A Payment Aggregator is a service provider through which e-commerce merchants, businesses, individuals can process their payment transactions. Aggregators allow businesses to accept credit card and bank transfers without having to set up a business account with a bank or card association.
A payment aggregator facilitates payments from consumers to businesses, be it by credit card, debit card, bank transfer without requiring businesses to go to a bank.
1. Payment Aggregator‘s role in Bangladesh: The need of the hour
The inception of a Payment Aggregator (Zaytoon Business Solutions) has the potential of making a paradigm shift in the rural business landscape in Bangladesh. When we talk about Digital Bangladesh, we are talking about the growth of electronic payments. The entire payment system needs to be tuned with the objective of digital Bangladesh.
At present there is more than one agent banking outlet are functioning at union level and offering financial services which is limited to the services the bank itself provides. No other services are available there. So rural people in need go elsewhere to distant places to avail the services which costs them valuable time and money. In the present era all financial services are being provided from one place using one platform in different countries of the world which is known as payment service aggregation.
Zaytoon Business Solutions in association with a2i project of the Government has taken initiative to deliver all financial and other e-services from the Village Digital Booth using the EkPay platform to be developed as the aggregation engine so that village people do not need to go elsewhere for the services.
The aim of the Payment Aggregator (Zaytoon Business Solutions) is to ensure financial inclusion by making all financial services easily accessible to the rural unreached people to achieve the SDGs.
2. How do payment aggregators work?
a. Payment aggregator process
A payment aggregator uses a "master business" model which allows it to represent a large number of small sub-merchants/businesses and facilitate payments from users. Payment aggregators eliminate the need for merchants/businesses to open business accounts by taking care of the contracts with various payment method providers.
b. How does a payment platform work?
Payment platforms, also known as payment gateways, authorize payments for both online and offline businesses. It is a software service that facilitates e-commerce transactions through businesses' websites or apps. Payment gateways are the equivalent of a physical point-of-sale terminal in an offline store. They take the money paid by a customer via credit card, debit card, online banking, e-wallet, or unified payment interface to the business by securely passing the customer's payment details to the business and then between the business entity and the bank. The payment gateway notifies the merchant whether the charge has been approved by the customer's bank.
Benefits of a Payment Aggregator
A payment aggregator saves merchants/businesses time and money. First, setting up an account with a payment aggregator does not require much paperwork while setting up a business account is very time-consuming while also requiring various documents. In most cases, the use of a payment aggregator allows a business to start accepting payments sooner.
In addition, most payment aggregators offer their services at a flat rate, making it easier for businesses to manage their budgets while also saving their money.