New Payment Features Released: Instant Apple Pay Activation and Fee-Based Monetisation

In a global digital economy where user experience drives customer loyalty, businesses are constantly challenged to optimise every step of the transaction journey. Among the most critical of these steps is the ability to accept fast, secure, and flexible payments that meet the preferences of a diverse customer base. Payment infrastructure, once seen as a backend utility, has now evolved into a strategic element of business operations.

Modern merchants are no longer satisfied with simply offering credit card payments. They now seek solutions that support mobile wallets, dynamic regional preferences, and flexible APIs. They also expect speed, automation, and autonomy when integrating or updating these systems. A recent upgrade to the way mobile wallets and global card networks are supported reflects this shift—enabling more businesses to keep pace with digital commerce expectations.

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Activating Mobile Wallets with Greater Efficiency

One of the most impactful changes in recent months is the streamlined activation of a popular mobile wallet through a self-service API. This development moves away from traditional manual processes and puts control directly into the hands of businesses and developers. Previously, enabling mobile wallet payments often required backend intervention, prolonged email chains, and custom setup assistance. For many companies, this meant delays in offering a seamless checkout experience.

With the new update, activation of this mobile wallet is no longer dependent on external support. Businesses can now activate the feature through an API call, with minimal steps and fast results. This empowers them to experiment with new payment strategies, respond to consumer trends, and optimize conversion without having to navigate administrative friction.

Plugin-Based Merchants Unlock Instant Activation

For merchants operating on plugin platforms such as WooCommerce, ease of use is a top priority. These platforms often support small to medium-sized businesses that do not maintain large IT departments or development teams. With the self-service activation method, plugin users can now enable mobile wallet payments instantly. This process is as straightforward as enabling any other standard payment option through their dashboard.

This change allows merchants to deploy mobile wallets in high-traffic moments such as seasonal sales, flash promotions, or product launches, where faster payment methods can reduce cart abandonment. It also encourages experimentation, letting businesses switch features on or off depending on shopper preference, rather than being bound by static configurations or long implementation timelines.

Dynamic Domain Management for API Users

Developers and companies using core APIs to manage their payment stack benefit even further. The new capability extends beyond just activation—it introduces improved domain management. Domains previously used for mobile wallet verification can now be retired, recycled, or replaced within the same merchant account. This means businesses do not have to create new merchant profiles or request additional manual verification when updating domain infrastructure.

Such a change is critical for companies operating across multiple digital properties. For example, an online retailer might run multiple regional storefronts with unique domains. As the business evolves, these domains might shift, merge, or be retired. With the updated system, these changes can be made dynamically without reconfiguring payment permissions from scratch.

Domain management is a foundational part of mobile wallet security. By allowing this flexibility within a secure API framework, businesses maintain full control while remaining compliant with digital wallet protocols. It reduces the burden on IT teams and eliminates a once-frustrating barrier to agile development.

Embedded Payment Activation for Platforms

Platforms offering embedded financial services now benefit from one of the most forward-looking improvements: the ability to enable wallet-based payments on behalf of their merchants. This marks a major leap in embedded finance capability. Instead of requiring individual merchants to apply for mobile wallet access or complete technical setup, the platform can now activate the functionality across its network of users.

This shift is significant for industries like marketplaces, business tools, or SaaS providers where financial features are baked into the platform experience. It allows these platforms to offer payments as a default part of their solution, not as a complicated add-on.

From a growth standpoint, this makes onboarding smoother and more compelling for end users. From a technical standpoint, it simplifies the codebase by allowing centralised configuration rather than per-merchant complexity. From a revenue standpoint, faster activation can mean more transactions processed through preferred, low-friction channels.

Eliminating the Delays in Traditional Activation

Manual wallet activation processes used to require submitting business documentation, waiting for approval, and often coordinating with multiple support agents. For businesses operating in multiple markets, this process had to be repeated each time a new storefront or region was added.

The self-service approach reimagines this experience. Now, businesses can launch a new product or enter a new geography with the wallet functionality already enabled. There’s no waiting period, no approvals, and no dependencies on external support. Activation is handled programmatically, so businesses with global ambitions or complex infrastructures can move at the speed they need.

Preparing for Broader Card Acceptance

While mobile wallets deliver convenience for digital shoppers, credit cards remain essential for international commerce. In particular, cards issued under networks such as Discover and Diners Club are heavily used by US-based consumers. These networks have long been popular among travelers, business professionals, and high-spending customers who value wide acceptance and premium service benefits.

For merchants operating outside the US—especially in Asia-Pacific and Europe—supporting these card types can open up new revenue channels. Whether selling to tourists, handling international bookings, or shipping physical goods across borders, enabling Discover and Diners Club acceptance is a practical way to reduce transaction declines and boost confidence among overseas shoppers.

Enhancing Authorisation Rates with Additional Card Networks

When international customers are unable to use their preferred card, it can lead to frustration, cart abandonment, or even loss of long-term trust in the merchant. Worse, failed authorisations can carry indirect consequences, such as reduced transaction throughput or lower placement in search engines and marketplaces.

By expanding card acceptance to include Discover and Diners Club, merchants can improve authorisation rates and offer a more inclusive checkout process. These networks offer their own security protocols, fraud protection tools, and loyalty rewards—elements that influence user preference and repeat purchases.

Supporting more networks also helps businesses qualify as global-ready sellers. Even if the current customer base is local, future expansion into new territories will be easier with a payment setup already tailored for diverse needs.

Rollout Strategy for Global Enablement

The upcoming support for additional card networks will be introduced through a phased rollout. This ensures that technical, regulatory, and compliance requirements are met in each participating region before full deployment.

Merchants in eligible countries will be notified when the feature becomes available and can opt in directly or work with their account representative for implementation assistance. This gradual rollout strategy helps address regional differences in banking infrastructure, transaction security standards, and compliance frameworks.

Early adopters can take advantage of support resources and real-time feedback mechanisms to guide setup and testing. Businesses that frequently serve US travelers or rely on cross-border commerce are especially encouraged to prepare for this addition.

Extending Value Across Payment Scenarios

When looking at payment acceptance holistically, supporting multiple networks and activation methods goes beyond transaction processing—it touches user experience, global expansion strategy, fraud management, and even conversion optimization.

For example, a travel booking platform operating in Australia can now accept Discover cards from US customers while offering instant Apple Pay activation through WooCommerce. A fashion retailer in France might enable mobile wallets for seamless checkout on Shopify, while preparing to accept Diners Club from international shoppers during the holiday season. In both cases, the merchant is responding to customer needs without reworking their entire infrastructure.

This kind of flexibility is crucial in competitive sectors. Payment preferences can differ drastically by region, demographic, or even purchase category. Having tools that accommodate these nuances quickly and reliably is key to success.

Powering Merchant Growth Through Self-Service

The move toward self-service activation and broader card acceptance is more than just a technical upgrade—it reflects a larger shift in how merchants want to manage their operations. Businesses increasingly prefer platforms that offer autonomy, fast setup, and customisability without long delays or manual steps.

This is especially true for teams that operate globally or have rapid deployment cycles. Marketing teams want to launch payment methods in sync with campaigns. Engineering teams want to simplify integrations and minimise custom logic. Finance teams want clear visibility into accepted payment methods and associated processing costs.

By introducing these new capabilities, payment providers are meeting merchants where they are—delivering the tools needed to manage, optimize, and scale payment experiences without barriers.

Shift Toward Embedded Monetisation Models

As platforms evolve beyond service providers into integrated financial ecosystems, the ability to monetise payment flows and transactional services is becoming essential. Traditional models of software revenue—often based on licensing or subscription fees—are giving way to more dynamic pricing mechanisms that respond to how users engage with financial products in real time.

For companies offering financial tools, business management platforms, marketplaces, or any kind of embedded finance solution, monetisation now sits at the heart of the platform experience. This means having the infrastructure to charge transaction-based fees, collect service markups, and manage revenue streams automatically, all while maintaining visibility and control.

The introduction of application fee functionality represents a significant step toward operationalising this revenue potential. With it, platforms can generate income on a per-transaction basis—without requiring complex billing engines or custom accounting layers.

Transactional Revenue as a Built-In Feature

One of the key advantages of modern payment infrastructure is the ability to generate fees directly at the point of transaction. Rather than billing customers later for access to premium features, platforms can collect revenue in real time as services are consumed. This creates a more accurate and scalable monetisation engine.

For instance, a platform that enables global payouts for freelancers can now apply a payout markup automatically. Each time a payment is processed, the platform fee is deducted and recorded—without manual intervention. Similarly, when a business performs foreign exchange conversions within the platform, a custom fee can be added directly to the conversion spread.

These kinds of event-driven fees create a better alignment between platform value and platform revenue. Users only pay when they use services, while providers enjoy a more predictable and incremental income stream.

Monetisation Use Cases Across Platform Types

The flexibility of transaction-level monetisation applies to a wide variety of business models. Marketplaces, SaaS platforms, and financial service providers can all benefit from custom fee logic tailored to their specific operations.

In the case of marketplaces, platforms can charge a percentage of each transaction that passes through the system. Whether it’s a sale, booking, or reservation, the fee structure can be applied evenly and consistently. This reduces friction during settlement and eliminates the need for separate invoicing cycles.

For SaaS tools with embedded banking or payment capabilities, monetisation can be more nuanced. Platforms may choose to apply small service charges on top of currency conversions, payment processing, or wallet top-ups. These charges can reflect the value-add the platform delivers—such as improved rates, added analytics, or built-in compliance.

Even corporate platforms offering treasury management or vendor payments can benefit. By layering application fees into internal tools, these providers ensure that every action within their ecosystem contributes to a sustainable revenue model.

Real-Time Fee Collection and Transparent Reporting

The cornerstone of effective monetisation is transparency—not just for the platform, but also for end users. Real-time fee collection ensures that revenue is recognised as soon as the transaction occurs, while automated reporting provides a clear breakdown of all fees applied.

This eliminates delays between service delivery and revenue recognition, improving cash flow and simplifying financial forecasting. At the same time, detailed reporting allows platforms to reconcile revenue by type, service, user, or location.

Transparency is also a compliance requirement in many jurisdictions. Platforms must be able to demonstrate the rationale behind each fee, show when and where it was applied, and confirm that users were made aware of the cost structure. The ability to automatically log and report these details at scale makes compliance much easier to manage.

Configuring Application Fees Through APIs

For development teams, the ability to configure and update application fees through APIs allows for seamless integration into the existing backend architecture. Fees can be set dynamically based on variables such as transaction volume, customer tier, currency, or country.

The API-first approach supports:

  • Flat fees per transaction (e.g., $0.50 for each payout)
  • Percentage-based fees (e.g., 1.5% of total transaction value)
  • Conditional fees (e.g., different rates for high-risk regions or high-value users)
  • Multi-currency support (e.g., fees applied in USD, EUR, GBP, etc.)

This makes it easier to tailor pricing models to different user segments or use cases. For example, a professional-grade subscription tier might offer reduced fees or cap fees after a certain usage threshold. Meanwhile, entry-level users might operate under a higher base fee as they explore the platform’s capabilities. With full API access, these rules can be deployed, updated, or tested in real time without causing service disruption.

Supporting Fees in Multiple Currencies

Monetising global operations requires the ability to collect and reconcile fees in various currencies. This is especially important for platforms with international user bases or cross-border workflows. Fees should reflect the transaction currency to avoid additional friction for users or additional conversion costs for the platform.

The support for multi-currency fee collection ensures that charges can be applied accurately in any supported currency. This is critical not only for user trust, but also for accurate settlement and financial reporting. When fees are collected in the same currency as the underlying transaction, businesses avoid FX mismatches, simplify tax reporting, and streamline reconciliation.

Moreover, the ability to specify currency at the fee level enables regional pricing strategies. Platforms can offer localised pricing that adapts to economic context, regulatory conditions, or competitive landscape. It also opens the door for advanced strategies like currency-based discounts or regional incentives.

Automating Fee Settlement and Revenue Flows

Once fees are collected, they must be routed to the appropriate accounts and made visible to finance teams. Fee settlement automation ensures that funds are moved into designated revenue accounts without delay. This simplifies treasury operations and ensures financial compliance.

For growing platforms, automating fee settlement also prevents bottlenecks. As transaction volume increases, manual processes break down. Delays, errors, and reconciliation failures can eat into profit margins or introduce audit risks. With automated settlement logic in place, every fee is directed, recorded, and categorised in a consistent way.

In practice, this might look like revenue from conversion fees being routed to one account, while payout markups are routed to another. These accounts can then be monitored independently, providing deeper insight into product performance and user behaviour.

Visibility Across Revenue Channels

As platforms introduce multiple monetisation strategies—each with its own pricing model and target audience—the importance of clear reporting becomes paramount. Finance and operations teams need access to real-time dashboards and exportable summaries to manage the business effectively.

With integrated reporting, platforms can track:

  • Total fees collected by type
  • Revenue breakdowns by product or region
  • User-level fee performance
  • Net revenue after fees, costs, and refunds

This data not only informs strategic decisions, but also supports investor reporting, compliance reviews, and internal audits. The ability to attribute every cent of revenue to a corresponding transaction provides unmatched control over the financial lifecycle.

Enabling Tiered Pricing Models

A powerful use of application fee control is the implementation of tiered pricing. As users grow their transaction volume or upgrade to premium services, the platform can reduce their fees automatically.

Tiered pricing is not only a revenue optimisation tool—it’s a loyalty driver. Users who see a clear benefit to increasing their usage are more likely to stick with the platform and expand their footprint over time. This creates a virtuous cycle where higher engagement drives lower costs, which in turn encourages more engagement.

Implementation of tiered pricing through APIs can be rule-based or data-driven. For example, after a user crosses 1,000 transactions per month, the platform might lower the fee percentage from 2% to 1.2%. Or after reaching $100,000 in processed volume, a flat discount might be applied. This flexibility enables creative pricing models that reflect the true value exchange between platform and user.

Aligning Monetisation with Platform Value

A common challenge with traditional monetisation strategies is misalignment. Users are charged monthly, even if they don’t actively use the platform. Features are gated arbitrarily, leading to frustration. Or fees are hidden, reducing trust.

By tying monetisation directly to usage—particularly usage that delivers real value—platforms build stronger relationships with their customers. A small fee on each successful payout is easier to justify than a high subscription fee for uncertain results. A transparent FX markup is better received than a vague “service charge” applied after the fact.

This alignment also supports experimentation. Platforms can test different fee structures, assess their impact on usage or conversion, and iterate rapidly. Monetisation becomes a fluid part of product development, not a separate finance concern.

Unlocking Sustainable Platform Growth

As embedded finance becomes more central to software platforms, the ability to control, automate, and optimise monetisation will separate market leaders from the rest. Platforms that can charge intelligently for the services they enable will be able to reinvest in innovation, expand internationally, and withstand economic cycles.

Monetisation isn’t just about generating income—it’s about building resilience. It ensures that value creation is rewarded and that platforms can serve their users without compromising financial health.

Transactional Transparency in Modern Financial Platforms

As businesses scale and interact with increasingly complex financial ecosystems, managing inbound deposits efficiently becomes mission-critical. Payment flows must be not only fast and secure but also transparent and traceable. Whether a business is managing thousands of customer payments or reconciling partner earnings across geographies, having full visibility into the source and structure of each deposit helps unlock operational clarity.

Modern APIs now provide access to enriched deposit data, allowing businesses to retrieve detailed metadata associated with each inbound payment. This advancement empowers teams to simplify reconciliation, enhance compliance readiness, and maintain trust with stakeholders through better financial accuracy.

Challenge of Managing Inbound Payments at Scale

For many growing businesses and platforms, reconciling inbound transactions remains a labor-intensive and error-prone process. Traditional payment systems offer limited metadata about the payer, origin account, or associated fees, leaving finance teams to rely on manual matching methods. When deposits originate from multiple countries, currencies, or payment providers, identifying the correct source can become a daily operational bottleneck.

Inconsistent or incomplete deposit records can also create delays in releasing funds to users, trigger compliance red flags, and compromise financial reporting accuracy. As transaction volumes scale, these issues grow exponentially, highlighting the need for automated access to reliable, enriched deposit data.

Power of Enriched Deposit Information

Advanced financial APIs now return a significantly richer dataset with each deposit. Rather than providing only a reference number and transaction amount, these modern interfaces offer multi-dimensional visibility into:

  • Payer identity and account details
  • Source bank information, including SWIFT or IBAN codes
  • Transaction-specific metadata such as fee breakdowns and currency types
  • Payment provider details including intermediary banks and system-generated IDs
  • Error and status messages relevant to deposit completion or failure

With access to this level of detail, businesses can automate key steps in the reconciliation process and minimise reliance on support tickets, bank lookups, or guesswork.

Automating Reconciliation With Structured Data

When enriched deposit information is delivered consistently via API or webhook, platforms can automatically match incoming funds to corresponding transactions or user accounts. This automation is especially valuable for businesses with high transaction volumes, frequent currency conversions, or complex payout schedules.

Automated reconciliation processes typically involve the following logic:

  • Match the deposit amount and currency to pending balances.
  • Cross-reference payer account or name with expected customer data.
  • Validate the transaction ID or reference number against internal records.
  • Apply any fee offsets or adjustments based on deposit metadata.
  • Update account ledgers and notify relevant internal systems.

Each of these steps reduces the manual workload and risk of error associated with financial operations, freeing up resources for strategic tasks.

Improving Compliance Through Transparent Payment Trails

Beyond operational convenience, enriched deposit data plays a key role in meeting regulatory requirements. Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), and other financial oversight mandates require clear audit trails for inbound payments. Regulators expect businesses to identify the origin of funds, confirm the legitimacy of the payer, and report unusual activity.

By including payer names, bank account numbers, and intermediary banking details in the deposit response, platforms can perform automated screening and generate compliance logs. Suspicious deposits can be flagged based on inconsistencies in data fields, while legitimate transactions can pass seamlessly through risk analysis systems.

This proactive approach reduces the chance of penalties and enhances the ability to respond promptly during audits or investigations. It also supports international expansion, where compliance environments vary significantly by country.

Supporting Global Operations With IBAN and SWIFT Metadata

For businesses operating in multiple regions, access to International Bank Account Numbers (IBANs) and Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) codes enables more accurate routing and identification of payments. These standardised formats help ensure that cross-border deposits are matched to the correct internal accounts without delay.

IBAN data provides country-specific formatting that helps identify both the origin and intended recipient bank accounts. SWIFT codes, used globally to identify financial institutions, allow businesses to understand the banking relationships involved in a given deposit—especially useful when funds are routed through intermediary banks.

By including this information in the deposit object, platforms can reduce the likelihood of funds being misrouted or incorrectly applied. This is particularly beneficial for customers who expect fast processing of international payments.

Visibility Into Deposit Fees and Currency Breakdowns

Deposits from different banking systems often come with associated costs—whether from intermediary charges, currency conversion spreads, or network fees. Without visibility into these fees, businesses may struggle to reconcile expected versus received amounts or to determine which entity absorbed the cost.

Enriched deposit responses that include fee breakdowns empower businesses to make more informed financial decisions. They can track how much was deducted at each stage of the transfer, assign costs to appropriate business units or customers, and monitor fee trends over time.

Currency-level data is also essential in multi-currency environments. Knowing both the sent and received currencies allows businesses to calculate exchange spreads, adjust internal ledgers accurately, and ensure that customers receive the correct converted amount.

Enhanced Monitoring Through Webhook Notifications

Rather than polling for deposit updates manually, businesses can now receive webhook notifications as soon as a deposit is received or its status changes. This push-based architecture enables real-time updates across financial systems, reducing lag and ensuring that downstream processes like user wallet funding or invoice reconciliation happen instantly.

Webhook payloads can include all enriched deposit data, including payer details, transaction status, amounts, and bank metadata. These payloads are often routed directly into accounting systems, CRMs, or dashboards, providing full automation from fund receipt to system update.

In the case of a failed or delayed deposit, error fields within the webhook allow teams to take proactive action. For example, if a deposit fails due to missing documentation or incorrect account numbers, support teams can alert users with guidance before issues escalate.

Use Cases in Digital Wallets and Platform Balances

Many platforms operate virtual wallets or balance systems for their users. When funds are deposited into these systems—whether for top-ups, order fulfillment, or service fees—the accuracy and traceability of those deposits directly affect user trust.

Enriched deposit data enables platforms to fund user balances confidently, with full knowledge of who sent the money, from where, and through what channels. This supports faster crediting of funds and reduces the chance of customer service issues caused by unknown or misapplied deposits.

In marketplaces, for example, this means sellers can receive confirmation of earnings instantly when buyers make payments. In software tools with embedded financial features, it ensures that operating funds or budget allocations are available when needed.

Connecting Deposit Data to Financial Analytics

With enriched deposit data stored and structured over time, businesses can begin to build comprehensive analytics layers. These insights can inform both operational and strategic decisions. For example:

  • Analysis of deposit origins by country or currency
  • Tracking of deposit fees by payment provider or region
  • Monitoring deposit trends by time of day, customer tier, or season
  • Identifying bottlenecks in fund routing or settlement delays
  • Forecasting cash inflows with improved accuracy

These insights feed into broader financial models, allowing leadership teams to make smarter decisions around pricing, vendor relationships, regional expansion, and product prioritisation.

Strengthening Customer Trust Through Visibility

One of the clearest user-facing benefits of enriched deposit data is improved communication. When customers or partners send money, they expect to see confirmations that reflect accurate and detailed information. Ambiguity leads to support tickets, disputes, and a loss of trust.

By displaying clear payer names, amounts received, currencies used, and transaction IDs within user dashboards or notifications, platforms provide reassurance that deposits are tracked correctly and credited promptly. This visibility is especially important for high-value or time-sensitive payments.

For B2B platforms, enriched reporting can also be shared with partner finance teams. Exportable statements that include full deposit metadata help partners close their books faster and reduce reconciliation friction between entities.

Futureproofing Financial Infrastructure With Scalable APIs

As businesses grow, the need for scalable and dependable financial infrastructure increases. Enriched deposit capabilities are designed with future expansion in mind. Whether managing a handful of transactions per week or processing thousands of payments daily, the same API endpoints and webhook systems remain reliable and performant.

Because data is structured consistently and returned in machine-readable formats, platforms can easily adapt as new markets, products, or users come online. Integration with enterprise systems such as ERP platforms, tax engines, and BI tools becomes simpler, reducing development cycles and operational overhead.

Moreover, these APIs lay the foundation for additional financial capabilities—such as dynamic fee modelling, real-time payout logic, and embedded treasury tools—all of which rely on consistent, accurate input data about deposits.

Conclusion

The evolution of digital financial infrastructure is reshaping how modern businesses manage payments, monetisation, and operational transparency. Across this series, we’ve explored how recent advancements in self-service activation, payment method expansion, monetisation flexibility, and enriched financial data are addressing the growing complexity of global commerce.

We examined how quicker activation of payment methods like Apple Pay reduces technical and operational friction. With self-activation now available through streamlined APIs, businesses can roll out Apple Pay as effortlessly as any other digital payment method. The introduction of upcoming capabilities—such as support for Discover and Diners Club cards—further broadens access to previously untapped customer segments, particularly in the US travel and entertainment sectors. The enhancement of Afterpay support across currencies on Shopify also represents a push toward more seamless, cross-border checkout experiences.

We focused on how platform operators and fintech providers can now better monetise their services. The introduction of configurable application fees offers a clear and scalable method to capture revenue on a per-transaction basis. Whether charging for FX conversions or payout markups, this system grants flexibility across currencies and business models, while also automating settlement and reporting. These improvements not only support sustainable growth for platforms but also reinforce transparency and traceability within embedded finance ecosystems.

Highlighted how enriched deposit data is changing the way financial operations are conducted. By unlocking critical metadata such as payer identities, account details, fee breakdowns, and bank information, businesses gain the tools to automate reconciliation, strengthen compliance processes, and improve customer trust. Real-time access via webhooks further accelerates operational workflows and enables platforms to build robust analytics systems that enhance financial visibility and strategy.

Taken together, these innovations represent a significant step forward in the design of modern financial technology. They reduce manual burdens, expand market access, improve monetisation, and promote deeper financial insight—all while ensuring scalability and compliance in a global environment.

As financial services continue to evolve, businesses that leverage these tools and capabilities will be better positioned to offer compelling user experiences, operate efficiently across borders, and generate new revenue in a secure and transparent way. The future of embedded finance and digital payments is not just about moving money—it’s about building intelligent, adaptive systems that serve businesses and their customers with precision, control, and clarity.