It has become essential to have an ideal payment gateway for OTT platforms and other entertainment mediums. We shall discuss the related topics for the same in the further part of this writeup.
OTT and other entertainment platforms
To know more about the payment gateway for OTT platforms and other entertainment mediums, let us first know what is OTT and what other entertainment platforms exist that require a payment gateway.
The full form of OTT is Over-the-top. OTT platforms are referred to as the entertainment shows like movies, plays, series, etc delivered directly without any subscription of the cable or satellite TV. The content can be viewed through the internet on the devices such as computers, smartphones, etc.
Other entertainment platforms are streaming service providers including IPTV, video-on-demand, Youtube, Interactive & Mobile entertainment, New & Digital Media, Social Media, Theatres, Talent Showcasing Platform, Ticketing & Events for Restaurant, Gaming, etc.
Read Highlights on India’s new guidelines for Digital Media, Social Media, and OTT platforms
Highlights on the increasing trend of such platforms
The reason for this necessity of the payment gateway in the entertainment platforms is that since the outbreak of COVID 19, the cinema and theatre craze has been replaced by the increased use of the OTT and others. OTT was gradually gaining popularity in pre-Covid times but it boosted further after the global pandemic. Naturally, the subscribers have also increased.
As per the Market research report, the evaluation of 2027 shows a higher figure in calculation post covid than the pre-covid projections. The OTT market size is expected to rise from $171.36 billion in 2020 with a CAGR of 29.4% to $1039.03 billion by the year 2027.
The recent data on the revenue of the online video platform in India from the Statista Research Department on 19th March 2021 says that the OTT platform’s subscription revenue was 19 billion INR in the fiscal year 2020. It is forecasted to increase to 46 billion INR in the fiscal year 2022.
Also in that year, India would have the second-largest entertainment and media sector (digital market).
9 Points on Payment Gateway for OTT Platforms and other entertainment mediums
This section shall discuss the core of this writeup about the points to consider while choosing the payment gateway for the OTT platforms and other mediums. It also shows how the PayKun payment gateway is ideal for them.
1. Mobile friendly Gateway & Smooth Checkout
Smartphones are an inevitable part of one’s life. For the OTT and other platforms, they are the best way to reach people for their entertainment.
An article headline says that “As per the Mobile Marketing Ecosystem Report 2020, Entertainment is the purpose for 84% of 45 crore active mobile internet users.”
The statistics related to the mobile landscape say that the active users in India are 451mn. 99% of both the rural and urban population use the internet on their mobile phones. The usage has increased due to the available cheap data plans and affordable smartphones.
Therefore it is essential that the payment gateway for the OTT platforms be mobile-friendly. Its checkout should be working smoothly on mobile devices. It needs to have a mobile-friendly look and feel. Most importantly, it needs to be possible to be easily integrated into the mobile application.
The payment gateway checkout customization should be possible as per their brand and look on the platform.
2. Track, analyze, and manage the online payments
It is essential to be able to track, analyze and manage the online payments received from your subscribers. The smart merchant dashboard helps the merchant with these essential tasks.
This in turn makes it possible to provide timely services and make the smart analysis through the graphical representation.
Apart from that other functions such as settlements, refunds, notifications, subscribers, and orders can be easily managed.
You can have one dashboard for your multiple platforms by adding all your website/app with one merchant account. Or you may also have different merchant account with different dashboards.
3. International Subscribers
Why stop your Indian entertainment platform from reaching the global audience. The International payment gateway for the OTT and other platforms would make it easy to accept the subscription in multiple international currencies from global locations.
4. Multiple Payment Mode Options
Allow your subscribers to pay the subscription with their preferred payment options. With so many options available today, the different viewers may choose to pay with their chosen payment mode.
One of the advantages of a payment gateway is that it can have a platter of different payment methods at its checkout and so the customer can easily make the payment with the one they like.
5. Payment gateway fees and other charges
The high volume of transactions on your entertainment platforms requires an affordable payment gateway. Even a customized pricing plan is highly essential.
Also, it is vital to check upon other charges such as set up fees, maintenance fees, integration, etc.
6. Security
The security of the transaction processing and the data is highly essential from the point of view of the subscribers as well as the platform.
A security breach or data breach will result in affecting the image and reputation of your platform and eventually hamper the number of subscriptions.
Therefore, while choosing a payment gateway for the OTT platform or other entertainment mediums, you must make sure it is PCI DSS compliant and following necessary encryption standards.
7. Recurring Subscription Payments
This is vital for the OTT platforms so that the payments are automatically deducted on a regular basis from the subscribers. Alternatively, you may have an auto-reminder email sent to your regular subscribers.
This could have one advantage that the refund request ratio goes down from the subscribers whose amount was auto-deducted and they did not want to subscribe that month.
8. Payment Links
Youtube entertainers, influencers, Interactive & Mobile entertainment platforms, Talent Showcasing platforms, Ticketing & Events for restaurants, New & Digital Media, Social Media, gaming, etc. may not use a website or mobile application to accept online payments.
Payment Links would be so helpful in such scenarios. It can be used to collect secure payments offering multiple payment mode options to the payee. It can be sent through WhatsApp, Messenger, email, etc.
9. Adding to the website or mobile application
An ideal payment gateway for the OTT platform would be the one that has an effortless integration process. The importance of mobile app integration is already explained in the first point.
The important aspects of easy integration are the ready integration kits (plugins and SDKs), developer-friendly technical documentation, and technical assistance.
Also, such platforms may require adding a payment button to their platform.
PayKun – the best suit as the payment gateway for OTT & entertainment platforms
On top of the above points, there are other points such as easy onboarding, best customer support, and the dedicated account manager which makes PayKun the best payment gateway for media and entertainment platforms.
Review here: PayKun Payment Gateway for Media & Entertainment Sector
