Fiserv Offers Software Firms Text-Based Payment Option

Fiserv is letting software firms access the world of text-based payments.

The payments and financial services company announced the offering for independent software vendors (ISVs) and software companies in a news release provided to PYMNTS Tuesday (May 2). It is available through an integration between the company’s ISV payment engine and the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) firm Authvia.

“Text and chat have become more common in business-to-consumer communications, and as the demand for contactless payments grows, so has the demand for text conversations to end in a seamless transaction,” Fiserv said in the release.

According to Fiserv, the integration lets ISVs instantly connect processing services with Authvia’s text-to-pay technology, letting businesses bill, invoice and accept customer payments via text and chat conversations.

It gives these companies “a complete, PCI- and TCPA-compliant platform with the APIs, tools and expertise necessary to securely integrate text-based payments into their software without developing their own solution,” Fiserv said.

And because users open text messages at a rate of 98%, text payments “can reduce the time and resources needed to collect payments and diminish friction for both the merchant and the payee,” the company added.

This new integration follows last week’s announcement that Fiserv had integrated its Clover point-of-sale tool with Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhone.

“Small businesses want to streamline their operations, sell more, and connect with their customers no matter where they are,” said Dan Bjerke, global head of Clover, at the time. “Clover powers omnichannel technology and capabilities that enable us to meet their needs. By enabling Tap to Pay on iPhone, businesses can increase flexibility and expand customer engagement with the efficiency of using a device they already own.”

The integration lets merchants accept contactless payments via their iPhone and use Clover’s mobile features like the ability to connect multiple POS devices and accept in-store payments.

Also last week, Fiserv released earnings results that included an organic growth rate that — as PYMNTS wrote — “shows that despite slowing consumer spending and volatility within banking, the appetite for faster money movement and digital engagement remains undiminished.”

Speaking with analysts on a conference call, CEO Frank Bisignano said organic revenue growth was multidimensional. It included “elevated contributions from card processing, non-card payments and digital banking solutions.”