Payments Strategy Show

How can a vertical SaaS company become THE operating system for their industry?

Fintech board member, investor, and advisor Bob Butler joins Rainforest VP of Payments Becky Kopplin to discuss how vertical software companies become the system of record with robust vertical workflows and embedded fintech.

They covered:

• One thing Bob would do differently if he was building a payments company all over again
• Contract terms to align incentives with your payment provider
• The critical metric that matters more than margin – and how to optimize for it
• Critical org structure and culture mistakes that hinder payments growth
• How a great embedded payments experience defeats low cost competitors (and a simple test to evaluate if you got it right)

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference

This invite-only event and community offers networking, learning, and unique insights on go-to-market, monetization, product expansion, fundraising, and M&A.

Learn more: https://www.vertexconference.com/

Get updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vertex-vertical-software-conference

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

One of the biggest challenges for software companies launching embedded payments is adoption. How do you get customers to use embedded payments?

Roofing CRM platform ProLine didn't have this problem.

Customers asked for payments. And, when ProLine launched their embedded payments, customers eagerly moved their payments volume to the platform.

On this episode, ProLine Co-Founder and CEO AJ Briley joined host Joshua Silver to share how ProLine worked closely with customers to build the right product and get adoption so quickly:

• Why iteration is essential to building a great product
• How customer feedback helped Proline build a winning product
• Choosing the right payment provider, and when it makes sense to engage a consultant
• Specific features in the core product that drove Proline’s success with payments
• How embedded payments can increase company valuation

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference

This invite-only event and community offers networking, learning, and unique insights on go-to-market, monetization, product expansion, fundraising, and M&A.

Learn more: https://www.vertexconference.com/

Get updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vertex-vertical-software-conference

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

Basis Theory Co-Founder and CEO Colin Luce joins Rainforest Founder and CEO Joshua Silver to discuss the future of agentic commerce.

They covered:

• Shopping in an AI-enabled ecosystem vs true agentic commerce
• How certain categories of shopping are likely to adopt AI
• Will agentic commerce drive more shopping (and payments volume) or make shopping more efficient?
• Data and infrastructure needed to power agentic commerce
• Risk management implications of empowering AI agents to make buying decisions

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference

This invite-only event and community offers networking, learning, and unique insights on go-to-market, monetization, product expansion, fundraising, and M&A.

Learn more: https://www.vertexconference.com/

Get updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vertex-vertical-software-conference

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

In this episode, Basis Theory Co-Founder and CEO Colin Luce joins Rainforest Founder and CEO Joshua Silver for a deep dive on payments orchestration, tokenization, and vaulting.

They discussed:

• The number one reason to invest in payment orchestration (hint: it's not least-cost routing)
• How software companies can protect their merchant onboarding data and get more control over their payment processing
• The sneaky retention tactic some legacy payment providers still use -- and how data vaulting can help software platforms break free
• Why the promise of "use network tokens and save 10 bps" has yet to be realized
• Exactly what is Payments 3.0, and the capability it is unlocking for software platform

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference

This invite-only event and community offers networking, learning, and unique insights on go-to-market, monetization, product expansion, fundraising, and M&A.

Learn more: https://www.vertexconference.com/

Get updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vertex-vertical-software-conference

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

Payments pundits tend to say things like “every software company will be a payments company”... but how should software companies really evaluate the payments opportunity?

Andrew Mosawi has helped hundreds of software companies set up and scale their payments businesses, and on this episode he joins host Joshua Silver to share his key insights.

They covered:

• When to bring in a dedicated payments leader (hint: it’s not a certain ARR or processing volume)
• Specific questions to help you decide if payments should be a priority right now
• Why payment provider selection should NOT be the first milestone, and what SaaS leaders need to do before that
• 3 ways to create value in your software business with payments (and none of them involve being the lowest cost option)
• The next big embedded fintech opportunity for vertical software companies, and how to prepare for it

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference

This invite-only event and community offers networking, learning, and unique insights on go-to-market, monetization, product expansion, fundraising, and M&A.

Learn more: https://www.vertexconference.com/

Get updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vertex-vertical-software-conference

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

How do you build and launch an embedded payments product that delights your customers, boosts retention, and grows your core business? The answer might surprise you.

Product and strategy consultant Matthew Goldman of Totavi joins host Becky Kopplin to share product strategy for software companies adding or optimizing embedded fintech.

They explore:

• 3 essential questions SaaS leaders need to ask before getting started with payments
• Why department stores have store-brand credit cards – and how software companies should think beyond revenue to build winning products
• How to sell embedded payments to small and large businesses, without competing on price
• The biggest risk in embedded payments implementation (hint: it’s not technical)
• Specific product details that delight your customers and create more value with embedded payments

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference

This invite-only event and community offers networking, learning, and unique insights on go-to-market, monetization, product expansion, fundraising, and M&A.

Learn more: https://www.vertexconference.com/

Get updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vertex-vertical-software-conference

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

Fraudsters are evolving fast. How can software platforms and payments providers stay ahead?

On the latest episode of The Payments Strategy Show, Dwayne Gefferie and Joshua Silver discussed the answers to this question and many more.

Dwayne is known for his contrarian perspectives and deep expertise in payments data and risk management, so this episode goes into the weeds on auth rates, risk management, payments orchestration, and the state of the industry. 

Dwayne and Joshua covered:

• The most important payments metric for software platforms to optimize at each stage of growth
• How scammers are evolving, and what platforms and payments providers need to do to stay ahead 
• Legacy mindset challenges that the payments industry needs to overcome in order to fight fraud
• The optimal approach to payments orchestration and at what stage platforms should start experimenting
• Honest assessment of Stripe, Adyen, and Fiserv – both strengths and competitive challenges

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference

This invite-only event and community offers networking, learning, and unique insights on go-to-market, monetization, product expansion, fundraising, and M&A.

Learn more: https://www.vertexconference.com/

Get updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vertex-vertical-software-conference

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

The biggest opportunity for SaaS companies to reduce embedded payments cost usually isn’t negotiating a lower fee with the payment provider. 

It’s optimizing interchange. 

In this episode, payments supply chain expert Max Jewell explains how interchange fees are determined, where SaaS companies might be able to qualify for better rates, and what to look for in your processing statements to uncover potential savings.

Max shares:

• The most frequent causes of transaction downgrades and how to avoid them
• Common mistakes that prevent platforms from getting Level 2/3 data rates
• Little-known interchange optimization methods that almost no one is talking about
• 3 steps to size up your potential interchange optimization savings
• An easy way to spot hidden payment processor fees

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference

This invite-only event and community offers networking, learning, and unique insights on go-to-market, monetization, product expansion, fundraising, and M&A.

Learn more: https://www.vertexconference.com/

Get updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vertex-vertical-software-conference

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

Vertical SaaS is bifurcating into two distinct approaches – and one approach will dominate.

Joshua Silver (Founder & CEO of Rainforest) is joined by Ari Myers, Head of Commercial Strategy at Kanmon, to talk about the synergy between embedded payments and embedded lending, why the next generation of SaaS platforms will need to be fintech-first to stay competitive, and how to avoid the most common fintech fails.

They covered:

• Two types of SaaS companies that are emerging, and how to be on the winning side.
• The non-negotiable prerequisite for embedded fintech success (hint: it’s not the product)
• How to activate your GTM org with sales incentives, quota retirement, new demo patterns, and more
• The "trifecta" of execution: executive sponsorship, cross-functional ownership, and departmental accountability
• Why aligned incentives between fintech providers and platforms create a win-win-win for SaaS companies, partners, and their end users

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference

This invite-only event and community offers networking, learning, and unique insights on go-to-market, monetization, product expansion, fundraising, and M&A.

Learn more: https://www.vertexconference.com/

Get updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vertex-vertical-software-conference

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

Merchant migrations can be a significant barrier for SaaS companies changing payment providers -- especially if there's concern about merchant pushback or churn.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could get advice from someone who has led dozens of successful migrations impacting many thousands of merchants?

This person is Becky Kopplin (VP of Payments at Rainforest). In this episode of the Payments Strategy Show, she sits down with host Joshua Silver to share her battle-tested merchant migration playbook. 

They covered:

• How Ministry Brands evaluated acquisition targets based on payments, and what drove up (or tanked) valuation
• The hidden cultural gap between “integrated” and “embedded” payments that stalls adoption
• How to reduce migration risk and improve outcomes with merchant segmentation and a test-measure-learn approach
• Why lowering your processing rate won’t win over merchants… but better product value will
• Real-world strategies for reducing support volume, increasing attach rate, and making payments a strategic differentiator

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference

This invite-only event and community offers networking, learning, and unique insights on go-to-market, monetization, product expansion, fundraising, and M&A.

Learn more: https://www.vertexconference.com/

Get updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vertex-vertical-software-conference

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay