In this month’s “Embedded Finance Tracker®,” Sofiat Abdulrazaaq, CEO at on-demand food truck marketplace Goodfynd, explains why a reliable payment partner is the first step to bringing value to a small business, including new sources of capital.
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Efficiency is the name of the game when it comes to digital payments. Merchants expect digital payments from their customers to be processed swiftly and seamlessly, and to have the money in their accounts without any complications on the front or back end.
“It’s all about efficiency, and nobody wants to sacrifice security or anything else to get there. They have to go hand in hand, but the primary customer value is the ability to easily process payments for products or services.”
Enabling this efficiency is easier said than done. Traditional banks have been the go-to in the past, but they often fail to keep up with the dynamic modern reality of digital payments. Many merchants are finding that embedded finance solutions provided via a financial technology platform are a more reliable alternative.
“Finding the right partner is one of the biggest challenges. You need to identify the right payment partner that brings you value at the right price point that works for your business, and embedded finance helps provide this seamless experience.”
Embedded finance solutions are especially useful for small businesses, particularly those run by disadvantaged individuals. There is no telling how many individuals have business ideas for the next Apple or Microsoft, but their ambitions may never make it off the ground because of payments complications.
“[Embedded finance] offers more access to underrepresented and underserved individuals for creating products — be it food, clothing, shoes or anything like that. Payment processing has always been a barrier to great ideas, and my hope is that embedded finance continues to make SMBs’ jobs easier.”