Oscar Nieboer CMO Paysafe Group Security has overtaken reliability and cost as the top priority for businesses when selecting a PSP Heres why There is a genuine belief globally that online goliaths such as Amazon with the financial and human resources at their disposal to be at the cutting edge of all and any industry it chooses have their eyes fixed on running every small competitor out of business the online businesses that cannot keep pace with the latest innovations in customer experience will fall away as their market consolidates To discover how businesses are reacting to this threat we asked over 600 SMBs from across Europe and North America accepting payments online to tell us how they are planning to futureproof their businesses in the face of a rapidly changing ecosystem and with eCommerce powerhouses looming over their shoulders Choice is fundamental at the checkout of tomorrow One major takeaway from our Lost in Transaction The future of payments for SMBs research is that online businesses are committed to giving consumers more flexibility when it comes to the method for making a payment According to our survey 75 of online businesses agree that increasing the number of payment methods they offer at the checkout is essential to success This is a recognition that the payments ecosystem is fragmenting with consumer payment preferences dissipating beyond traditional card payments to numerous alternative payment solutions Online businesses currently offer four payment methods on average but this is predicted to rise to six within two years The alternative payment methods we expect to feature more regularly at the checkout after this time include online cash replacement systems payments by instalment and subscription payments In the era of seamless payments security trumps everything else Online businesses are aware of the pressure to create a seamless payments experience but over half 52 of them also believe that reducing friction in the payments process exposes them to a greater risk of facilitating fraud 74 believe fraudsters are targeting online businesses more than they were this time last year in any case and 55 acknowledge that online card fraud is an increasing problem for them So its not surprising that security is now the primary factor online SMBs take into consider when selecting which payment service providers PSPs to partner with 59 of businesses list security as a key consideration ahead of reliability 49 and cost 47 This is a direct response to the need to implement friction free payments in a secure way to remain competitive 81 of businesses place the responsibility for protecting against fraud at the door of their PSP and 70 acknowledge they are finding it hard to determine the balance between improving security processes whilst making the customer journey as seamless as possible Overcoming this hurdle is the critical step to futureproofing for an online merchant which is why it is such a critical consideration factor when selecting a payments partner To discover more about the top SMB opportunities and concerns with payments download Lost in Transaction The future of payments for SMBs now