For the past 10 years, Fexco payUnite has been helping its clients to grow and scale their businesses internationally by simplifying the increasingly complex payments landscape. As commerce becomes increasingly digital and global, retailers and merchants must navigate a growing range of payment methods, from credit and debit cards to mobile wallets, cryptocurrencies, and buy now, pay later (BNPL) services.
They’ve also got to comply with varying regulations across the globe including 3D Secure authentication, PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard), the second Payment Services Directive and, of course, GDPR.
As if that weren’t enough, every single transaction from a card tap for a latte to a holiday of a lifetime booking involves a complex web of gateways, processors, acquirers, banks and other actors to make it happen.
Even the slightest glitch at any point in the process can lead to unhappy customers and merchants not getting paid. Worse still, finding the point of failure is often similar to the search for a needle in a proverbial haystack.
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Thankfully, things very rarely go wrong in the immensely robust global payments system. On the other hand, its complexity adds costs both at the individual transaction level and for merchant operations in terms of payments management and analysis.
This is where Fexco payUnite comes in. “We are a payments orchestrator,” explains payUnite CEO Brian Cleary. “We are a next-generation payments company that simplifies the entire transaction lifecycle, from checkout to settlement for merchants, platforms, and partners. Payment orchestration solves challenges for merchants by acting as a command centre for payments, intelligently routing transactions, optimising costs, and centralising control. Payment orchestration has become a necessity for any merchant aiming to scale, reduce friction, and improve customer experience.”
In short, instead of dealing with multiple partners across different countries and regions, a merchant only has to deal with payUnite to manage all payments activity. “We provide a one touch modular platform to look after all of a merchant’s needs whether the customer is using Apple Pay, BNPL, a credit card or any other digital payment method,” Cleary explains. “Merchants want digital analytics, fraud screening, 3D Secure authentication and a lot of other services and we can look after all of them. They also want to be able to deal with multiple card processors and other partners, and our service manages them all.”
payUnite simplifies the entire transaction lifecycle, offering merchants and platforms a frictionless experience from the moment of purchase to final merchant settlement, he adds. “With automated reconciliation, real-time reporting, and granular control over payment flows, we remove complexity so businesses can focus on growth.”
Those services are much in demand. “The global payment orchestration market is booming,” says Cleary. “It’s projected to grow from $1.56 billion in 2024 to over $11.35 billion by 2033, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24.7 per cent. This explosive growth reflects a fundamental shift in how merchants manage payments. They are moving from fragmented systems and siloed providers to unified platforms like payUnite that streamline every transaction from checkout to settlement.”
John Faherty, head of partnerships at payUnite, explains that merchants do not set out to set up complex payment partner networks. “Typically, it happens as they grow their business and expand into new markets,” he says. “They can be forced to interface with different payment service providers in different regions, and the complexity grows from there. They have to integrate country by country and payment partner by payment partner, that’s very complex and time consuming.”
Not only do merchants have to ensure they are receiving payment for each transaction, but they need to be able to gain insights into their business from their transaction data. “Card payments exploded post-Covid,” says Cleary. “Large merchants can have millions of transactions every day. In the past, if they wanted to get a summary of all those transactions they had to go to each payment partner to bring the data together. We look after all of that at payUnite. We have invested heavily in developing a very agile merchant portal. It gives merchants a unified view of all of their transactions from all payment service providers and acquirers as well as other partners. It provides merchants with a single source of truth. payUnite offers a single point of contact for all of a merchant’s payments needs.”
It’s about choice and control for both consumers and merchants as well, says Faherty. “Merchants want to grow their revenues, that’s why they are in business,” he says. “To do that they need to allow their customers to pay any way they want. If they don’t, those customers might go elsewhere. For example, if a customer goes to the checkout page on a site and there is no Apple Pay option there, they might abandon the transaction. We work with merchants to ensure they have all those options.”
That consumer choice aspect is increasingly important, notes Faherty. “One trend we are seeing is the rapid growth in BNPL. If a consumer is making a big ticket purchase of white goods for the home or a cruise, it can make a lot of sense to pay for this through BNPL which typically doesn’t charge any additional fees or interest if payments are made within a certain time frame i.e. 3 instalments. If a merchant doesn’t offer that facility they could be losing business. That’s why we’ve partnered with Affirm, a leading BNPL provider in North America which is now expanding into the UK and other markets.”
“Consumers are increasingly prioritising travel plans without sacrificing quality or convenience,” says Ruth Spratt, UK country manager with Affirm. “By partnering with Fexco payUnite, we’re able to support more merchants across North America and the UK and beyond, offering their customers the choice and flexibility they’re looking for at checkout, without any late or hidden fees.”
Merchants may want to work with certain partners in particular geographies. “They could have arrangements on price or for additional services,” says Cleary. “We work with all of our customers’ existing partners and can arrange new service providers if they wish. The merchant is in control at all times. The payUnite platform, modular by its very nature is built for collaboration , , ease of integration, and the flexibility to connect with the tools and services merchants already use. Whether they’re embedding payments into software or scaling across channels, payUnite makes it seamless.”
The company’s success is firmly based on its understanding of the specific needs of its merchant customers along with parent company Fexco’s long heritage and reputation for excellence in global payments.
“payUnite is backed by the trust and legacy of Fexco, with decades of experience delivering secure, scalable payment solutions,” says Cleary. “With over 44 years in payments, nearly 3,000 colleagues worldwide, and operations in over 50 countries, Fexco processes over €37 billion in transactions. We’re proud to be part of the next wave of global fintech innovation, rooted in Ireland, built for the world.”
payUnite quickly established itself as an innovator in the payments orchestration field following its establishment a decade ago. “One of our first clients was Norwegian Cruise Line,” Cleary continues. “They wanted to be able to take payments onboard ship, and we developed the solution for them. Since then, we have grown to be the market leader in the cruise space with 35 per cent of the market in terms of transaction volume and still growing. We pride ourselves on developing an understanding of industry needs and developing solutions tailored to meet them.
“Our partnerships with market leaders like Affirm underscore our commitment to helping merchants in retail, hospitality, and travel deliver exceptional customer experiences through flexible, secure, and high-performance payment solutions,” Cleary concludes. “At Fexco payUnite, our mission is simple: use our innovative technology to make payments easier for businesses and their customers. We deliver secure, flexible solutions that give people real choice and convenience in how they pay. Because when payments work seamlessly, everyone wins”
