Review of the most successful payment systems in Europe from Monoup
Payment market is diverse and offers services to suit every taste: from bank transfers and wallets to payment cards and even cryptocurrency solutions. There are many providers of financial services, but as in any business, some are particularly successful flagship products known to mostly everyone. Today, we will discuss payment systems that have proven their effectiveness over time and offer some of the best and most stable processing systems on the market.
Collaborating with these PSPs is literally the dream of any startup, but not everyone succeeds. How did these payment companies earn global recognition, and why are their services considered high-quality? Let’s discuss this in today's review from Monoup.
Adyen
Dutch payment system Adyen, established in 2006, is one of the most stable and best for commercial projects for several reasons. The company provides processing for large international holdings such as Spotify, Uber, Microsoft, and others. The payment system literally embodies the statement “global coverage” and offers practically every payment method available in the world. Wallets, vouchers, acceptance of cards from most payment systems, online and offline processing through POS terminals — all of this can be implemented with Adyen.
In addition to accepting payments and making payouts, Adyen provides anti-fraud protection services, strong analytics for all payment channels, risk management, and full compliance with all financial system requirements and regulations. Thanks to this, you can collaborate with just this payment system and receive all the necessary services in one. For products in the low or medium risk segment, this is an excellent option, as there is no need to constantly search for new payment provider options. Stable connectivity and constant uptime allow business to relax and maintain all its flows within one system.
Payment provider is well-suited for online stores, delivery services, tourism services, and other large-scale businesses. A drawback could be the limited opportunities for collaboration with startups, as connecting to this PSP is only discussed for companies with significant processing turnover.
Worldline
Google's main partner also made it onto our list of the best payment systems. Worldline is a large payment holding company that offers online and offline payment acceptance and payout services, international payments, financial services to companies, and is also the owner of the integration service Devcode (Bambora), which is actively used in gaming industry.
Company provides payment services to international airlines, banks, restaurant chains, and even gambling operators. The breadth of business coverage is virtually unlimited, except by laws and regulations. At the same time, this payment system primarily collaborates with large businesses and does not provide payment services to startups without a history or those opened in high-risk countries. Although the website boasts support for any business, the provider gives preference to large products or promising innovative business ideas.
The company also provides subscription services — recurring payments that can be part of business model of various SaaS companies. Design tools, Photoshop, video streaming subscriptions, or music — all of this can be connected to Worldline.
Klarna
Swedish company Klarna became well-known for providing the BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) service, which is extremely popular among European users. The nature of payment method is interest-free loan for almost any purchase, even low-cost items. We used to see installment plans for large purchases, household appliances, or very expensive items, but it turns out that users find installment plans relevant for almost everything and actively use them. This allows buyers not to worry about funds availability on their cards and be more flexible with their finances.
Klarna processes almost all international card payment systems and offers options for accepting one-time payments, regular scheduled payments, or operating subscriptions. This payment system is integrated with major e-commerce website builders, which in turn allows for a quick launch for template-based products or platforms.
Trustly
Trustly payment system has reimagined bank transfers for everyday use. Instant transactions and connections with more than 12,000 banks have helped it win over its clients. The payment method works in Canada, USA, Europe, the UK, and Latin America.
Trustly's Pay’n’Play product has also become very popular in gaming industry and offers a KYC and payment solution in one go. Gaming website needs to integrate with the service, and thanks to this, players can register and log in to the website via the Pay’n’Play button. Trustly users are already verified, and all this data helps merchants ensure the legitimacy of the client and receive instant payments for deposits. Payouts are also processed this way. The seamless connection of the system eliminates unnecessary steps: there is no need to register separately, go through verification separately, and also look for the deposit button for payment. All of this can be done in just a few minutes in a single flow. This positively affects payment approval ratio and speeds up all processes.
Despite the widespread use of payment cards, bank accounts remain deeply integrated into the daily lives of people, and a number of users prefer them for payments. Thanks to this, modern open banking technology also has tangible success and meets payment needs of a wide category of the population.
PayPal
Although PayPal payment system originated in the USA it cannot be ignored when talking about European market. Over the years, PayPal has become an important player in Europe, so that Europe has even been concerned with launching a competitor Wero, which we previously wrote about too.
PayPal is an electronic wallet, essentially one of the first and most successful payment instruments of this kind. You can top up wallet with a bank card or by linking an account, and pay for services and goods in all stores where it is accepted. PayPal offers an especially wide range of features and, in addition to standard transfers within the wallet, allows you to issue an invoice to partners or clients, process payments directly on the website, request payment by specifying the email address of your counterparty. Online businesses receive a full range of services that may be needed in almost all types of business relationships.
In addition, opening an account with PayPal is not difficult if your business complies with company's compliance policy. The entire process takes place online, and verification and bank account linking are mandatory. The wallet is particularly widely used in e-commerce, freelance services, consulting, and software services.
So, what is in common for all these payment systems, and why have they become so successful? Firstly, they appeared at the right time and met needs of clients that were ignored by other companies. Stability and full compliance with the law are another distinguishing feature of these providers. You can be sure that they will not disappear tomorrow, their services are regulated by the appropriate institutions, and the entire system has passed security audits. High-quality software and top-notch UX provide a positive experience from collaborating with the payment system for both business and individual users.
It may seem that these are basic things that every payment system should have, and theoretically, that is true. But by studying the market, we can confidently assert that not every payment company can boast of comprehensive services and a strong market position. Today, competing is much more difficult than before. The success of these payment systems is significantly influenced by the year they were founded, but maintaining a high-quality level over a long period further proves the reliability of these payment options.
