Geoff
Coleman
on
Jul 05, 2023In a recent article for Forbes, Gotransverse founder and CEO James Messer highlights two critical elements of billing in the financial technology sector: simplicity and transparency. “…it is crucial,” he says, “for fintech companies to prioritize simplicity in their offerings, ensuring easy-to-understand terms and transparent pricing to satisfy customer expectations and avoid regulatory scrutiny.”
Now, those two words—simplicity and transparency—aren’t exactly the first that come to mind in association with FinTech, so let’s take a look at what Messer means, exactly.
When Messer talks about simplicity, he’s talking about billing models that are easy to understand. And when he talks about transparency, he’s encouraging FinTech companies to be sure customers can always understand exactly how much they’re paying and for what:
“To achieve simplicity, many fintech startups are adopting monthly subscription models, which not only generate consistent revenue but also foster customer loyalty. Others rely on per-transaction revenue models, provided customers have clarity on what they are paying for. As these revenue models evolve, fintech startups are exploring hybrid approaches, combining monthly subscriptions with fee-based value-added services. Consumers readily comprehend this model, as it mirrors the billing structure employed by popular services like Amazon Prime and Netflix.”
Today’s consumers are accustomed to having limitless information at their fingertips, and they expect the same from the billing experience. This is true with any business they choose to trust with their finances. The transparency consumers demand includes easy-to-follow pricing options and clear, consistent follow-up notifications regarding their purchase and order status. Consumers want to check their status at a moment's notice — how much of their allotment have they used this month? Did their last payment go through? Will that discount be applied to the next invoice? Total transparency in the billing process — including easy-to-understand revenue models and simple access to any and all information — is critical to a successful customer experience in FinTech.
Without the Right Billing System, Simplicity Is Far from Simple
Simplicity and transparency, Messer argues, are pivotal to earning consumer trust in FinTech. However, as hybrid revenue models become more intricate—giving customers the variety of options they desire—keeping things simple and transparent gets tricky from a back-office perspective. With higher data volumes and different varieties of data in play, converting data into invoice-ready numbers is challenging. And when businesses are relying on legacy or outdated billing systems, the complexity behind the scenes can trickle out to the front office, damaging hard-earned customer trust with a needlessly complicated and murky billing experience.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. “By leveraging technology,” Messer says, “fintech companies deliver the convenience and transactional transparency that modern consumers demand.”
Where legacy systems stumble over today’s consumer demands, a sophisticated, cloud-based billing platform like Gotransverse is capable of turning even the most complex revenue models into simple, transparent user experiences. It takes a lot of work to make billing simple, but with proper end-to-end support, it’s absolutely possible. At Gotransverse, we know what's at stake every step of the way, and we pride ourselves on being the only platform FinTech companies need for transparent billing, pricing, and revenue management. We invite you to tour our platform today to learn more about how we simplify end-to-end billing for our clients in FinTech and other industries. Then, when you're ready, request a demo, and one of our experts will be in touch to walk you through our platform and processes.