NEW REPORT: On-Demand Solutions That Store Stuff, Reclaim Living Space

Cash flow is key to keeping any business thriving. The past few months saw several companies introduce solutions aimed at helping merchants either improve their existing cash flow operations or get their cash flows back on track following a major disruptive event, like a hurricane.

The latest edition of the PYMNTS Payments as a Service Tracker highlights the various ways companies are empowering merchants through solutions that can improve their checkout experiences, and access automated billing solutions and new kiosk solutions for quick service restaurants that still rely on cash payments.

The latest from around the PaaS world

Communities impacted by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma are still sorting through the damage and working to get back on their feet, and many small merchants are among them.

One of the biggest challenges for smaller businesses — making sense of the chaos as they seek to rebuild their damaged establishments — is how to accept payments and keep cash flow steady. To help merchants in affected areas get up and running, First Data announced a program that offers them a free Clover Go mobile reader, allowing business owners to accept payments from their usual location or a makeshift spot. The company will also replace damaged First Data equipment for current members and offer non-members six months of free service.

Aside from helping SMBs recover after dual natural disasters, other companies have recently introduced solutions to improve existing merchant checkout experiences. In Israel, for example, supermarket shopping appears to be headed for an upgrade. Point-of-sale provider Verifone, recently announced plans to provide its PaaS platform to Israeli supermarket chain Shufersal. The platform includes payment tools such as local EMV-compliance solutions, access to third-party apps and omnichannel tools for insights into customer purchases — both online and in-store — to help the chain personalize customer shopping needs.

And, a new venture could create a road map for a new method of car-shopping. In California, a service called Fair, which enables customers to shop, get approved and purchase or lease a vehicle all from the confines of a mobile app,  recently launched. The service can be used to calculate monthly payments, allow users to select a vehicle that matches their budget and authorize monthly payments from their bank accounts.

For more of the most recent, notable news from around the PaaS space, check out the September edition of the Payments as a Service Tracker.

On-demand fixes for the ‘too much stuff’ dilemma

Moving into a small city apartment can force many residents to face a tough question: Which stuff do they want to keep and which stuff needs to go. It’s a difficult question, because many users do not want to permanently part ways with some of their things, such as clothes and art projects from the kids or seasonal clothing and equipment like skis or winter coats. That’s where on-demand storage solutions, like those offered by Closetbox, are coming into play. The company allows users to purchase self-storage and hire movers to pick up their goods online or through a mobile app.

In the September Tracker’s feature story, Closetbox CEO Marcus Mollmann described how his own moving headaches inspired him to launch the on-demand storage venture.

To read the story and see who’s on top in our ranking of the best PaaS providers, download this month’s Tracker.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

To download the September edition of the PYMNTS.com Payments as a Service Tracker, click the button below.

About the Tracker

The PYMNTS.com Payments as a Service Tracker gives an overview of the trends and activities of merchant platforms that not only enable payment processing of new and old technologies, but also integrate with other features to improve the merchant’s experience — including customer engagement, security, omnichannel retail, analytics, inventory management, software and hardware management and more.