‍When someone decides on a payment provider, their main priority is to get started quickly. Yet, between signing the contract and processing the first transaction, it can sometimes take not just days, but weeks. This is not in the interests of merchants, nor of payment providers.

The payments industry frequently talks about innovation, new payment methods, or improved conversion rates. Remarkably seldom discussed, however, is the first decisive moment in a merchant relationship: onboarding.

It is precisely this step that determines whether a contract in fact leads to revenue.

For merchants, especially small and medium-sized businesses, the period between contract signature and first transaction is business-critical. Every single day of delay ties up capital, postpones market entry, or leads to lost revenue. Nevertheless, long lead times are often accepted as “systemic” in many organisations.

We at Unzer, too, had to ask ourselves a difficult question in 2025: Why does onboarding take significantly longer than should be acceptable for a modern payment service provider?

The real issue lies between departments

Our analysis quickly revealed that it was not primarily regulatory checks causing delays; it was the handovers. Processes stalled between individual steps, requirements were not always uniformly documented, and different teams interpreted regulatory guidelines differently.

Added to this was a structural bottleneck familiar to many providers: staff were manually transferring contract and master data from submitted documents. This method is labour-intensive, prone to error, and limits scalability.

Onboarding was thus not only a regulatory challenge but, above all, an organisational one. The solution did not lie in any single tool or isolated measure, but in a thorough, systematic realignment of the entire process.

From fragmented workflows to clear structure and responsible automation

The first step was transparency. We defined clear areas of responsibility, explicit requirements, and close collaboration between sales, onboarding, risk, and compliance.

At the same time, we actively managed waiting times, consolidated queries, and standardised requirements. We also inspected our processes with partners, simplifying them where historical guidelines no longer added real value. The results were quickly visible: Unzer is now able to activate merchants much faster.

However, speed that depends indefinitely on manual processes, especially with the kind of growth Unzer is experiencing, leads to increased pressure on teams and, consequently, does not scale. The real progress, therefore, is digitising the process itself.

We no longer transfer information manually from contracts but increasingly capture it automatically and check it according to established rules, through random sampling and by means of KPIs. This reduces sources of error and accelerates processing. A key principle here is not to cut corners on regulatory requirements, but to clearly structure them. A defined rulebook allows standard cases to be handled efficiently, while more complex matters continue to be reviewed by specialists as needed.

Looking ahead, we aim to guide merchants with low risk profiles ever more regularly from contract signing to first transaction with no manual intervention, in other words, fully automated. Automated checks facilitate the handling of standard cases and structure necessary regulatory steps. Responsibility, however, remains with our specialists: they review complex cases, assess risks, and intervene when automated rules reach their limits. This approach frees up capacity for individual support precisely where it is genuinely needed.

Why onboarding is becoming a competitive factor

In the coming years, the payments market will differentiate itself not just by price or breadth of product. Speed and reliability in onboarding are becoming central decision criteria.

For medium sized businesses in particular, predictability is key. Those starting or scaling a business need a partner who combines regulatory diligence with operational efficiency. Onboarding, therefore, is not a mere administrative sideline, it is part of the value proposition, and it is an ongoing process. New regulatory requirements, new business models, and new partnerships make it clear: there is no one-off solution. What is decisive is the willingness to regularly scrutinise and further develop structures.

The most important lesson from our work over the past year is not only to accelerate processes through clear structures, transparent workflows, and consistent digitalisation, but to take a strategic view of onboarding: as the foundation of a lasting merchant relationship.

Our ambition remains clear: speed and regulatory rigour must go hand in hand, enabling merchants to get started more quickly without any compromise on the quality of compliance checks. Where previously we thought in weeks, we now set ourselves targets in days, and in future, Unzer will see areas where, within minutes of contract signature, we will be able to enable a live transaction for the merchant.