With the rise of global e-commerce, small and midsize companies are pressured to streamline the way they handle increasingly diverse types of payments.
And for companies that have followed large corporations in adopting enterprise resource planning (ERP) software to get a broad view of everything from their production and supply chains to shipping and payment of products and services, having a way to accept—and maintain—various payment types across many channels is becoming more vital.
MasterCard today unveiled a new collaboration with Microsoft Corp. that aims to do just that, by bringing MasterCard’s cloud-based
Businesses using Microsoft’s cloud-based ERP system, called Microsoft Dynamics AX, can now accept payments online and through call centers using an easy connection process within the Dynamics software, said Deborah Barta, Simplify Commerce Global Lead for MasterCard.
The expanded service goes live today in 13 countries, including the U.S., Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand and South Africa, the Netherlands and the U.K., MasterCard said. The company said it plans to expand the functionality to additional markets later.
The new service also includes seamless updates for all payments security and regulatory protocols, which MasterCard and Microsoft will enable automatically.
One of the biggest benefits of the collaboration for businesses will be eliminating the development work needed to add and update payments, according to Barta. “Until now, adding and maintaining payments was not technically seamless, which could be painstaking and time-consuming,” she said.
The collaboration means payments functions are embedded within Microsoft Dynamics and automatically maintained by Simplify for industry and PCI requirements. “This connection removes another burden for the merchant, who doesn't have to worry about integrating payments or maintaining ongoing upgrades,” Barta said. Simplify Commerce supports nine programming languages, plus APIs and SDKs. "Anyone can come in, with zero coding experience, and build on top of our payments platform," she said.
MasterCard’s collaboration with Simplify Commerce and Microsoft is its first with a major ERP software provider, the company said.
The new service could provide some useful advantages for small and midsize companies looking to sell products and services around the world and receive payments by many methods, said Nancy Atkinson, a senior analyst with Aite Group.
“Globalization makes it very important for small and midsize businesses to streamline e-commerce payments, and demand is rising for online and phone-initiated payments, including those that reach across borders,” she said.
