UK-based fintech Ryft has teamed up with digital pharmacy platform Charac to reduce pharmacy payment fees by leveraging fintech solutions for digitalisation and sustainability. Ryft provides Charac its marketplace payment platform to decrease current processing fees for independent pharmacies by over 30%.

The partnership demonstrates and consolidates the impact Ryft is having on the pharmaceutical industry, enabling independent pharmacies to access innovative payments solutions which are flexible and cost effective. As a fast-growing pharmaceutical app, Charac consolidates and digitises the operations of independent pharmacies in four key areas - repeat prescriptions, booking consultations, deliveries, and marketing, all through one app or website. In partnering with Ryft, Charac can now facilitate the automated end-to-end flow of funds, whilst leveraging Ryft’s PCI Level 1 and PSD2 gold standard of compliance.

Augmenting payment processing for pharmacies amid funding decline This collaboration is tackling a significant challenge within the pharmaceutical industry, with community pharmacies seeing a major decline in government funding since 2016. With industry and NHS funding at an all-time low, pharmacies must find ways to digitalise in cost-effective ways. By embedding fintech into the pharmaceutical apps at the point of service, Ryft is opening up revenue streams for independent community pharmacies, whilst also reducing current processing fees by over 30%.

Moreover, by transitioning to Ryft’s marketplace payment platform, these pharmacies are able to leave behind legacy tech and welcome new technologies, including the use of ApplePay and GooglePay, and all major cards. Furthermore, Ryft is helping to stabilise the Charac payments model, as many previous payments suppliers operating within the pharmaceutical industry have been known to impose harsh restrictions on client onboarding, often off-boarding clients who are deemed to have small elements of risk. Using Ryft, Charac is able to onboard community pharmacies at their own discretion, and utilise Ryft’s hosted onboarding to direct these pharmacies to create their merchant account and begin processing immediately.

Ultimately, by unlocking the capabilities of modern payments technology through Ryft, community pharmacies can reap the benefits of Charac’s platform and improve their existing customer offering, whilst also experiencing a smooth checkout experience for a competitive rate. Officials from Ryft said they’re happy to be expanding their capabilities within the pharmaceutical industry, consolidating the wider impact they’re having across the sector, and alleviating some of the issues independent community pharmacies have been facing for quite some time. Ryft is disrupting the industry and supporting key verticals who are underserved, while upgrading their payments streams, so they’re happy to be onboarding Charac as the next iteration of this mission.

Also commenting on the partnership, representatives from Charac said community pharmacies are struggling with an annual shortfall in funding totalling more than GBP 750 million, which equates to around GBP 66,000 per pharmacy. Their partnership with Ryft will help them tackle the financial issues that they face. By reducing their online processing fees by more than 30%, they can help them manage costs and utilise seamless up-to-date payment services.

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