How Platforms are Delivering on Innovation with Software-led Payments | Episode 19

It’s no secret that software led payments are taking our digital ecosystem by storm. It’s a buzzword that’s in just about every conversation regarding payments, payfacs, and how to optimize the fintech space. In this episode, WorldPay Vice President of Merchant Strategy, Samuel Callen joins Bob Butler, Host of PayFAQ: The Embedded Payments Podcast to talk all about what’s creating all that buzz. 

According to Sam, software-led payments refer to any form of payment that is consumed or sold from a software provider, so this is not your average ISO pushing standalone terminals around his local territory. This refers to small businesses that are opting to use a piece of software to run their business and empowering these software providers to sell payments to the SMBs. 

When it comes to a target market for this type of offering, there are two extreme ends of a very broad spectrum, says Sam. The initial end of the spectrum starts with what we call the low touch end, referring to ISV referrals with no capacity for embedded payments. In this scenario, companies can monetize payments even when they’re not necessarily a payments company themselves.

The opposite end of the spectrum will be wholesale payfacs, referring to a fully embedded payments product that a company can use to differentiate themselves in the marketplace. The middle ground would then be what we call managed payfacs or payfac lite, referring to software companies that are powered by a payments company behind the scenes but offer the full look and feel of a payment facilitator without any of the risk or overhead. 

Tune in this week to hear Sam talk about who the ideal candidate is for software-led payments, the most common pain points in the middle space of the spectrum and what to expect in the industry as it relates to software-led embedded financing.