NEW REPORT: Contractors Add Payments To Their SaaS Toolbox

From the hammer to the saw to the welding torch, it takes a wide array of tools to successfully complete a construction project. But when it comes to tracking staff and making payments, an entirely new kind of tool is needed — one that doesn’t slot into a tool belt or tuck into a toolbox, but instead fits onto a mobile device.

The latest PYMNTS Payments as a Service Tracker™ looks at how notable mobile and cloud-based payment solutions are impacting construction, retail, banking, veterinary medicine and other industries.

Around the PaaS World

Thanks to recent payment solutions, wait in the checkout line seems to be getting shorter.

That certainly appears to be the case for pet owners paying a visit to the veterinarian’s office. Payment solution provider PayJunction and cloud-based veterinary software provider ezyVet recently collaborated to offer veterinary practices EMV-ready Smart Terminals intended to reduce payment friction. The solution keeps pet owners’ payment information on file, which allows veterinary staff to charge for services at a later point, eliminating the need to pay at the end of an appointment.

Meanwhile, retail giant Target recently launched its own mobile solution to improve the checkout experience. Ahead of the holidays, the company rolled out a mobile wallet for iOS and Android devices that allows shoppers to pay for purchases using the Target REDcard. The app includes a Cartwheel feature to help users find discounts and savings at checkout.

Over in Europe, Spanish consumers recently gained a new mobile payment option that can get them through checkout without having to dig around for a wallet. U.S. payment solutions provider Global Payments Inc. joined forces with Spain’s CaixaBank to offer Apple Pay through the CaixaBank Pay mobile app. The move allows CaixaBank customers to make purchases using Apple Pay at contactless payments-enabled businesses.

For more of the latest notable news from around the PaaS space, check out the December edition of the Tracker.

Adding Payment Solutions to the Toolbox

The latest mobile payment developments aren’t just offering customers a new way to pay for services or find discounts during the checkout process. Mobile solutions are also being put to use by construction professionals to make payments as well as handle other business tasks, such as tracking construction progress, managing schedules and hiring subcontractors.

For the December feature story, PYMNTS spoke with Scott Siegert, director of Client Services for construction management platform Buildertrend, about blending payment processing with scheduling and other construction-oriented tasks to eliminate some of the points of friction involved in construction project management.

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About the Tracker

The PYMNTS.com Payments as a Service Tracker™ is designed to give 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.