Synching payments with back-office systems

Irvine, Calif.-based Century Business Solutions has developed payment processing technology that today serves over 10,000 U.S. and Canadian merchants. Since its founding in 2004, the company has integrated over 50 enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM) and accounting systems, as well as shopping carts including Magento and WooCommerce.

"We started out as merchant services provider and saw a need in the marketplace for streamlined payment acceptance," said Jessica Travis, vice president of marketing for Century. "A lot of these merchants were using ERP-accounting software, and once they processed the card, they'd have to manually apply everything back into their ERP- accounting software."

To eliminate the tedious task of having to manually enter the same data into multiple systems, Century initially integrated with Intuit Inc.'s QuickBooks, which enabled merchants to process credit card payments directly within their QuickBooks system. In doing so, Century recognized a greater need beyond QuickBooks and expanded its in-house development team to build out its integration portfolio.

"As of today, we have over 50 different integrations into ERPs, CRMs, accounting systems, ecommerce shopping carts, as well as our own proprietary payment gateway and mobile solutions," Travis said. "We kind of do it all. We support everything."

Gateway, portal connectivity

At the heart of Century's integrative hub is its EBizCharge payment gateway, which delivers secure, Payment Card Industry (PCI)-compliant plug-and-pay capabilities. As an additional layer, its EBizCharge Connect invoicing portal allows merchants to send invoices or links to customers via email.

"They click on the email once received and can log into EBizCharge Connect to pay off invoices," Travis said, noting that automated clearing house payments can easily be executed. "Once they've made a payment on their invoice, that payment will automatically synch back into the ERP or accounting system that our merchant is using and apply that payment to QuickBooks or Sage or whatever system that may be." Other integrations include Acumatica, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle and SAP Business One, to name several. Everyone from small operators in the transportation industry to large distribution companies can apply Century's integrated solutions to accurately manage business processes.

Century recently launched the EBizCharge Mobile app for iOS and Android. The app allows merchants to accept credit, debit and automated clearing house payments on their phone or mobile device, and it seamlessly integrates with the merchant's accounting software, the company reported. New agent-ISO program In July 2018, Century rolled out an agent and ISO program for sales offices nationwide. "As a leader in the B2B and card-not-present environment, we're excited to partner with highly successful and motivated sales professionals across the country to give small businesses access to the efficiency and cost-savings of our integrated payment solutions," said Scott McEwing, vice president of sales for Century.

Sales offices can now access Century's PCI-compliant payment gateway, mobile solutions, integrated payments and online customer bill pay portal to help merchants automate accounting workflow processes and accept payments directly into their accounting, ERP and CRM systems, and online shopping carts, Century stated. "The biggest benefit for agents out there looking to come on board is their access to our solution portfolio," Travis said. "A number of their customers do not have access to these payment integrations and merchants want these integrated solutions."

According to Century, the program offers a top-paying residual compensation plan, including generous revenue sharing, guaranteed lifetime residuals, monthly performance bonuses and timely residual payments. Sales offices are backed by a dedicated in-house agent support team, a statement analysis team, an in-house chargeback management team and 24/7 merchant support.

"They have a dedicated ISO manager to help them with everything," Travis said. "We mostly play in the small to medium business space, but we do have quite a few large accounts, especially as we integrate to some of these big ERP systems." Century provides an extensive online resource library, Travis noted.

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