Monetizing payments is a game-changer for software platforms. What used to be a cost center can now drive real revenue, but only if you approach it in the right way. How you design the payment experience matters; the decisions you make can directly affect how users interact with your software — and whether they stick around or drop off before completing a key action.
In this article, we’ll dig into how payment integration can impact user drop-off: where it tends to happen, what might be causing friction, and how to fix it. We’ll break down the most common drop-off points related to payments and offer practical ways to smooth out the experience — so you can boost engagement and keep users moving forward.
Potential User Drop-Off Points in Software-Driven Payments
User drop-off measures how many people start an action versus how many follow through with it. In payments, that might mean tracking how many users begin filling out a sign-up form compared to how many actually hit submit.
Some drop-off causes are in your control — things like confusing workflows, clunky interfaces or vague documentation. But one major factor isn’t: external distractions.
We’re all bombarded with them — notifications, texts, pop-ups and other real-world interruptions. The moment a user has to leave your platform to complete a task, especially when opening a new browser, the chance of losing their attention spikes. That’s why it’s critical to keep the experience inside your software as much as possible.
In software-led payments, there are three key moments when users may have to leave your platform. Each one creates a window for distraction — and a risk of drop-off:
- Signing up for payment services
- Accessing reporting
- Checking out
Payment Sign-up
If you’re monetizing payments and reselling merchant services, sign-up and onboarding are critical processes that present a drop-off risk right at step one of the payments journey.
Signing up for payments requires users to input a lot of information, making it a high-friction task. You have two choices for how you integrate the sign-up experience:
- Using in-software forms that are baked directly into your platform
- Redirecting users to sign-up forms hosted on an external website
Option two is the fastest, cheapest and most convenient way to get your sign-up forms up and running. It’s a great choice for companies just beginning their payments journey. But, it also forces users out of your software and onto the web, where they might be tempted to abandon their sign-up for some other distraction. In the worst case, they could start researching a competitor.
Reporting Portals
Reporting is another common point where users are often forced onto an external website. Most reporting portals are full-featured applications, so building complete payment reporting suites into a platform can be complex and expensive.
Using external portals makes a lot of sense when offering users in-depth reporting and account management tools. But it comes with a tradeoff. Every time users leave your software, they’re forced to switch contexts — and that moment of friction can lead to drop-off. Understanding when and why that happens is key to keeping users engaged.
External Checkout
One final point in the payments process to watch is the checkout. If you sell products or services to your users that require immediate payment, how they check out can impact drop-off rates. In the payments industry, this is known as cart abandonment.
Using an external checkout system that redirects users to a new browser tab to pay adds friction and increases the risk of cart abandonment. Alternately, keeping the payment flow inside your software helps reduce that risk and creates a smoother, more focused experience.
Keeping Your Users Engaged During Payment Tasks
The best way to minimize payments-related drop-offs is to avoid redirecting your users out of your software. That means embedding as much of the payments experience as possible directly into your platform.
However, building everything from scratch isn’t always realistic — especially for companies just starting out with embedded payments. Coding complex integrations takes time, resources and the right team.
When you can’t (or don’t want to) build something in-house, the next best move is to white-label the experience. For example, the right partner will allow you to seamlessly apply your logo, colors and custom messaging to your onboarding, support and checkout pages. Branding these touchpoints to match your platform reduces context switching and makes the transition feel seamless.
Choose Embedded or API-Driven Payment Integrations
Although white-labeling can improve an external checkout experience, the best way to keep users engaged is to bring as much of the payments experience into your platform as possible.
The first and easiest way to build internal payment integrations is with low-code options. For instance, embedded forms can be integrated into your software using pre-written code provided by your payments partner. This is a low-cost, low-friction way to keep users inside your software and streamline their experience without overloading your team with complex, custom builds.
You can also use application program interface (API) connections to build fully optimized, custom experiences that are tailored to your users’ specific needs. Going custom also allows you to use advanced features, like reusing data you’ve already collected, to minimize the number of fields a user needs to complete during sign-up.
Low-code and API-driven integrations can be applied to sign-up, reporting dashboards and the checkout experience. Which route you choose for each depends on the level of control you need, your internal resources and expertise and how much ownership you want to take over your payments business. But, even if you don’t have the internal team to build these solutions, the right partner can offer implementation support or plug-and-play templates to get you started.
Ensure All External Experiences Are Properly Branded
There are plenty of good reasons to choose a fast, turnkey option like a partner-hosted sign-up or checkout page. Maybe you’re a startup looking to launch quickly and start monetizing payments. Maybe you want to test the waters before investing in a custom build. Or maybe you just want to keep things simple so your team can stay focused on your core product.
Redirecting users to an external site can be a smart move — but only if the experience feels seamless.
If a user is redirected to an experience hosted by your payments provider and they don’t see your branding, it can be jarring. When an experience feels unfamiliar, users may hesitate — unsure where they are or whether they’re still on the right track. The goal is to keep them focused, and nothing will undermine that faster than a disjointed experience.
That’s why it’s critical to white-label any externally hosted payment journey. Make sure it looks and feels like part of your platform with your branding, language and design. A cohesive experience builds trust and reduces drop-off, helping users stay on track from start to finish.
Finding the Flexibility To Create Your Ideal Payments Experience
As a development company, your focus is on creating great software. One of the most important parts of a great integration is having the flexibility to choose how you embed payments in a way that makes the most sense for your company and users.
To ensure you always have that flexibility and choice, you need a payment processing partner that offers the widest possible set of products and integration options. That partner is NMI.
NMI offers flexible, one-stop access to everything you need to monetize software payments. And because we understand that your platform and your needs are unique, all of our solutions are fully modular and highly flexible. Whether you want to move fast with no-code tools or build something custom from the ground up, you can tailor the integration to fit your business.
To find out more about how NMI Payments can help you build sticky, user-friendly software payments, reach out to a member of our team today.