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Vertical SaaS wins when it feels like it was built by someone who has actually done the job, and that same principle is reshaping payments and fintech. We sit down with Brad Pinneke, Head of Enterprise Business Development at Worldpay (is now Global Payments), to unpack why vertical SaaS platforms have become the day-to-day operating system for small businesses and why “embedded payments” is no longer a nice add-on. When the workflow lives inside the software, money flow becomes unavoidable, and the platform that handles both can deliver a cleaner experience and a stronger business model. We dig into what customers now expect from modern payment processing inside software: one login, one system of record, one support layer, and a single source of truth that connects checkout, settlement, reporting, and reconciliation. Brad explains how natively integrated payments can reduce back-office headaches, improve trust, and increase retention, plus what separates platforms that weave payments into the fabric of the product from those that simply tack it on. Then we get practical about the hard parts. Selling money is not the same as selling software, and the margin for error is smaller when uptime, compliance, PCI, funding, and fraud risk are on the line.  We close with the next wave: AI in fintech and how AI plus payments data can turn a system of record into a system of action through predictive cash flow, risk modeling, automated pricing, and standout fraud detection.

The payments world is full of shiny objects. The hard part is deciding what actually matters to clients and then delivering it safely at global scale. I’m joined by Rich Clow, Head of Innovation and Strategies for Global Payments Solutions at Bank of America, for a grounded look at how a large financial institution evaluates emerging payments technology, turns strategy into products, and keeps the focus on real outcomes like faster settlement, better data, and lower fraud. We unpack what payment volumes and behavior patterns reveal right now: why most transactions are still domestic, why ACH remains a workhorse, and why cross-border payments are still largely wires running through SWIFT. Rich explains where real-time payments (RTP) are gaining traction, how data requirements can slow adoption, and why improving ERP integration is a turning point for reconciliation, payouts, and just-in-time corporate payments that support smarter liquidity management. From the treasury perspective, the conversation gets practical: streamlining accounts payable and accounts receivable across checks, ACH, wires, cards, lockbox, and virtual cards, while upgrading security and fraud prevention with layered controls. We also go deep on digital treasury and AI, including CashPro Forecasting, CashPro Chat, and mobile approvals, plus how “always-on” 24/7 banking changes operations, investigations, and even how upgrades are handled.  If you care about payments innovation, real-time payments, treasury management, AI in banking, fraud prevention, and digital payment strategy, you’ll get plenty to take away. 

Waiting 47 days to get paid for work you already finished is more than annoying, it’s a cash-flow killer. I sat down with Garima Shah, President and Co-Founder of Biller Genie, to talk about the unglamorous part of payments that decides whether a business thrives: accounts receivable. We get practical about what actually slows payments down and why “just run the card” ignores the messy reality of invoicing, accuracy, and collections. Garima explains how accounts receivable automation tightens the whole workflow. Send invoices on time, protect data integrity so the right customer gets billed correctly, and give people an Amazon-like way to pay with a simple button for credit card or ACH. That shift can take a typical service business from getting paid in weeks to getting paid in days. We also dig into the real-world benefits beyond money, like saving 10 to 15 hours a week of admin work and giving owners time back. We also unpack what makes Biller Genie different in the payments ecosystem: a partner-first model built for banks, processors, and ISOs, deep payment gateway integrations, and bi-directional sync with accounting platforms like QuickBooks and Xero to support clean payment reconciliation. Garima shares where she sees growth in AR software, how AI in payments is accelerating product and insights, why stablecoin acceptance is “easy but early,” and what industry consolidation means when two partners suddenly become one. If you care about SMB payments, B2B invoicing, AR automation, and the future of merchant services, this one is packed with ideas you can use. 

Owning payments sounds like a power move until the real bill shows up. We sit down with Brock Robertson, CRO at Payroc, to unpack how payment strategy for software platforms is shifting again and why so many vertical SaaS leaders are stepping back from the “everyone should be a Payfac” era. We trace the evolution from payments as a bolt-on utility to embedded payments as a true growth engine, then get honest about what “control” actually requires: underwriting, compliance, disputes, fraud monitoring, security, systems, and specialized teams. Brock shares what he’s hearing from software companies that tried to become payments companies and felt their brand identity drift away from the features that made them win in the first place. If you have global expansion plans, we also dig into how regulation and operational complexity multiplies fast. From there, we explore what a modern referral partnership model looks like today, including hands-off referral, hybrid co-sell, and approaches that preserve customer experience while reducing operational burden. The thread that ties it all together is trust: transparency, support, aligned economics, and the confidence to represent each other well when your customers’ money is on the line. If you’re evaluating integrated payments, payment processing partners, APIs, or the Payfac path, this conversation will help you choose the level of involvement that fits your team and your product roadmap.

Payments alone rarely make a software platform unforgettable. The moment merchants start using your product to access working capital, manage cash flow, move money through payouts, and keep reconciliation tight, the relationship changes. I sit down with Whitney Ganibegovic, Senior Sales Executive at Worldpay (now part of Global Payments), to unpack why embedded finance is quickly becoming one of the most practical drivers of retention, account growth, and long-term platform value for ISVs and software platforms. We get specific about what platforms still underestimate: embedded finance does not have to be a massive multi-year build with a new compliance team and a brand-new support motion. With the right partner infrastructure, platforms can add value-added financial tools while staying focused on the vertical software that made them successful. Whitney shares why expanding from embedded payments to a broader financial suite can increase customer lifetime value, lift revenue per merchant, and create real platform dependency because these tools plug directly into daily workflows. We also dig into where many rollouts go wrong. “Embedded” does not automatically mean adopted, so go-to-market timing, vertical nuance, and marketing automation matter. Whitney explains why working capital is often the simplest entry point, how payments data enables smart pre-qualification, and which metrics go beyond surface-level revenue: multi-product adoption, engagement, cash flow penetration, contribution margin, retention, and net revenue retention. The guiding image we keep coming back to is the “nonstop flight” experience: one login, one place to operate, fewer handoffs, less stress. If you care about embedded finance, fintech strategy, and building software platforms merchants cannot replace, listen now. 

Your churn dashboard might be accusing your product of something your payments stack actually did. When a renewal charge fails, customers can disappear even if they still want what you sell, and that “involuntary churn” quietly drains ARR, wrecks retention analysis, and forces teams to make the wrong fixes. In this episode I sit down with Charles Rosenblatt, CEO of Butter, to unpack how subscription businesses can recover revenue from failed card payments using machine learning. We get specific about why many dunning programs rely on simple retry schedules, and how an ML-driven approach can choose the right moment for each invoice based on patterns in card and issuer behavior. Charles also shares how Butter works globally and plugs in as an abstraction layer on top of existing processors, so merchants can improve recovery without ripping out their current setup. Then we look ahead: Butter is expanding from reactive recovery to predictive modeling that helps companies anticipate payment failures before they happen. Charles walks through real operational scenarios across telehealth, AI subscriptions, physical subscription boxes, and gyms, where a predictive score can guide whether to ship, whether to pause access, and how to reduce wasted CAC. We also talk about using anonymous card transaction variables without PII, and where AI is genuinely useful versus just hype in the payments industry. If you run subscriptions, payments, billing, or growth, you’ll leave with a clearer way to separate product churn from payment friction and a roadmap for improving revenue retention. Subscribe to Leaders in Payments, share this episode with a teammate, and leave a review with your biggest churn question.

The moment AI agents can buy things for us, payments stop being a simple “click to pay” problem and become a trust problem. Greg Myers sits down with Sanjay Saraf, SVP and Global Chief Product Officer for Merchant Solutions at Fiserv, to map out what agentic commerce really means for merchants, ISVs, and the broader payments industry as software moves from assisting the shopper to acting for the shopper. We break down the simplest definition: customers set intent and rules, then an AI agent handles discovery, decisioning, and transaction execution. That shift challenges infrastructure built on the assumption that a human is present for authentication, authorization, and confirmation. Sanjay explains why the biggest change is the trust layer and how dispute resolution, refunds, and chargebacks must evolve when an autonomous agent initiates the purchase. We also dig into the emerging network frameworks shaping agentic payments, including Visa’s Trusted Agent Protocol and Mastercard’s Agent Pay Acceptance Framework. One emphasizes whether the agent is authorized to act, while the other emphasizes proving customer intent with a traceable record. From there, we talk practical implementation: how providers like Fiserv aim to make this seamless for integrated merchants, why SMBs can’t be left behind, and why “agentic discovery” may become as important as traditional SEO for product catalogs. Finally, we cover where early ROI may show up first, especially through reduced fraud, fewer disputes, and clearer authorization, along with real-world use cases in travel and high-impact B2B invoice and supplier payments. Subscribe for more conversations on the future of payments, and if this helped you, share it and leave a review so more builders can find the show.

Most payments teams obsess over money in, then act surprised when slow payouts drive churn, support tickets, and lost growth. Greg Myers sits down with Ran Grushkowsky, Co-Founder and CEO of MassPay, to unpack why “time to money” is becoming a product feature and why the companies that treat payouts as strategy will outpace the ones that treat it as plumbing. We get into what MassPay actually does for corporate clients that need global payouts across multiple endpoints: local bank deposits, mobile wallets, cash pickup locations, push-to-card via Visa Direct, and even crypto. Ran explains the real challenge behind modern payout infrastructure: fragmentation. RTP, FedNow, wallets, and countless country-specific rails create a maze of integrations, compliance requirements, and operational risk. MassPay’s answer is a proprietary network with deep redundancy in every market plus smart routing that weighs speed, compliance fit, and total cost, not just the cheapest per-transaction quote. Ran also shares what’s reshaping the space right now: stablecoins as a cross-border speed and hedging tool, the shift toward embedded compliance that lets platforms control their own onboarding and payout experience, and how AI is already improving payout success rates through data normalization and faster reviews. We close with leadership lessons on where the real moat is headed in fintech and why payouts can move from cost center to profit center.

Your BNPL strategy can’t be “pick one provider and hope.” When you sell across borders, buy now pay later becomes a payments infrastructure problem: different countries, different regulations, different checkout habits, and a constant pressure to keep conversion high without turning your team into an integration factory. We sit down with Cihan Duezguen, CEO and Co-Founder of Green Banana, to unpack a focused approach to payment orchestration built specifically for BNPL. We talk through why merchants and payment service providers are asking for a single, harmonized API that can connect to multiple BNPL providers while staying invisible to the shopper.  Cihan explains what it means to be an agnostic infrastructure layer, why Green Banana doesn’t run its own risk or credit checks, and how neutrality creates flexibility for merchants that need to change providers as requirements shift.  From there we zoom out to the bigger payments trends Cihan is watching: stablecoins as a back-end innovation that could unlock new value for PSPs, banks, and merchants, plus the rise of agentic commerce where AI agents buy products through voice prompts and automated flows. If those changes land the way he expects, the retailers and payment leaders who prepare now will win the next generation of checkout UX. 

Payments is full of noise: legacy processors, vendor sprawl, duplicate onboarding, and merchants who just want their money faster. We cut through it by showing a pragmatic path from point products to a unified embedded finance stack that actually scales. With Jaris founder and CEO Chris Aristides and VP of Platform Partnerships Matt Thomas, we unpack why “foundation first” beats bolt-on every time and how to make it work across multiprocessor portfolios without ripping out your core. We start with the playbook behind winners like Square and Stripe: remove complexity, unify the experience, and make multi-product adoption effortless. Then we translate that into the realities of processors and ISOs. Chris explains the banking backbone - independent RTN, sponsor bank alignment, and vertically integrated ledgers—that makes settlement reliable and compliant. Matt breaks down managed settlement as the key unlock: a dynamic funding layer that normalizes Fiserv, TSYS, Worldpay, and Elavon flows, enabling split settlement, instant payouts, and automated loan repayment without custom builds for each backend. From there we stack the products merchants actually use. Lending remains a high-margin anchor with powerful retention, while instant payouts reach a far larger share of the base with a clean pay-as-you-use model that works on weekends and holidays. High-yield savings ties it together for cash management, all delivered through one onboarding, one golden merchant record, and a white-labeled UI that honors sub-ISO relationships and trust. The result is tangible: fewer forms, faster activation, clearer visibility for ops, and a material lift in retention and revenue. If you lead partnerships, product, or operations at a processor or ISO, this conversation gives you a concrete framework to touch the other 95 percent of your merchants, modernize onboarding, and launch new revenue lines through a single integration. Subscribe, share this episode with your team, and leave a review to tell us which product you’d launch first.

Fraud doesn’t wait for your roadmap. We sat down with Jess Kirkpatrick, VP of Risk and Fraud at Worldpay now part of Global Payments, to unpack how platforms can move beyond checkbox KYC and build a living risk program that protects growth, strengthens brand trust, and prepares for Payfac readiness. With experience spanning community banking, 17 years at PayPal, and global risk leadership, Jess brings a clear, practical lens to what proactive actually looks like. We start by challenging the biggest myth in payments: set it and forget it. Jess outlines four risk vectors (identity, intent, business model, and financial stability) and shows why continuous monitoring across all four beats a one-time screen. She explains how shared liability works in embedded payments, why payment providers still own card brand and regulatory obligations, and how true partnerships pair education, tooling, and joint governance. From there, we go deep on good friction: enhanced onboarding for higher-risk profiles, step-up checks on unusual behavior, and periodic reviews that are framed as protection, not punishment. Jess shares how clear communication turns compliance into service, preventing the “why are you asking this now?” backlash that costs you trust and churn.  To close, Jess gives three high-impact moves for this quarter: modernize KYC/KYB and tighten onboarding, ramp up ongoing monitoring with alerts for sudden shifts, and train frontline teams while explaining controls to merchants. Measure success beyond loss rates by tracking retention of your best merchants and brand health around trust and safety. 

What does it actually take to secure a payments company in an era of sophisticated, well-funded cybercriminals? In this first episode of The Trust Advantage Series, brought to you by Payroc, host Greg Myers sits down with David Edwards, Payroc's Senior Vice President of Information Security, for a candid and eye-opening conversation about modern cybersecurity in the payments industry. With 30 years in technology — spanning private banking, retail, and payments — David brings hard-won perspective to the questions keeping payments executives up at night. Sparked by a real-world ransomware attack on a payments company, this episode cuts through the compliance checkbox mentality to explore what genuine, operational security actually looks like. David and Greg cover a wide range of critical topics: why passing audits doesn't equal being secure, how AI has radically changed the phishing threat landscape, the three pillars of identity and vulnerability management, and why resilience — not prevention — is the new gold standard. David also breaks down Payroc's layered approach to ransomware defense, how the company integrates acquired platforms without creating security gaps, and the right questions ISVs, ISOs, banks, and merchants should be asking their payment partners. Whether you're a developer, a risk officer, or a business owner processing transactions, this episode delivers a masterclass in why security isn't just an IT issue — it's everyone's job.

What if checkout was the growth engine instead of an add-on? We sit down with Ismael Wrixen, CEO of ThriveCart, to explore how a payments-first platform can power the modern creator economy from a $99 template to a $10,000 mastermind without locking you into a brittle tech stack. Ismael breaks down how ThriveCart layers affiliates, an LMS, and marketing automation on top of payments, then uses smart funnels to turn checkout into predictable revenue. The conversation gets especially interesting around financing. As ticket sizes rise, traditional BNPL hits limits on geography and amount. Enter Thrive Pay Installments: interest-free plans using a customer’s existing card limit, delivered globally in USD, CAD, GBP, EUR, and AUD. Early data shows 3.3x higher average order values, approvals jumping from ~40% to ~85%, and checkout time collapsing to five seconds. Merchants still get paid up front; buyers spread payments over three, six, or twelve months with no new loan application, no extra friction. We also zoom out to the bigger picture of the creator economy and AI. Demand for reskilling surges as companies retool, and creators step in with specialized courses and coaching across finance, business, wellness, and AI. Ismael shares why flexibility is non-negotiable—keep your payment funnel, swap your LMS, integrate with 50+ tools, and sell globally with automated taxes and e-invoicing support coming online. We discuss where LLM commerce is heading, why human-in-the-loop purchasing still matters, and how adaptive pricing and localized experiences unlock international growth. If you care about conversion, funding bigger baskets, and building a stack that won’t trap you as AI reshapes the landscape, this is your roadmap. 

In this first episode of a new series on the Leaders in Payments podcast, host Greg Myers sits down with Chris Aristides, Founder and CEO of Jaris, to explore what it truly takes for payments companies and ISOs to remain competitive as the market shifts toward owned, embedded finance experiences. Chris brings an unconventional background to the payments world, having spent 22 years in the hedge fund industry as an analyst and portfolio manager before making the move into building a company. The conversation begins with the origin story of Jaris, which set out to bring a Square Capital-style lending product to the broader payments market. Rather than following the typical merchant cash advance route, Chris made the deliberate choice to build on a bank-backed model with a modern tech stack, prioritising regulatory alignment and a foundation flexible enough to eventually expand into multi-product banking services. A significant portion of the discussion centers on the complexity of working with legacy payment processors. Unlike vertical SaaS platforms, which offer high conversion and seamless integration, the legacy world is fragmented, running on outdated infrastructure with no easy outlet to plug into. Jaris has spent years building around this challenge, developing its own cloud-based core and processor-agnostic settlement infrastructure to bridge that gap. Chris also addresses the broader vision, making the case that lending alone is insufficient and that engaging the full merchant base requires a suite of products including instant payouts and commercial banking. He closes by framing Jaris not as a disruptor, but as a complement to the existing infrastructure, doing the hard work the industry has long needed done.

In this episode of the Leaders in Payments podcast, host Greg Myers sits down with Alex Dewison, Director of Digital Solutions at Global Payments, to explore the rapidly evolving world of online commerce and checkout experiences. Alex brings a rich background to the conversation, having started his career in software development before moving into payments at Worldpay, where he worked with major UK retailers like Tesco and Next, and eventually transitioning into his current role overseeing digital product strategy across Europe, Asia, and Oceania. The discussion covers how consumer payment expectations have shifted dramatically, with digital wallets now accounting for over twenty percent of transactions and instant refunds becoming a baseline expectation rather than a perk. Alex argues that friction at checkout is no longer tolerable and that the industry is moving toward what he calls "invisible" or zero-click commerce, where the act of paying becomes seamlessly embedded in the shopping experience itself. The conversation also tackles the tension between platform simplicity and merchant control, the dangers of offering too many payment options, and the importance of localizing payment methods when expanding internationally. Alex shares practical guidance on how merchants can reduce cart abandonment by addressing surprise fees, slow page loads, and poor mobile optimization. On the topic of AI, Alex separates genuine near-term value, such as intelligent payment routing and adaptive fraud detection, from the longer-term hype around fully autonomous AI agents. He closes with a pointed message for e-commerce leaders: in 2026, your payment experience is your product, and the winners will be those who relentlessly remove friction rather than add features.