Payments agents work in a complicated payment system with many inherent risks and challenges. From technology to qualified leads, agents are constantly forced to adapt and overcome these challenges. Sales agents in payments need the right tools to face these challenges and provide a better onboarding experience for their customers and payment partners. 

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Challenges Faced by Payments Agents

Technology

There have been many changes in payment technology over the years. From omnichannel payments to contactless payments, the industry is constantly adapting. Understandably, this can take a lot of work for sales agents to keep up with. Businesses and consumers continuously need to adapt to new technologies. An excellent example is the need for payment agents to provide omnichannel payment solutions that allow consumers to pay across multiple platforms. 

Another challenge with technology is having the ability to adapt to future changes. Future-proofing such as this can be not easy, and agents often rely on payment processors. That is why agents must ensure they partner with payment processors committed to being at the cutting edge of technology. Agents may not always be ahead of the curve when it comes to technology but must adapt when technology changes quickly. 

In addition to payment technology, there have been massive changes in customer expectations regarding onboarding. People expect digital solutions that are fast and streamlined. Long and complicated paper applications are guaranteed to drive potential customers away. Fortunately, sales agents do not have to compromise security to offer this digital ease to their clients if they invest in the right onboarding system. 

Fraud and data breaches are an inherent reality of financial services, which is valid for payments. Fraudsters are constantly adapting and implementing new methods to breach payment infrastructure. Agents need to have the best technology at their disposal to stay ahead of fraudsters and avoid costly data breaches and the significant fines they can face from regulators for these breaches. 

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Qualified Leads

Lead creation is central to the efforts of any sales agent. For financial services and payments, one common challenge with lead creation is sorting through and finding only the most qualified leads. Clients must meet specific criteria due to regulations to be onboarded onto a payment provider's system. 

Payment providers also set these requirements up, adding another layer of complications that agents must navigate. Some payment processors will not work with businesses in specific industries, and others will. Other requirements include credit scores or sanctions lists that prevent companies from using specific payment processors. 

Additionally, much of the information collected from clients needs to be verified. From banking information to physical address, clients must be verified according to financial regulations. This is often a daunting task that can add an incredible workload to agents. Agents must manually search through databases to collect and verify this information. 

Not only are qualified leads essential for efficiency, but they are critical for security. Accounts open by illegitimate merchants can lead to massive data breaches that expose agents and their payment-processing partners. Agents need to be able to quickly weed out obviously fraudulent applications and have the tools necessary to identify and flag potentially risky applications requiring more review. 

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Data

Another common challenge that payment agents face is that the data collected is often owned by their payment partners. This creates a massive challenge for agents who want to analyze and fine-tune their approach to drive more business. They need access to the necessary information to create a better customer experience. Additionally, the payment providers need to collect a lot of information from clients, which can often lead to a very clunky customer onboarding experience. This can turn potential clients away who need a payment solution as soon as possible. 

To complicate matters further, this data can often be spread across multiple systems. Even if the agent has access to one system, they can only get some of the information they need as the rest is on another entirely different system. Agents and payment providers also have to rely on merchants to provide accurate data about their business, which requires a significant investment on the part of merchants. Merchants can also become frustrated if they import data into multiple systems to access their payment solution. 

Agents may also have partnerships with multiple payment providers and must route merchant information to various providers. This can create complications as they try to match merchants with their ideal provider and can be prone to costly mistakes for agents and merchants. Providing accurate calculations regarding transaction fees for merchants is another common challenge as agents try to match merchants with the plan that best fits their needs. 

Risk management is another core component of payment agents, and they need to be able to collect and analyze merchant data in real-time to stay ahead of fraudsters. Tools like machine learning and AI allow agents to be proactive with fraud rather than only reacting. Additionally, many agents struggle to leverage data to create a better and more personalized customer experience. 

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How Under.io Can Help

Customer Verification

Under allows you to conduct customer verification in real-time. From KYC to KYB, we have many native integrations that will enable you to verify potential customers confidently. This lets your team quickly identify false applications while cutting down on false positives that cause friction for legitimate customers. 

Our verification tools also extend to banking information and address verification, allowing your team to conduct comprehensive risk assessments of potential clients. AI also powered these tools, enabling you to onboard and underwrite faster than ever. Together, these tools allow you to dramatically improve onboarding efficiency without compromising customer experience and security. 

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Better Customer Experience

Under empowers you to provide a seamless experience for your customers throughout the onboarding process. From initial application to final approval, you can use Under. There is no need for multiple systems that cause headaches for merchants, your payment partners, and your team. With one login with Under, you get access to branded applications with customizable templates that can suit the specific needs of your clients. 

Additionally, you get access to features such as electronic signatures and document sharing that make it easy to share essential documents between merchants and payment processors. You can also access easy-to-use data exporting features that enable more effective communication with your payment partners and faster client approval. Our highly customizable system allows you to create a more personalized customer experience. 

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Enhanced Security

Security is central to our work here at Under. We understand that fraud is a constant reality in the payment space, and we have the tools to tackle this challenge. By partnering with numerous top-of-the-line companies, we ensure we have the best tools available for features such as KYC and KYB. These tools are powered by machine learning and are able to react in real time to fraudulent activity allowing you to be proactive. 

Our system is also designed to flag potentially risky applications for manual review, allowing you to avoid placing unnecessary friction on most clients while conducting additional verification for riskier clients. We also have numerous features that add extra security layers for every step of the onboarding process. For example, we have MFA included in our electronic signature process to ensure that only the necessary parties are able to sign important documents. Under allows you to onboard customers smoothly and with the best security features to protect all parties. 

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