How a Smart Payment Agreement Works

Businesses can safely stop micromanaging their recurring revenue and grow it instead, whilst payers can successfully start managing their automated payments.

Smart Payment Agreements make sure that every automated transaction carries enduring authority under the agreement before it is processed, and that both business and payer have access to a range of functions – all aimed at amping up the successful ongoing payments.

A Smart Payment Agreement metaphor with a watering can watering little plants growing money

Every Smart Payment Agreement™ is made up of 3 core elements

1

Strong Payer Authority

Strong Payer Authority is achieved by verifying and authenticating the payer, capturing and logging payment method consent and attaching that consent to explicit approval of the Agreement Structure.

Each Smart Payment Agreement has a unique Agreement Token – called a SPAID# which holds the Agreement Structure and Payer Authority

This ensures that enduring authority is linked to each transaction through the life of the agreement which protects the payer and the business from unexpected payments, mistaken payments, fraud and payment disputes.

Each SPAID# has its own dedicated digital Event Log or Agreement Timeline which captures the payer authority and all other events that occur over the agreement lifespan such as payment events, updates and payer-initiated actions.

Agreement Structure & Guardrails

2

The Agreement Structure acts as the guardrails for each payment that will occur throughout the life of the Smart Payment Agreement. No transaction that falls outside of the guardrails will be processed.

A Smart Payment Agreement uniquely considers each payment in isolation and within the context of previous events that have occurred during the lifetime of the Agreement– including accumulative value processed and failed payments or accrued arrears.

Each transaction can be traced back to Agreement Token (SPAID#) which holds the Agreement Structure and Payer Authority.

This protects payers from paying more than they agreed and businesses from disputed payments.

3

Agreement Settings & Functions

Businesses benefit from a range of process automations – including customer care, failed payment management and automated reporting and reconciliation. Businesses may also set 'rules' that allow payers to self-manage their SPAs.

Payers may access a range of functions to manage their SPAs and their finances – including managing their payment methods and, if the business rules allow, paying in advance, self-recovery of failed payments and selecting ideal payment days.

Smart Payment Agreements serve both businesses and their payers so that both parties can have a better experience and can rely on more successful payments.

These interactions are all logged on the SPA Event timeline.

The inside info

How Smart Payment Agreements benefit your team

🙌  Customer Success  ⤵︎🧾  Finance  ⤵︎👷 Operations  ⤵︎👮  Security & Compliance  ⤵︎🚧  Technology  ⤵︎

ForCustomer Success

The payer portal delivers transparency, self-management capabilities and an industry-leading customer experience.

  • Payer self-management functions significantly reduce customer care costs.
  • Payers have full transparency over the life of their Smart Payment Agreement – from onboarding through to completion – bringing trust and confidence.
  • Payers can manage their agreement to suit their circumstances. If business rules allow, payers can set their own payment days, change payment dates and even pay in advance.
  • Payers can update their Active Payment Method on their Agreement without needing to contact customer support.
  • Payers can approve any additional payments that come up.
  • Payers can self-recover any failed payments using Grace Periods.
  • Smart Payment Agreements work on all payment types – from traditional payment types like direct debit, cards or BPAY to new payment types like real-time payments.
  • Smart Payment Agreements keep your brand at the centre of your payers’ experience.

Customer Success

Compound Noun

cus·to·mer suc·cess | /ˈkʌs.tə.mɚ səkˈsɛs/
  • The team that ensures customers don’t just use the product—they love it, understand it, and probably send thank-you notes (if only they knew how).

For Finance

Prioritise cash-flow and significantly reduce costs associated with recurring payment management.

  • Smart Failed Payment recovery prioritises cash-flow whilst protecting the business-customer relationship through Grace Periods, Smart Retries and Recovery Plan settings.
  • Payer self-management functions significantly reduce customer care costs.
  • A single experience and source of truth for all payment methods unburdens finance, product and customer care teams.
  • Rich reporting capabilities across transactions and agreements.
  • Protect your business from payment disputes with Strong Payer Authority logs.
  • Smart Payment Agreements mean you and your customers are ready to take advantage of real-time payments – like PayTo.

Finance

Noun

fi·nance | /ˈfaɪnæns/ or /fəˈnæns/
  • The team that keeps the company’s wallet in check, ensuring there’s enough money for growth, operations, and the occasional overpriced team-building event.

For Operations

Customise Smart Payment Agreements for your needs and eliminate the need to micromanage payment processes.

  • Automated and safe payment processing creates efficiencies and increases payment success.
  • Payer self-management functions significantly reduce customer care costs.
  • A single experience and source of truth for all payment methods unburdens finance, product and customer care teams.
  • Protect your business from exposure to your customer’s sensitive payment details such as bank account or card numbers. The Smart Payment Agreement ensures zero knowledge processing – uplifting payment compliance.
  • Smart Payment Agreements keep your brand at the centre of your payers’ experience.
  • Smart Payment Agreements mean you and your customers are ready to take advantage of real-time payments – like PayTo.
  • Smart Payment Agreements work on all payment types – from traditional payment types like direct debit, cards or BPAY to new payment types like real-time payments.

Operations

Common noun

op·er·a·tions | /ˌɒpəˈreɪʃənz/
  • The department that keeps the company from falling into chaos by making sure everything runs smoothly—like a well-oiled machine, but with fewer oil stains and more spreadsheets.

ForSecurity & Compliance

Paypa Plane maintains SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO27001 accreditation and meet even the most stringent of vendor due diligence requirements.

  • Protect your business from exposure to your customer’s sensitive payment details such as bank account or card numbers. The Smart Payment Agreement ensures zero knowledge processing – uplifting payment compliance.
  • For more information about our approach to security please visit our detailed Security Information.

Security & Compliance

Plural noun

se·cu·ri·ty & com·pli·ance | /sɪˈkjʊərɪti ənd kəmˈplaɪəns/
  • The team dedicated to safeguarding the company’s operations and reputation by ensuring policies are followed, risks are minimised, and standards are met—without breaking a sweat (most of the time).

ForTechnology

Built on our proprietary events-driven system, Smart Payment Agreements can be accessed via rich APIs or a fully serviced white-label platform.

  • Architecture engineered for scalability and resilience, meeting the diverse demands of a range of clients – including banks, listed companies and businesses.
  • Leveraging Azure's cloud infrastructure, we dynamically allocate resources to adapt to fluctuating demands, ensuring consistent performance and reliability.
  • For more information on the technical framework underpinning Paypa Plane’s Smart Payment Agreements platform, you can request a copy of our Technical Architecture Overview.

Technology

Noun

tech·nol·o·gy | /tekˈnäləjē/
  • The department that turns ambitious ideas into reality, keeps the company’s digital world spinning, and gently reminds everyone that Wi-Fi doesn’t fix itself.

The inside info

Our Platform

Our architecture is engineered for scalability and resilience, meeting the diverse demands of a range of clients – including banks, listed companies and private enterprise.

Leveraging Azure's cloud infrastructure, we dynamically allocate resources to adapt to fluctuating demands, ensuring consistent performance and unwavering reliability.

For more information on the technical framework underpinning Paypa Plane’s Smart Payment Agreements platform, you can request a copy of our Technical Architecture Overview.