FSS Technologies (Financial Software and Systems), a global leader in payment technology and a payment processing company Wednesday launched ‘Embark', an "Acquiring Platform as a Service" offering for Acquiring Banks, and Payment Aggregators. Embark facilitates digital inclusion of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), with reliable, cost-efficient payment acceptance tools to expand addressable market, engage with customers in new ways and thrive in today's digital economy. MSMEs form the backbone of the economy — representing an approximate 90% of businesses in the MENA region taking into account the formal and the informal segments. Formal SMEs contribute up to 40% of national income (GDP) in emerging economies. Yet, the segment remains underpenetrated. Person to business payments worldwide to medium, small-and-micro retailers amount to $18.8 T, and only 37% are made electronically. Embark, a multi-sided payment acceptance platform, orchestrates interconnections between crucial ecosystem players – banks, processors, merchant acquiring institutions and MSMEs — to address this opportunity and create exponential value. With Embark acquiring banks gain access to an underpenetrated MSME market via strategic partnerships, without having "feet on the street", transforming the economics of MSME acquiring. This alleviates acquisition and servicing costs and brings efficiencies into a high-volume, low-value business. Payment Aggregators benefit as they do not have to tie-up with each bank individually. Embark provides a single-entry point that reduces the time and effort spent on complex integrations, enabling them to focus on core business activities. Speaking on the launch, K Srinivasan, global chief revenue officer FSS, stated: "Medium and small businesses are on the frontlines of the global economy. With Embark our objective is to bring MSMEs into the digital payment fold, a crucial step for sustainable economic and payments growth across markets. "We want banks and other ecosystem players to collaborate with us in this journey and create a true network effect that would encourage adoption of digital payments and spur local entrepreneurialism and commercial activity." Commenting on the latest offering, Sandeep Gomes, global business head acquiring FSS, stated: "The digital wave is reinventing the MSME marketplace across the globe. Embark offers industry players a real opportunity to profitably tap into the underserved MSME segment by adopting ecosystem models to create a ubiquitous payment acceptance network and achieve service differentiation on the strength of innovative products and superior business models." An all-in-one acquiring platform, Embark brings the following benefits: • Omni-channel digital payment acceptance capabilities– online, mobile in-store channels, and a range of payment methods on a single platform to expand into new markets and support new customer journeys. • Complete set of transaction capabilities spanning processing, authentication, authorization, and settlement • End-to-end operations support including payments integration, connectivity to card and other payment rails, terminal and security certification and compliance • Access to innovative payment propositions enabling MSME's to launch new services • Robust risk management and fraud detection capabilities to improve authorization rates • Unified reporting and built-in analytic tools for insights into business performance An improved supply of reliable, easy-to-access payment services infrastructure unlocks new revenue opportunities and promotes growth. In addition, digital transactions leave an auditable trail that can be leveraged by credit constrained MSMEs to gain access to institutional finance for further business expansion. — SG
