What is Smart Routing?

What exactly is Smart Routing?

At its core, smart routing optimizes network traffic by selecting the fastest and most efficient route for each data packet. Instead of a predetermined routing system, which can cause delays during high traffic, smart routing directs these packets through different network routes to prevent delays and maintain speed and efficiency.

It’s immensely beneficial for fintech companies, where an intelligent routing system can make a massive impact. In an industry where every millisecond impacts the bottom line, smart routing ensures rapid, uninterrupted data transmission, which can help speed up payment routing and prevent failed payments from congested networks.

How Does Smart Routing Work?

By gauging the shortest, least congested, and most efficient paths available, smart routing directs data packs to their destination with the help of Border Gateway Protocols (BGP). BGP is a set of rules that manage how packets are sent across the internet to exchange information between autonomous systems. However, instead of just using BGP to find the shortest route between different payment providers, smart routing builds on top of BGP to add more context to these routes with dynamic decision making.

The system takes into account factors such as network latency, transaction fees, and the historical performance of different routes. By dynamically assessing these variables, smart routing algorithms make split-second decisions to direct transactions through the most optimal channels. This means financial data doesn’t just follow a fixed path but adapts on the fly for improved efficiency and enhanced customer satisfaction.

When it comes to reliably and securely processing financial transactions with smart routing payments, cloud hosting is a key infrastructure strategy that offers fintech companies scalable, secure, and flexible infrastructure, enabling them to efficiently manage fluctuating workloads, ensure high availability, and maintain stringent security standards, all while reducing operational costs and accelerating time-to-market for innovative financial solutions.

Speed, Cost, and Reliability

In today’s world, speed, cost optimization, and reliability are the cornerstones of success, especially when it comes to transactions in fintech. With smart routing, companies can excel in delivering a triple impact that can transform operations.

First and foremost, smart routing supercharges the speed of your transactions. By dynamically selecting the most efficient pathways, it reduces latency to a minimum, ensuring that your financial data reaches its destination at lightning speed. This is a serious upgrade for companies looking to gain an edge in finance, where every millisecond can make a difference. Smart routing also has a significant impact on cost optimization. By intelligently choosing the most cost-effective routes for your transactions, it leads to substantial savings over time.

However, as fintech companies seek to embrace smart routing, concerns may arise. These concerns often revolve around the complexity of implementation, security, and scalability. It’s essential to choose server hardware that can seamlessly integrate smart routing solutions, provide robust security measures, and scale alongside your growing needs. Find out more about ServerMania Security and how we protect you and your customers’ sensitive financial data and information.

How To Route Payments with Smart Routing

Routing payments with smart routing typically involves using algorithms and technologies to determine the optimal path for processing a payment transaction. The goal is to ensure efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and reliability in the payment process. Let’s dive into the specifics of how to set up payment routing with Smart Routing:

• Figure Out Your Transaction Parameters: Identify key parameters that influence routing decisions within your existing system, such as transaction amount, currency, payment method, geographic location, and the nature of the transaction (e.g., online purchase, subscription payment).
• Define Routing Rules: Establish rules and criteria for routing transactions based on the parameters you identified. For example, certain payment methods may be preferred for low-value transactions, while others may be more suitable for high-value transactions.
• Integrate with Multiple Payment Processors: Connect your payment infrastructure to a payment processor or acquiring banks. This will most likely involve integrating their online payments APIs
• Create Smart Routing Algorithm: Work with your dev teams to develop and deploy an algorithm that can evaluate the transaction parameters and apply predefined rules to for intelligent payment routing. This should consider factors such as cost, speed, reliability, and any specific requirements set by your business and include multiple payment methods.
• Add Real-Time Decision Making: Ensure that the smart routing decision is made in real-time during the payment transaction process. This will involve accessing up-to-date information about the performance and capabilities of different payment channels, so you’ll need to set your system to observe and make these decisions constantly.
• Include a Fallback Mechanism: Implement a fallback mechanism in case of payment fails or failed transactions. Solutions can involve automatically rerouting the transaction through an alternative payment provider to minimize disruptions or, at worst, sending back declined transactions if there is no route available.
• Monitoring and Optimization: You’ll want to regularly monitor the performance of different payment routes and analyze transaction data. This kind of information can help optimize routing rules and improve the efficiency of your smart routing system over time.
• Build with Compliance and Security in Mind: Security is always paramount, especially when it comes to sensitive financial data. Make sure your system complies with any relevant regulations and security standards.
• Plan for Scalability: Your smart routing system needs to be scalable, especially if your business is expected to grow and handle an increasing volume of transactions. Work with your developers to make sure your existing infrastructure can handle the load without sacrificing performance, or make the necessary upgrades if you need to.
• Implement Adequate Testing: Like security, testing is an essential part of any development process. But with the highly sensitive nature of fintech, testing becomes even more essential. Thoroughly test your system before deploying it to your users, so you can ensure there are no massive issues that can leak data or impact the customer experience. Test different scenarios, including various transaction types and potential issues, to ensure your system is reliable under heavy loads and high traffic.

Final Thoughts

Every millisecond counts in fintech, making smart routing critical for businesses to keep up with the competition and the latest technology. With its ability to optimize speed, cost, and reliability, it’s the linchpin of efficient financial transactions.

Fintech companies looking to stay competitive must embrace the power of smart routing and upgrade their networking infrastructure accordingly. While it’s not as easy as a plug-and-play solution, incorporating smart routing payments into your system can help you not only keep a competitive edge but also cut costs while improving customer satisfaction.

Consider booking a FREE consultation with one of our fintech experts today.