursue. As you identify which system may best address your company’s pain points, it can be important to seek out and compare features like:

• Integration and compatibility with other systems (customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning, etc.) to streamline operations and efficiency and maximize consistency
• Security to protect data and prevent financial loss
• Personalization to tailor data and information to user and vendor interactions, preferences, and habits
• Payment orchestration to support multiple payment types
• Scalability to handle more usage and more payment types in the future
• User experience to increase satisfaction and save time

3. Create an implementation plan.

When you select a service provider for your new payment platform, the provider you choose may be able to offer guidance based on basic practices and lessons learned. They can often offer assistance on how to establish clear rules, policies, and procedures for:

• Developing realistic timelines, from the pilot phase to full deployment
• Creating milestones for development, testing, and deployment
• Determining how to document decisions, processes, and workflows

4. Communicate with stakeholders early and often.

When it comes to rolling out new payment platforms within their organizations, it’s important that leaders explain what’s happening, when, and why. Clear communication can help cultivate buy-in for using the platform, make sure everyone understands the purpose and benefits of the new platform, and build confidence about the change and using the new system.

5. Provide training to users.

To better leverage a modern payment platform and maximize the potential for a strong return on investment, users need to know how to adopt the new system and optimize its potential. Training can help reduce the risk of errors, show users how to use the systems features to their advantage, and establish consistent processes and workflows across the organization.

Be sure to give users time to practice and ask questions in a test environment before they carry out their specific tasks in real life.

6. Monitor performance.

As the new payment platform rolls out, consider gathering feedback from users about how the new system is working, what could be implemented, and what questions have come up during use. These steps could help:

• Identify and resolve issues that weren't detected during testing
• Enhance the platform, so it's more aligned with user processes
• Pinpoint training that may need to be revisited

The Takeaway

Companies that choose to embrace digital payment transformation will be able to pivot based on user expectations and respond to new opportunities while they establish visibility, control, and leverage over supplier spend, employee travel accounting, and more.

Implementing simple and secure payment processes that are easy to onboard are key to helping you cultivate business agility, potentially increase resiliency, and stay in front of the competition.

The material made available for you on this website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal, tax or financial advice. If you have questions, please consult your own professional legal, tax and financial advisors.