An ISV doesn’t have to store card data to have PCI responsibilities. If its software, integrations, access, vendors, or deployment processes can impact the security of cardholder data, it may already be operating as a service provider.

In this episode, Kitty and Chris sit down with Steve Levinson of LHC Advisors to break down the PCI scope trap, the service-provider requirements many ISVs overlook, and why relying on a compliant payment vendor doesn’t make the responsibility disappear. They also discuss Level 1 versus Level 2 validation, QSA-led assessments, vendor-chain attacks, breach exposure, and why strong PCI evidence is quickly becoming a commercial requirement, not just a compliance exercise.

Merchant onboarding used to be relatively straightforward. Today, businesses have more complicated payment flows, harder-to-explain models, evolving compliance requirements, and fraud threats that can make even legitimate merchants look risky on paper.

In this episode of CentsChat, Kitty and Jason sit down with Allen Kopelman of Nationwide Payment Systems to discuss what it takes to board merchants that do not fit neatly into standard underwriting boxes. They explore how clearer documentation, better flow-of-funds explanations, and stronger communication with underwriting partners can turn a confusing application into an understandable business. The conversation also covers synthetic identity fraud, AI-assisted document review, and why complexity does not automatically mean risk—but unexplained complexity usually creates problems.

In this episode of Cents Chat, Kitty and Steve look at the APM conversation from both ends of the spectrum: OpenUSD, stablecoins, and the future of programmable money on one side, and the humble cash drawer on the other. Then Kyle Hatfield from Centsless joins to explain why cash may be the alternative payment method ISVs forgot to build for. With the penny disappearing, merchants are already facing exact-change signs, rounding rules, state-by-state legislation, refund headaches, split-tender complexity, EBT/SNAP considerations, and reconciliation gaps that a simple POS toggle will not fix. Cash may be old, but the software problem around it is brand new.

In this episode of Cents Chat, Kitty leads a conversation with Koard about what happens when the phone becomes the payment terminal. Joined by co-host Jason for the technical deep dive, the discussion breaks down why card-present payments are still harder than they look, why so many ISVs default to card-not-present flows, and how Tap to Pay can help platforms bring in-person acceptance directly into their mobile apps.

Koard’s Behailu explains how their platform helps ISVs, PSPs, and software companies navigate the messy parts: EMV complexity, Apple approval, processor routing, cryptography, merchant onboarding, and the operational reality hiding behind one simple tap.

Because payments are never “just an API.”

In this episode of Cents Chat, Kitty and Jason sit down with Jordan Thaeler, founder of POS+, to talk about one of the biggest tensions in embedded payments: the difference between a preferred payments partner and a payments prison. For years, ISVs have built real revenue streams by integrating payments into their platforms, and when done well, that model can create a better experience for everyone. The trouble starts when “preferred” quietly becomes “mandatory,” pricing drifts out of line, functionality lags, and merchants realize they are not choosing a payments provider so much as being cornered into one.

Jordan breaks down how POS+ is pushing back on that model by giving merchants more payment choice without forcing them to rip out the software they already use to run their business. The conversation gets into merchant frustration, ISV monetization, payment flow workarounds, AI-driven adaptability, and why the smartest platforms should stop treating friction like a moat. The takeaway for ISVs is simple: pick a great default payments partner, make the economics fair, keep the experience strong, and give merchants a reasonable path to alternatives. Most merchants will choose the preferred option if it actually earns the business. But nobody likes being trapped.

In this episode of Cents Chat, Kitty and Chris sit down with Sean Ogden, Co-Founder of GiveTech, to talk about one of the least glamorous but most important parts of payments: merchant onboarding. GiveTech’s mission is to make giving so simple it can happen at a stoplight, but that kind of frictionless donation experience only works if the platform also has strong controls behind the scenes. The team digs into how GiveTech replaced clunky PDFs, DocuSigns, and awkward PII collection with a branded, mobile-first onboarding workflow that feels simple for customers while supporting underwriting, KYC, and fraud prevention.

The conversation also looks at why onboarding has become a bigger responsibility for ISVs and platforms. With card-network monitoring expectations increasing, fintech regulation shifting, and donation platforms becoming attractive targets for fraudsters, getting merchants live is no longer just an administrative step. It is the front door to trust, risk, compliance, and money movement. GiveTech’s story shows how better onboarding can reduce sales friction, protect sensitive information, validate identities, and help legitimate organizations start accepting donations faster without making the platform easier for bad actors to exploit.

Cents Chat is back with a new format, sharper opinions, and a very clear mission: help ISVs, PayFacs, marketplaces, fintech teams, and payments operators make sense of the messy parts of modern payments.

In this relaunch episode, Kitty kicks things off with Jason, Steve, and Chris to explain what the new Cents Chat is all about: real pain points, practical payments strategy, current industry changes, and conversations with ISVs solving actual operational problems.

The team covers why payments can no longer be treated like background plumbing, how API integrations, onboarding flows, merchant risk, compliance obligations, contracts, and interchange fights are becoming platform-level issues, and why future episodes will focus on the problems payments teams are actually trying to solve.

They also preview the first ISV guest conversation, which will dig into onboarding flows and how one company streamlined a process that had become too slow, manual, and messy.

If you build, operate, support, or monetize payments inside software, this is the reset episode. Payments got messy. Good.

We are excited to bring you season two of Cents chat and this year is going to be a wild ride! We have more guest speakers than ever before and will be recording episodes live from payments conferences around the United States to give you Realtime information on the latest and greatest payments solutions and technologies. Todays episode is jam packed with three guest speakers two that are experts in lending from the Online Lenders Alliance and one from our friends over at Integrity Payments. Tune in to see what is to come at the Lending conference Lend 360 in Chicago next week!

With big data comes big power and big innovation, so how will Visa use this to make the payments eco-system more stable?

With CNP transactions on the rise due to the global pandemic, what can FI's leverage to drop the estimated $1BB in estimated chargeback losses in just 1 year?

What is Square Inc. deploying in order to get employees and employers on the same page when it comes to real-time payroll?

CFPB was deemed useless, and financial enforcement is down 80% from 2015, but California thinks they have the cure.

What Nigerian hacker ring claimed the unemployment benefits of thousands of Americans, and how do we protect ourselves when the government can't even protect itself?

COVID has crushed e-commerce authorization rates, is EMV 3DS the answer?