What is payment orchestration?

Quite simply, it’s all in the name. In the same way an orchestra is a number of individual instruments that are played together to produce a perfect harmony, the underlying infrastructure of a payment orchestrator will bring together a number of companies providing a successful symphony.

But what does that mean?

Well, let’s use Tribe as an example. Tribe acts as an infrastructure orchestrator – we have customer facing technology that is also designed for use at the back end. The principal design is to reduce aggravation to customers - both ours and yours - and deliver a richer, more seamless, experience. Tribe’s Digital Banking solution is at the heart of this, which is bringing together a fragmented market – and, crucially, it’s a quick route to market for those looking to deliver multiple pieces of technology.

Tribe's Digital Banking solution combines front-end wallet capabilities for end users to manage cards, bank transfers and crypto payments with back-end functionality that supports banking services.

With Tribe’s technology, you can:

• Get to market fast

• Support customer choice

• Customise your programme

• Fight fraud

• Accept payments

• Simplify processes - if you don’t have the right licences in place, we can seamlessly connect you with one of our partners

• Stay compliant - give users a PCI compliant card experience

Payment orchestration is not wed to a traditional generation of payments. The idea it has to focus on a four-party model is not true; it’s about the aggregation of relevant products.

“Ultimately it’s malleable, which in a hyper personalised, hyper contextualised market, is a requirement of the value chain,” says Tribe MD, Alex Reddish. “Nowadays, a customer expects a more relevant, more personal digital experience, payment orchestration is a necessity to allow the infrastructure to replicate the needs and wants of the end user.

“Your orchestration layer needs to be a modular business because – to use the obvious analogy – the music changes. You need to have a system that allows for new instruments, which in our case is new products, regulations, verticals, markets, and so on.”

What goes around…

It’s often said how fashion is cyclical – and we’re seeing something similar happen in fintech. Previously there was a clamour for large businesses to spread their tentacles and try to each become all-in-one providers thus trying to cater for every need possible. Then there was the great unbundling, and the rise of fintechs – which sought to take advantage of regulators looking to break up monopolistic companies, and also to provide a specific service at a higher level of quality thanks to being dedicated to it, rather than it being an afterthought. 

What we’re now seeing is somewhat of a re-bundling – and that’s exactly where payment orchestration comes in. It’s not quite a case of the big fish eating the little ones, but rather a series of fintechs partnering up with one another.

But what’s on the horizon? Service orchestration is currently in its infancy but it has the potential to be a real (fintech cliché buzzword coming up) disruptor in the sector. Tribe has previously examined XaaS, and the potential rise of agency-style companies that aggregate service-led fintechs and provide packages solutions for customers, which would further reduce friction, although whether it will remains up for debate.

How can Tribe help you?

We can deliver a white-label digital bank in weeks. In an ever-changing world with new regulations and increasing digitisation, you don’t have time to waste getting your payments system off the ground and creating a bespoke solution that will suit your customers and their needs. 

Allow Tribe to handle what we know best, so you can focus on what you know best, and we can help both you and your customers flourish. Differentiate your payments programme fast by adding digital banking and wallet functionality. Book a meeting and find out more here.