SaaS Payment Integrations: Embedded Payments for Your Software

Host Merchant Services is a software company that also runs payments. Our ten Cloud Manager products run on our own payment layer, and that same layer is available to software partners.

What Embedded Payments Means

Embedded payments let you accept payments inside your software. Your customers can invoice, book, sell or collect dues, all inside your application, and get paid without leaving it. You can also benefit from a new revenue stream from payment processing. For your customers, it means cash flow they can see inside your software.

Each of your customers will have a merchant account provided by HMS and sign a merchant agreement. You never become the merchant of record and take on no underwriting or funding risk. HMS does not act as a payment facilitator; each customer has a direct merchant relationship with HMS. Payments will be processed through your application.

Five Ways to Embed Payments

No single integration fits every use case. How much of the payment process you want to control, how your customers pay you and how quickly you want to be live all shape the path.

Generally, if payments are a feature of your product, start with pay links or a hosted payment page and move to embedded fields later. If payments are the product, start with the PayAPI. If your customers sell face to face, add a semi-integrated terminal at the same time. All of the paths share PaymentCore, the in-house HMS PayAPI, so moving between them is a scoping change, not a rebuild.

HMS PayAPI: Full Control

Integrate with PaymentCore and build payment journeys into your own screens. PaymentCore supports authorizations, captures, refunds, stored credentials and scheduled payments, whether you integrate end to end or only the parts you want in your product.

Hosted Payment Page: Fastest, Smallest Scope

Your software sends the customer to an HMS-hosted page to complete the payment and receives the result. Because your systems never touch card data, this is the fastest and lightest path from a PCI perspective.

Embedded Fields: Your Interface, Our Scope

HMS-hosted fields, delivered through an iframe tokenizer, sit on your page and capture card data on HMS systems. You get a seamless interface without the burden of handling card data.

Pay Links and Invoices: No Payment UI to Build

Your software creates payment links or invoices and sends them by email or text. Customers complete the transaction on an HMS payment page, and the status is written back to your software. This is the quickest way to add a billing feature to a product.

Semi-Integrated Terminals: In Person

For face-to-face payments, your software drives Dejavoo, Clover, PAX or Valor terminals. The sale is rung up in your application and the card is read on the terminal, so the merchant never re-keys the amount and the two records match.

Existing Gateways and Direct Certification

NMI, Authorize.Net, TSYS TransIT, CardPointe or FluidPay gateway connections in your software can also be brought into the integration, if present. Direct processor certifications by TSYS or CardConnect are also supported by HMS.

Workflows You Can Offer

Once payments are embedded, your customers can accept and manage:

Card-present and card-not-present payments
Recurring payments and card-on-file payments
ACH payments
Pay links and invoices
Surcharging, where permitted by card-brand and state rules
Level 2 and Level 3 data and GSA payments
Apple Pay and Google Pay
Refunds and voids via API
Split funding

Which of these your product exposes is a scoping decision; the platform supports all of them.

Keeping Card Data Out of Your Stack

Our integrations are designed to keep card data out of your systems. This approach minimizes your PCI scope. There are two routes to reach this goal. The first route is taken by the majority of our partners. In this case, payment processing happens through PaymentCore, which is already certified to TSYS and CardConnect and other processors such as Dejavoo and Valor, so your software needs no certification of its own. The other route is taken by partners that want their own certification with TSYS or CardConnect, and HMS supports that work too. The SaaS Partner FAQ provides additional information.

Built by People Who Ship Software

We don’t just integrate software; we build it. Our Cloud Manager products run gyms, contractors, rental properties, nonprofits and event businesses on the same payments platform we offer you. The team that builds and supports your integration is the team that builds and supports those products, which is why we can offer a full test environment, white-glove integration and developer support.

How a Typical Integration Runs

Next Step

Embedded payments are one part of the partnership; the commercial side, from referral to white label, is on the SaaS & ISV Partner Program page. What your developers receive is on Developer Resources, and every platform, gateway and device is in the Payment Integrations directory.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does a SaaS integration take?

Testing can start in a day, and your first merchant can be processing in as little as one week. Timing depends on the path you select: a hosted page or pay links are quickest, and a PayAPI integration with custom screens takes longer on your side. The scope of work is defined before development, so you know what to expect.

Will we need to obtain our own processor certification?

No, processing through HMS and the PayAPI uses certifications HMS has in place with processors including TSYS, CardConnect, Dejavoo, Valor and more. Obtaining your own certification with TSYS or CardConnect is an option, not a requirement, and HMS supports that work.

Can payments be processed under our brand?

Yes. Payments can run under your brand through a white-label or private-label solution, or co-branded as “Powered by Host Merchant Services.” Your customers still hold their own merchant accounts with HMS, and your company does not present itself as the processor or bank.

Which payment methods can be processed through our application?

Payments can be processed in-app through card-present and card-not-present methods. Additionally, ACH, pay links and invoices, Level 2 and Level 3 payments, and refunds and voids can also be processed through the API. Split funding and surcharging are also supported, where permitted by card-brand and state rules.