Payment Pulse – Ep. 39

Why do some embedded payments programs plateau after launch? Learn how SaaS companies can drive adoption, optimize payments, and build long-term growth.

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Episode Transcript

Shannon: Welcome back to the Payment Pulse Podcast. I’m Shannon.

Michelle: And I’m Michelle.

Shannon: One thing that’s changed dramatically over the last several years is how accessible embedded payments has become for software companies.

Michelle: It really has. Not that long ago, launching embedded payments would feel like an overwhelming undertaking. But today, between APIs, hosted onboarding, and PayFac as a Service, companies of almost every size can now make it part of their platform strategy.

Shannon: And that’s created a lot of momentum. We’re seeing more software companies recognize that payments isn’t just another integration. It has the potential to create recurring revenue, improve the customer experience, and become a much bigger part of the overall business.

Michelle: Exactly. The conversation has shifted from, “Can we launch embedded payments?” to “How do we make embedded payments successful?” Those are two very different conversations.

Shannon: And that’s really what we wanted to talk about today because we’ve noticed something interesting. Some software companies launch embedded payments and continue building momentum year after year. Others have a great launch, everything goes according to plan, and then growth starts slowing down.

Michelle: What’s fascinating is that those companies often look identical at the beginning. The integration works, merchants start processing, revenue starts coming in. From the outside, everything looks successful.

Shannon: Then six months later, the story starts to change. Merchant adoption slows or growth might begin to level off, and leadership starts asking why the payments business isn’t growing as quickly as they expected.

Michelle: And in our experience, the answer usually isn’t the technology, it’s what happens after launch.

Shannon: So I think part of the reason that this happens is because software companies naturally think in terms of projects. So you build something, and then you launch it, and then you move on to the next priority, and that’s how great software gets built.

Michelle: And honestly, that’s a healthy mindset. The challenge is that embedded payments don’t stop changing just because implementation is complete. If anything, that’s where the real opportunity begins.

Shannon: Yeah. So that’s a great point, and you think about any major feature your company has launched. So maybe it’s AI, it’s scheduling, maybe it’s a mobile app. Nobody expects customers to automatically discover it and start using it.

Michelle: Exactly. Marketing talks about it, sales learns how to position it, customer success helps customers adopt it, product continues improving the experience, and leadership measures adoption and decides where to invest next. Everyone understands that launch is just the beginning.

Shannon: Payments deserve the same mindset, but because implementation is such a significant milestone, it’s easy to think that the hardest part is behind you.

Michelle: And it is a huge accomplishment. Teams spend weeks or even months planning, building, testing, and preparing for launch. It’s absolutely worth celebrating, but the mistake is assuming the payments business will continue growing without the same level of attention that got it there.

Shannon: So I really like that distinction. Implementation creates opportunity, but the business is what creates the value.

Michelle: For sure. The companies that continue growing don’t think of launch as the finish line. They immediately start asking different questions. How do we increase adoption? How do we convert more existing customers? Where are merchants experiencing friction? How can we make the experience even better?

Shannon: So those are growth questions, not implementation questions.

Michelle: And that’s really where the paths begin to separate. Some companies keep building the payments business, while others move on to the next product initiative and assume growth will happen naturally.

Shannon: Which raises another interesting question. So if launch isn’t the finish line, how do you actually know whether your payments business is healthy?

Michelle: That’s an important question because I think a lot of leadership teams naturally look at revenue first, and revenue absolutely matters. Processing volume matters. Those are numbers every software company should be watching.

Shannon: The challenge is that they don’t always tell you where the business is headed. They’re really telling you where you’ve been.

Michelle: Exactly. When you look at the health of a payments business, you usually look for signs of momentum. Are more merchants joining the program? Are existing customers making the switch? Um, is adoption continuing to grow? Those are things that tell you whether the business is still moving forward.

Shannon: So I like the word momentum because if momentum is building, a lot of good things tend to follow.

Michelle: Every new merchant that adopts your payments program creates recurring activity. Then the next one does the same thing, and the next one. So over time, those individual decisions become meaningful recurring revenue.

Shannon: So revenue is really the outcome, but momentum is what creates that outcome.

Michelle: That’s exactly how I think about it. If momentum slows, revenue may still look healthy for a while, but eventually leadership starts asking why growth has flattened. Well, the warning signs were there much earlier.

Shannon: That also changes the way that you think about growth. So most software companies naturally focus on winning new customers, so new markets, new logos, and that’s important.

Michelle: Absolutely. But embedded payments creates another growth opportunity that’s easy to overlook, the customers you already have.

Shannon: And that’s a different mindset because those customers have already chosen your software. They’ve already trained their teams, and they’ve already built their business around your platform.

Michelle: Exactly. You’re not asking them to buy something new. You’re helping them get more value from something that they already use every day, and that’s a much different conversation.

Shannon: And it’s probably one of the biggest opportunities that many software companies have. Sometimes all the energy goes towards signing the next software customer while hundreds of existing customers are still processing payments somewhere else.

Michelle: Many of those customers aren’t saying no. They just haven’t had a compelling reason to switch. They’re comfortable with what they’re using today, so unless someone clearly explains why integrated payments improves their business, they’ll usually just stay where they are.

Shannon: And people don’t change simply because another option exists. They change when they understand why it’s a better way to operate.

Michelle: Exactly. That’s why the companies that continue growing don’t stop talking about payments after launch. Customer success, sales, and marketing reinforces the value. Every customer conversation becomes another opportunity to help merchants understand why switching makes sense.

Shannon: And that’s really the difference. Launch makes payments available. Helping customers understand the value, though, is what’s going to drive adoption.

Michelle: Which brings us back to something we’ve seen over and over again. The companies that keep growing don’t assume adoption happens automatically. They’re constantly looking for ways to make the experience better.

Shannon: One thing that stands out to me is that the companies with the strongest payments programs never really consider themselves finished.

Michelle: That’s true. They’re always looking for the next opportunity to improve. Maybe it’s simplifying onboarding or removing friction for merchants. It could be making reporting easier. They’re constantly asking how they can create a better experience.

Shannon: And when you think about it, that’s exactly how successful software companies build products. Nothing stays the same. Features evolve, workflows evolve, and customer expectations evolve as well.

Michelle: Exactly. So it really shouldn’t surprise us that payments has to evolve too. The companies that keep growing don’t ask, “Is our payments program working?” They ask, “How can we make it work even better?” And that’s a very different mindset.

Shannon: And I really like that distinction because if your goal is to simply launch successfully, eventually you’ll check the box and move on. But if your goal is continuous improvement, there’s always another opportunity to create more value.

Michelle: Now, another pattern we’ve noticed is that payment strategies shouldn’t stay static while software companies continue growing. Your business, customers, and product will change. It only makes sense that your payment strategy changes alongside it, too.

Shannon: And that’s something that we talk about quite a bit. The payments model that makes sense when you’re first launching isn’t necessarily the one that makes the most sense three to five years into it.

Michelle: For sure. Early on, the priority might be getting to market quickly. Then the conversation may shift toward creating a better customer experience, improving economics, or gaining more operational control. Growth changes priorities.

Shannon: And that’s actually a healthy sign. It doesn’t mean the original strategy was wrong. It means the business has matured. The best software companies don’t stand still and their payment strategy shouldn’t either.

Michelle: Something I’ve noticed is that the healthiest payments businesses keep payments part of the leadership conversation, not because there’s a problem, but because it’s an important part of the business.

Shannon: And I think that’s a really good observation. The leadership teams that continue growing are always asking questions. Where are we seeing momentum? Where are customers getting stuck? You can also look at what’s creating friction and what should we improve next?

Michelle: Those aren’t implementation questions anymore, they’re operating questions. They’re the same kind of questions leadership asks about every other recurring revenue part of the business.

Shannon: And when those conversations continue, the business continues evolving. When they stop, though, that’s often when growth starts slowing down. Not because anyone stopped caring, simply because attention moved somewhere else.

Michelle: So when you take a step back, the companies that continue growing really aren’t doing anything mysterious. They keep paying attention, improving, and listening to their customers, and they keep treating payments like an important part of the business.

Shannon: Which really brings us back to the biggest lesson from today’s conversation. As we wrap up, I think one of the most valuable things leadership teams can do is simply start asking better questions. Not because there’s one right answer, but because the conversation itself usually reveals where the opportunities are.

Michelle: Exactly. If we were sitting down with a software leadership team tomorrow, there are probably five questions we’d encourage them to discuss. So the first is, are we measuring adoption or are we only measuring processing volume? While revenue matters, adoption tells you whether the business is continuing to grow.

Shannon: So second, I would ask is, “How many of our existing customers still process payments somewhere else?” Because for many software companies, the biggest opportunity isn’t outside the business, it’s already inside it.

Michelle: Third, who owns the long-term success of the payments business? Not implementation, growth. Because if everyone assumes it’s someone else owns it, momentum naturally starts slowing over time.

Shannon: The fourth thing I would ask is when was the last time we intentionally educated our existing customers about payments? Not to sell them something, but to help them understand the value of doing more inside the platform they already use every day.

Michelle: And finally, has our payment strategy evolved as quickly as our software strategy? Because your software has almost certainly changed over the last several years. Your payment strategy should continue to change alongside it.

Shannon: So when we started today’s conversation, we talked about how much easier it’s become to launch embedded payments, and that’s been a great thing for the industry. More software companies than ever are bringing payments directly into their platforms.

Michelle: But launch really isn’t the destination. It’s the beginning of a different phase. That’s when leadership starts thinking about adoption, customer experience, continuous improvement, and long-term growth.

Shannon: And I think that’s probably the biggest takeaway from today’s conversation. Software companies would never launch an important feature and stop investing in it six months later. They’d continue improving it, they’d continue listening to customers, and they’d continue making it better. Embedded payments deserves that same mindset.

Michelle: The companies creating the most value aren’t simply launching embedded payments successfully. They’re continuing to build the business behind it quarter after quarter, year after year.

Shannon: That’s ultimately why some payments programs plateau while others continue growing. Not because they launched differently, but because they operated differently after launch.

Michelle: And if there’s one question to leave you with, it’s this: Are you still managing payments like a project, or are you managing it like a business?

Shannon: Thanks for joining us today, and we’ll see you next time on Payment Pulse.

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