Guide: Integration options on Stitch card

Although card payments remain the most popular payment method for online payments, the card payment landscape is constantly evolving. 

At Stitch, we understand that enterprise businesses have complex and often unique payments requirements, especially when it comes to their card payment gateway. One of our core promises is that clients get flexibility and customisation when they work with Stitch. We offer multiple options for clients to integrate card payments on their platform, depending on their goals and particular use case.

Here is a quick breakdown of card integration options clients can get with Stitch:

Hosted Payment Pages (HPP)

This option includes a designed, highly optimised payments page hosted by Stitch - SafeLink. Clients have the option to whitelabel SafeLink with their brand colors and logo on the page, or leverage Stitch branding. 

To make a payment on a hosted page, customers are redirected to SafeLink. 

Pros:

This can be beneficial for merchants as they can leverage Stitch to meet PCI compliance standards. It’s also relatively quick to implement compared to other integration options and can be white labelled easily. 

Cons:

The redirect can create a less than seamless customer journey, as a user is required to redirect to an external screen or view the payment page within an iframe.. This also limits the amount of customisation around the user experience. 

Secure Fields (Embedded Fields)

This option includes payment fields (i.e. fields that allow customers to enter their card payment details) which are embedded on to the merchant’s site or mobile application but still managed by Stitch. 

Pros:

This can be a “best of both worlds” option as it also enables the merchant to leverage Stitch to meet PCI compliance standards, and it offers a more seamless user journey in which the user does not feel like they are being directed to a new page. It also enables full design customisation, which makes for a more consistent purchasing journey for the end user.

Cons:

Embedded fields do require slightly more integration work than a hosted payment page, and would need to be optimised by the merchant.

Direct API Integration

If a merchant wishes to leverage a Direct API integration, their own system is used to collect raw PAN details and send card information directly to Stitch via API.

Pros:

This option offers full control over the user interface and a highly customisable integration, resulting in a smoother and more branded customer experience that is consistent with the rest of their buying journey so far. 

Cons:

However, merchants using this method are required to be fully PCI compliant themselves, and have increased PCI compliance responsibilities. This option is also more complex to implement and maintain. 

Beyond choosing the right integration option for you, choosing the right PSP is equally important. Stitch offers all three integration options, allowing merchants to choose which one best suits their needs. Merchants can choose to leverage our optimised, pre-built card payment flows that move customers from sign up to transaction quickly, or choose to leverage secure fields or direct API integrations to maintain elements of their own UI.

Why choose Stitch for online card payments

• Built-in redundancies: We’ve built redundancies into our system by integrating with multiple backup acquirers and providers at every step of the process. If one provider fails, Stitch automatically switches to another, ensuring uninterrupted service and high conversion rates for merchants.
• Direct connections with banks: Thanks to our custom-built ‘switch and transaction engine’ and direct relationships with major banks in South Africa, we’re able to directly communicate with banks, facilitating faster responses to market changes, regulatory updates and evolving messaging requirements.
• Own your network tokens: With Stitch, merchants have control over their tokenised cardholder data, giving them the freedom to easily move card payment processors without lock-in, enable recurring payments and easily update expired or lost cards.
• Flexible 3DS protocols: Stitch assists merchants in navigating 3DS authentication, balancing optimisation of a seamless user experience with fraud prevention.