Payment Pulse – Ep. 16

Payment Pulse: The Power of Social Proof: Learn how influencer endorsements, online reviews, and peer behavior shape our buying habits.

Status Spending and Luxury Psychology: Understand why consumers use high-end payment methods to signal prestige and how brands capitalize on the “Keeping up with the Joneses” mentality.

FOMO and Impulse Purchases: Explore the role of limited-time offers and BNPL services in reducing purchase friction and triggering rapid spending.

Digital Trends on Social Media: See how platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube are revolutionizing product discovery and checkout experiences.

Cultural Influences on Spending: Discover how global payment preferences vary and why adapting to local norms is key for businesses expanding into new markets.

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Episode Transcript

Steve: Welcome to Payment Pulse, a podcast by Xplor Pay, where we have a goal of humanizing and simplifying the complex world of payments. My name is Steve, and today I’m here with a special guest. We have a couple people in the rotation for the podcast, and we’re really trying to diversify who we bring on.

Today, I’m joined by Claudia, Vice President of Marketing at Xplor Pay. She’s been here for the last two and a half years and has been absolutely crushing it for the team. She’s responsible for managing and executing all marketing functions for Xplor Pay, including events, brand, content strategy, SEO, PPC, communications, product marketing, partner growth, and lead generation. The list goes on—across all channels for the direct-to-merchant side of our business, as well as the ISV and ISO side with our partnerships. She’s also been in payments for over ten and a half years—maybe a little longer. Claudia, correct me if I’m wrong, but I did my research beforehand.

One of the things I mentioned at the top was brand. And if you’ve been listening to the podcast—or if you’re new here—we recently went through a rebrand process from Clearent by Xplor to what is now Xplor Pay. I wanted to bring Claudia on to highlight why we made the transition. It’s something we’ve been talking about internally for quite a while as part of the Xplor Technologies organization, and it’s super exciting. It’s taken a lot of work to get here, but I wanted Claudia to share what’s going on, why we made this change, and some of the exciting things ahead.

So Claudia, it’s great to have you on.

Claudia: Thanks, Steve. I’m excited to be here and appreciate you talking me up to get us started.

Steve: Nothing like a good introduction. Definitely, if anybody’s watching this, check out the New Heights podcast—it’s not quite a Travis Kelce–style intro, but I’m doing the best I can. I’m pretty new to the podcast world, but we’re going to roll with it. So, with that said, I’ve got some questions for you. Let’s start at the top: Why now? What made 2025 the right moment to rebrand from Clearent by Xplor to Xplor Pay?

Claudia: This has been in the works for a really long time. Over the last 18 months—almost two years—we’ve been transforming the way we go to market and the way we support our partners. That really came together with our PayFac as a Service offering.

Our product team has done a tremendous amount of work—rolling out product after product, enhancement after enhancement. We launched our updated partner portal, a brand-new developer center with refreshed documentation, new white-labeling features so partners can go to market how they want, and new low-code options so they can reduce their speed to market and start producing revenue quicker.

We’ve just grown up so much as a company over the last two years, really enhancing what we offer. The rebrand was the best way to make a splash in the market and celebrate everything we’ve accomplished—while also focusing on how we can help our partners do even more.

Steve: Great way to kick it off. The product team has been rolling things out left and right—especially over the last 18 months—and will continue to do so. You mentioned our partners and the impact there. In a similar light, why does being part of the global Xplor brand better position Xplor Pay in the payments and SaaS landscape?

Claudia: Honestly, being part of Xplor Technologies is one of our biggest differentiators. We’re not just partnering with software providers—we work with them day to day because they’re part of our company. That helps us really understand what SaaS platforms need, what their payments pain points are, and how we can help them achieve their goals.

It gives us an insider perspective on what our partners need and how we can support them in a meaningful way.

Steve: Yeah, we’re really walking the walk and talking the talk. This transition happened about a month ago and we put out a press release, but I wanted to have a more open conversation. In that release, we highlighted the shift from being a traditional credit card processor to a modern consultative embedded payments partner. Let’s dive deeper—what does that transformation mean in practical terms for a SaaS provider?

Claudia: With PayFac as a Service, we’re positioning ourselves as a consultative partner. Rather than saying, “This is the one way we do it, and you’re in a box,” we work with software providers to meet their needs—whether that’s the level of control, brand recognition, or flexibility they want.

We’re giving them that consultative approach, providing tools to help them sell if they want, or enabling them to manage independently if that’s better for them. It’s about meeting them where they are.

Steve: With enhancements like low-code components, white-label tools, and the new developer center, which do you think has had the biggest impact on partners so far?

Claudia: Honestly, it’s hard to pinpoint just one. All of them combined—reducing speed to market, supporting how partners want to go to market, and offering flexibility—have made our product offering stronger. It’s really the combination that makes the biggest impact.

Steve: I’d agree. It’s the consultative approach plus the tools that help partners scale based on their needs. You also mentioned upcoming launches like Tap to Pay on smartphones, faster merchant funding, and a unified global platform. Which of these do you think will be the most disruptive in a positive way for SaaS platforms?

Claudia: My personal opinion is the global expansion. We’ve been working toward that for a long time. We already have a presence in multiple regions, but being able to offer one global platform to existing and new partners will be a game changer. It’ll grow our reach and help us support partners in even more ways than before.

Steve: That’s the thing I’m most excited about too—especially how it will help partners scale into new markets. Final question: if you could leave software providers with one key takeaway about Xplor Pay after this rebrand, what would it be?

Claudia: To go along with the consultative approach, it’s really about the people we have here. In all my years in the payments industry, this is the best group I’ve worked with—educated, caring, and supportive people who truly want our partners to succeed. That support shows in the way we go the extra mile. When our partners succeed, we succeed. That’s what sets us apart.

Steve: Absolutely. I’ve been here for four years, and it’s always been about the people. It comes down to making sure our partners are happy and moving in a positive direction. When they succeed, that’s success for us.

So with that, we’ll wrap it up. Just a quick episode highlighting these points with Claudia and giving some insider background to the rebrand. Personally, I think Xplor Pay has a better ring to it. A lot of great things have happened over the last 18 months, and more are on the way.

Claudia, thank you for joining. I’ll link the press release in the description of the podcast. This is posted on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify—so wherever you’re listening, you’ll find it. Subscribe if you’d like to stay updated. On YouTube, you can watch the conversation, and on the other platforms you can listen in.

Again, Claudia, thank you for taking the time to share some background on the rebrand. It’s really exciting, and I’m looking forward to what the future holds for Xplor Pay.