SecurionPay

What is Shift4

Shift4 is a global commerce technology company that provides integrated payment processing and technology solutions. Founded in 1999 and headquartered in North America, Shift4 is a publicly-traded company (NYSE: FOUR) with a long history in the payments industry. The company's core purpose is to offer a unified commerce experience, allowing businesses to accept payments from customers both online and in-person through a single platform. By acquiring companies like SecurionPay, Shift4 has expanded its capabilities in online payment solutions, serving over 200,000 merchants across various industries, including hospitality, retail, and e-commerce. Its main functionality is to simplify how businesses manage transactions, from payment acceptance to backend reporting and security.

Shift4 Features

Shift4 offers a comprehensive set of features designed to manage the entire payment lifecycle for businesses.

• Unified Commerce Platform: Combines online, in-person, and mobile payment processing into one system. This allows businesses to have a single view of their sales and customer data.
• Global Payment Processing: Accepts a wide range of payment methods, including major credit and debit cards, digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay, and local payment options across different countries.
• Developer-Friendly API: Provides a robust API and a dedicated developer portal. This lets developers create custom payment integrations, embed payment forms, and build unique commerce experiences on websites and applications.
• Advanced Security and Fraud Prevention: All transactions are protected with high-level security, including PCI compliance and tokenization. The platform also includes tools to detect and prevent fraudulent transactions.
• Comprehensive Reporting Dashboard: Merchants get access to a dashboard to view real-time transaction data, generate sales reports, manage disputes, and monitor business performance.
• Support for Recurring Payments: Businesses can easily set up and manage subscriptions and recurring billing for their customers, which is ideal for SaaS companies and membership-based services.
• Point-of-Sale (POS) Solutions: Offers a range of hardware and software for in-person payments, including countertop terminals and mobile card readers that integrate with the central platform.

Shift4 Pricing Plans

Shift4's pricing is typically customized to the needs of the business. They offer flexible pricing models designed for different business sizes and transaction volumes.

• Standard Pricing: This plan is often structured as a pay-as-you-go model. Businesses pay a set percentage and a small fixed fee for each transaction. This is suitable for small to medium-sized businesses that need a straightforward payment solution without monthly fees.
• Custom/Enterprise Pricing: For businesses with high transaction volumes or specific needs, Shift4 offers custom pricing plans. These plans may include lower transaction rates, dedicated account management, and access to premium features. Pricing is negotiated based on factors like sales volume, industry, and average transaction size.

Shift4 Free Plan

Shift4 does not offer a completely free plan, as transaction fees are a standard part of payment processing. However, their standard pricing model typically does not include monthly subscription fees, setup fees, or other hidden charges. Businesses only pay when they process a transaction. For developers, Shift4 provides free access to its developer portal and a sandbox environment. This allows them to build and test integrations using the API without processing real payments or incurring any costs.

How to use Shift4

Getting started with Shift4 is a structured process for businesses to begin accepting payments.

1. Create a Merchant Account: The first step is to sign up on the Shift4 website. You will need to provide information about your business.
2. Complete Verification: Submit necessary business documents for the verification process. This is a standard procedure to comply with financial regulations.
3. Choose Your Integration: Decide how you want to accept payments. You can use their API for a custom website, install a plugin for an e-commerce platform like Shopify or WooCommerce, or use their POS hardware for in-person sales.
4. Configure Your Settings: Log in to the Shift4 dashboard to configure your payment settings, such as currency, payout schedules, and notification preferences.
5. Go Live and Accept Payments: Once the integration is complete and tested, you can start processing live payments from your customers.
6. Manage Your Business: Use the dashboard to track sales, view reports, handle customer disputes, and manage your funds.

Pros and Cons of Shift4

Pros:

• All-in-One Solution: Provides a single platform for online, in-person, and mobile payments, which simplifies operations.
• Scalable for Growth: The platform can support small businesses and scale up to handle the needs of large enterprises with high transaction volumes.
• Strong Security: Focuses heavily on payment security, helping businesses protect customer data and reduce fraud.
• Developer Tools: Offers a powerful API and good documentation, making it a strong choice for businesses that need custom solutions.
• Established Company: As a long-standing, publicly-traded company, it offers stability and reliability.

Cons:

• Complex Pricing: Custom pricing models can sometimes be difficult to understand and compare with competitors.
• Overkill for Small Businesses: The wide range of features might be more than what a very small or simple business needs.
• Customer Support: Like many large providers, the level of customer support can vary depending on the plan and the specific issue.

Shift4 integrations

Shift4 offers a wide range of integrations with popular business software and platforms to create a connected commerce ecosystem.

• E-commerce Platforms: Seamlessly integrates with major platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and Magento, allowing for easy setup of online stores.
• POS Systems: Connects with hundreds of property management systems (PMS) and point-of-sale (POS) systems, especially in the hospitality and retail sectors.
• Accounting Software: Integrates with tools like QuickBooks and Xero to automate financial reconciliation and bookkeeping.
• CRM Systems: Can be connected with CRM platforms like Salesforce to link payment data with customer records for a complete view of the customer journey.
• Booking and Reservation Systems: Works with many online booking engines and reservation software for hotels, restaurants, and service-based businesses.

Shift4 Alternatives

• Stripe: A leading alternative known for its developer-first approach and powerful, flexible API. Stripe is very popular with online businesses and SaaS companies for its ease of integration and extensive documentation.
• Adyen: A global payment platform that also offers a unified commerce solution. Adyen is strong in the enterprise market and focuses on providing a single platform for processing payments worldwide with many local payment methods.
• PayPal (Braintree): A well-known and trusted payment provider. Braintree, a PayPal service, offers a similar set of developer tools and payment processing capabilities, while PayPal itself provides a simple way for businesses to accept payments.
• Square: A strong competitor, especially for businesses that need both online and in-person payment solutions. Square is known for its user-friendly POS hardware and simple, transparent pricing.

Shift4 API

Yes, Shift4 provides a comprehensive and well-documented API for developers. The API allows businesses to integrate Shift4's payment processing capabilities directly into their own websites, mobile apps, and software platforms. Developers can access the Shift4 Developer Portal to find documentation, guides, and API references.

To get an API key, a developer typically needs to sign up for a free developer or sandbox account on the portal. This provides them with test API keys to build and test their integration in a safe environment without using real money. Once testing is complete, they can switch to live API keys after their merchant account is approved.

Here is a conceptual example of what a cURL request to create a payment charge might look like:

curl https://api.shift4.com/v1/charges \
   -u YOUR_SECRET_API_KEY: \
   -d amount=1000 \
   -d currency="usd" \
   -d source="tok_12345ABCDE" \
   -d description="Charge for order #123"

Shift4 Affiliate program

Shift4 offers a Partner Program rather than a traditional affiliate program. This program is designed for developers, software vendors (ISVs), and agencies who can refer businesses to Shift4 or integrate Shift4's payment technology into their own products. Partners can earn revenue through various models, including revenue sharing from the transaction fees of the merchants they refer. The commission rates and payment structures are typically customized based on the partner agreement and the volume of business referred. To join, interested parties should visit the "Partners" section on the Shift4 website and fill out an application or contact their partnership team directly to discuss the opportunities.