THE SIGNAL: SaaS is Dead, Long Live SaaS + Payments | Episode 453

Subscriptions aren’t enough anymore. We dig into why the next wave of software winners are building full commerce platforms where payments are invisible to users yet central to growth. With NMI’s CMO Peter Galvin and Product Director of Developer Experience, Luis Peña, we unpack how vertical SaaS turns checkout into a native, on-brand experience that drives revenue, cuts churn, and opens the door to embedded finance.We start with the big shift: horizontal tools are giving way to vertical platforms that automate every workflow and own the moment of payment. From dentist offices to gyms and home services, merchants want one system that books, bills, and gets them paid. Peter explains how integrated payments changes the business model - subscription fees plus payments monetization and new fintech lines like working capital - while strengthening loyalty through a consistent, secure merchant and consumer experience.Luis takes us into the build. He shares a practical roadmap for developer-friendly adoption: onboard merchants within your app, collect card data with tokenization and design for webhooks, and exception paths from day one. We talk sandboxes, test suites that simulate real failure modes, and AI-friendly docs that make it easier for modern teams to ship quickly without cutting corners. Then we zoom out to the data advantage - interchange optimization, card mix insights, network tokenization, and benchmarking that inform pricing, conversion, and cross-sell strategies.The takeaway is simple: treat payments as a growth engine, not a bolt-on. When software controls the workflow and the commerce flow, the product becomes stickier, the economics improve, and customers stop thinking about payments at all.

If you run a small or mid-sized retail business and feel stuck between legacy tools and rising customer expectations, this conversation is your playbook for breaking through. We sit down with Unzer CEO Robert Bueninck to unpack how bundling software and payments helps merchants deliver seamless experiences across in-store and online without enterprise budgets or heavyweight integrations.Robert traces his journey from early Klarna days to leading Unzer’s “payments and beyond” ecosystem, and lays out why the mid-market is the most underserved (and most promising) space in European commerce. We dive into the practical ways software plus payments drives real outcomes: faster onboarding, unified reporting, and simpler support when QR ordering, click-and-collect, or in-store returns marry e-commerce and POS. He explains Unzer’s focus on food services, beauty, and apparel, and how a clear build-partner boundary keeps products sharp while letting merchants scale when complexity grows.We also dig into Europe’s unique payments fabric. Alternative payment methods and account-to-account rails already dominate online checkout in markets like the Netherlands and Belgium, changing merchant economics with lower cost and instant funds. BNPL fills the buyer-protection gap, while policymakers push toward a pan-European A2A framework and greater vendor independence. Robert separates hype from habit on agentic commerce and stablecoins, arguing that adoption only happens when the new flow truly makes life easier for shoppers and staff and that’s where the mid-market wins.Looking ahead, Robert outlines Unzer’s growth bets: expand combined software and payments across core markets, bring all products to all regions, and help “make Germany digital” as a foundation for broader European reach.  If you care about SMB retail, omnichannel checkout, A2A payments, BNPL, and the future of European payments infrastructure, you’ll find plenty to act on here.

Fraud losses are climbing, checks are supposedly fading, and yet check fraud is hitting all-time highs. We sat down with Mike Timoney, a payments veteran now leading secure payments work at the Federal Reserve, to unpack that paradox and chart a path to stronger defenses across banks, fintechs, and businesses of every size. The conversation moves from frontline realities to system-wide fixes: why paper is still a prime target, how modern scams bypass technology to persuade people, and what practical tools can help teams react faster than criminals can pivot.Mike shares a global-to-local career arc (from international banking to ACH, wires, and cards) before taking on fraud across channels and ultimately joining the Fed. That perspective shapes a clear mission: keep the U.S. payment system trusted and reliable by educating the industry, building relationships, and mapping threats without prescribing vendors. We dive deep into two new resources: a check fraud mitigation toolkit with visual examples, pattern tells, and tips like positive pay; and a scams mitigation toolkit that decodes phishing, smishing, and business email compromise through case studies and actionable defenses. Both are designed as short, usable modules that help community banks train staff and help larger teams keep pace with evolving tactics.We also tackle the hard part: collaboration and transparency in a fragmented U.S. landscape. With thousands of institutions and varied state privacy rules, information sharing is tough - but not impossible. Mike outlines privacy-enhancing approaches that share patterns, not identities, so institutions can broadcast what criminals are doing without exposing who was hit. AI features throughout the episode as a double-edged sword: it supercharges detection and accelerates response, while giving fraudsters new ways to scale social engineering. The key is narrowing the response gap through better models, faster signal exchange, and continual education.Walk away with three priorities: make fraud everyone’s job through constant micro-education, keep learning as tactics shift, and share signals across your peer network. If this conversation helps you see a new control, training idea, or partnership opportunity, subscribe, share the episode with your team, or contact Mike for more information. 

Most software teams still think of payments as a chore. We take you inside the playbook that turns it into a growth engine. I sits down with NMI CTO Phillip Goericke to unpack how embedded payments evolved from a basic checkout to a full-stack platform that handles onboarding, underwriting, payouts, analytics, and even embedded finance. The conversation is straight talk on what actually works when you’re shipping fast and scaling globally.We dig into the architectural choices that matter: start with a no-code drop-in to activate revenue quickly, then progress to low-code SDKs and finally full APIs when you need deep control. Phillip shares where platforms stall - manual KYC, fragmented global rules, and data blind spots and how a modular approach fixes these without ripping out your stack. You’ll hear how compliance-as-a-service, network tokenization, and adaptive 3D Secure can raise approval rates, reduce fraud, and simplify audits while keeping the checkout experience seamless.Looking ahead, we explore why identity, compliance, and data are the foundation for embedded finance. Philip outlines NMI’s unified experience that brings payments, onboarding, insights, and new services like business capital into one place. We also tackle AI with clear eyes: use it to augment decisioning and anomaly detection, but wrap it with deterministic controls so money-critical outcomes are consistently right. The key takeaway is a mindset shift: stop treating payments as a feature and start using it as a strategic lever for revenue, retention, and product velocity.If you’re building software with transactions anywhere in the flow, this is your blueprint for turning payments into a competitive moat. Subscribe for more deep dives, share with a teammate who owns monetization, and leave a review to tell us what topic you want next.

What if paying with crypto felt as effortless as tapping your card? We sit down with Jess Houlgrave, CEO of WalletConnect, to unpack how stablecoins, smarter wallet-to-app messaging, and a new wave of SDKs are collapsing the gap between crypto checkout and the one-click experiences consumers expect.Jess traces her path from investment banking to early Bitcoin research to leading a network that connects 700 wallets to 70,000 applications and moves hundreds of billions in value. We dig into the real merchant story: slashing fees from the typical 2–3% card rates to basis points, settling in seconds instead of days, and opening doors in markets where stablecoins are already everyday money. The caveat has always been clunky UX - QR codes, chain selection, gas fees - but that’s changing fast as partners like Coinbase Commerce, Mesh, and Privy streamline onboarding and data sharing.We explore two frontiers set to unlock the next wave of growth. First, in-store payments, where WalletConnect’s new POS SDK aims to meet the speed and reliability of retail environments and is already rolling out with partners in Asia. Second, recurring payments, where crypto’s push model needs safer, revocable permissions to mirror subscriptions without sacrificing user control. Along the way, we zoom out to embedded finance, where neobanks become financial hubs offering custody, trading, and wealth tools, and to data privacy, where wallets enable selective disclosure so users share only what’s needed for shipping, KYC, or age checks.Enjoy the conversation, and if it sparks ideas, subscribe, share this episode with a colleague, and leave a quick review to help others find the show.

Recorded live from the PayTech Women Leadership Summit in Atlanta, this episode brings together an inspiring cross-section of executives, founders, coaches, and industry veterans who are shaping the human side of leadership in payments and fintech. A special thank you to our episode sponsor, Global Payments.Across fast, heartfelt conversations, one thread is impossible to miss: influence grows when community grows. You’ll hear how clarity of purpose fuels confidence, why intentional relationships compound over time, and how investing in your own presence, skills, and courage creates opportunities that span roles, companies, and career chapters.Valissa Pierre-Louis opens by grounding influence in self-awareness - truly understanding the value you bring and aligning your strengths to what the business needs most. She underscores the power of relationships that amplify that value. Outhay Lovan builds on that with a call to boldness, especially for those who don’t see themselves as natural extroverts. Her message is simple: step into discomfort, expand your network, and watch your impact grow.Executive presence takes center stage with Eileen Nebhut, who highlights the importance of coaching, feedback, and stakeholder support systems. She notes that the Summit’s unique “vibe” comes from leaders who intentionally pay it forward. Audrey Blackmon emphasizes being intentional with time and staying rooted in authenticity and integrity - two qualities she sees as non-negotiable for long-term influence.From the organizational lens, Dr. Gail Burgos encourages women to take risks, stretch beyond their functional lanes, and embrace curiosity as a pathway to growth. FIS’s Kristen Slink brings a powerful distinction between mentorship and sponsorship, urging women to advocate for one another and elevate voices not yet in the room.Margie Kreutz adds a powerful mindset shift—reframing “risk” as courage—and reminds women that staying too long in a comfortable role can quietly stall advancement, while brave, timely moves create momentum and open doors. Longtime industry leader Linda Perry reminds professionals to stay deeply informed—follow the trends, read widely, and understand the ecosystem so you can chart where you want to go. And to close, Jonathan O’Connor spotlights the magic of “playing in traffic” - putting yourself in the flow of conversations, peers, and opportunity during a moment of massive industry transformation.If you care about accelerating your career, building meaningful connections, or leading with purpose in a competitive, fast-changing landscape, this episode offers practical insights you can put into motion today.

Payments shouldn’t break just because a card changes. We sat down with leaders from NMI, G+D and Mastercard to unpack how network tokenization has moved far beyond basic security to become the backbone of higher approvals, fewer chargebacks, and smoother recurring billing. If you care about conversion, fraud, and customer lifetime value, this conversation goes straight to the signal.Tiffany Johnson, CPO at NMI, Mark Van Horn, Digital Solution Lead, North America at G+D and Ryan Francis, Vice President, Digital Product at Mastercard start the episode by clarifying what network tokens are and how they differ from traditional vault tokens, then dig into the metrics that matter: consistent 3–6 percentage point authorization uplift, real-world portfolio wins that stretch even higher, and measurable savings from reduced retries and smarter routing. You’ll hear how merchant-bound and device-bound tokens give issuers reliable context, why lifecycle management keeps subscriptions uninterrupted, and how those improvements cascade into lower operational costs and stronger retention.From there, we look ahead. Tokens are becoming the default for card-not-present payments and will extend into open banking and account-to-account flows. With AI on the rise and agentic commerce coming into view, tokens provide portable trust - binding identity, device, and permissions so agents can transact safely on our behalf. The guests share how G+D and NMI make token adoption turnkey for ISVs and platforms, and how Mastercard is scaling token rails to power seamless, intelligent commerce.If you’re an ISV, platform, or merchant seeking higher approval rates and lower fraud without adding friction, this is your blueprint. 

Money shouldn’t take days to arrive while business waits. We sit down with Miles Paschini, CEO and co-founder of FV Bank, to unpack how a licensed digital bank can make crypto feel like normal banking - without the wallet headaches, exchange hops, or private key anxiety. Miles traces his journey from prepaid telecom innovation to Wavecrest’s pioneering crypto cards, and explains why building FV Bank meant controlling the value chain: the bank license, the compliance stack, and the tech.We dig into how FV Bank issues traditional accounts with ACH, wires, and cross-border payments, then layers in bank-native wallet addresses for USDC, USDT, and PYUSD. That lets a merchant accept a stablecoin payment that lands as USD deposits, or send a million dollars internationally in minutes with on-chain settlement and integrated sanctions screening. Inside the bank, FVNet provides instant client-to-client settlement, turning treasury into an always-on function and freeing working capital from the friction of multi-day delays.Miles also explores the future: stablecoin growth accelerated by clearer regulation, peer-to-peer payment via X402 that removes chargebacks and middlemen, and how agentic and machine-to-machine commerce will quietly reshape e-commerce and everyday life. We touch on risk and compliance fundamentals - BSA/AML first, crypto-native forensics layered on top and why specialization in fintech and blockchain is a durable advantage. Looking ahead, FV Bank plans to expand Visa issuing, launch BIN sponsorship globally, and introduce Bitcoin-collateralized lending for long-term holders.If you care about faster settlement, lower risk, and payments that work at internet speed, this conversation maps where banking is headed and how businesses can get there without becoming crypto experts. 

Money doesn’t just move; it travels across rules, rails, and risk decisions that either create trust or destroy it. In the first of three episodes, we sit down with Sal Karakaplan, Chief Strategy Officer at The Clearing House, to explore how a century-old operator keeps reinventing the core of U.S. payments while shipping modern capabilities at scale. From instant settlement to tokenized data, this is a close look at what it takes to wire an economy for speed without sacrificing safety.We start with the foundation: what TCH runs under the hood - RTP, CHIPS, EPN, and check image exchange - and why reliability and advocacy both matter when you’re operating the plumbing. Sal opens the strategy playbook: scan market trends, pick where to build, buy, or partner, and relentlessly prioritize use cases that create measurable customer value. That lens frames a practical take on open banking, where market innovation and regulation advance in parallel. Expect straight talk on security, DDA tokenization, liability clarity, and user consent that’s simple for people and robust for compliance.RTP steps into focus with concrete momentum: growing daily volumes, expanding bank enablement, and use cases that resonate; account-to-account funding, B2C disbursements, merchant settlement, insurance payouts, and early wage access. We get real about adoption hurdles in a fragmented banking market and how to make the business case stack up. Beyond speed, the conversation highlights ISO 20022 and data-rich messages that reduce reconciliation friction and sharpen risk controls - critical for CFOs, treasurers, and operations leaders chasing working capital gains.Then we tackle stablecoins with a bottom-up filter: where do they outperform existing rails? Cross-border stands out, from remittances to marketplace payouts, alongside emerging hypotheses in tokenized settlement. Sal lays out the next 3–5 years: push RTP to ubiquity, evaluate DLT and tokenized deposits with discipline, lean into AI for commerce and fraud defense, and elevate security and data as first-class features. It’s a pragmatic roadmap for banks, fintechs, and enterprises that want real outcomes, not buzzwords.

Recorded live from the PayTech Women Leadership Summit in Atlanta, we bring you a rapid, energizing tour of leadership lessons from executives, board members, and rising voices shaping the future of payments and fintech. A special thanks to our episode sponsor Global Payments. Across crisp conversations, a common theme emerges: community multiplies competence. You’ll hear how curiosity fuels influence, why relationships beat résumés, and how owning your personal banner outlasts any company logo.Chrissy Wagner (FIS) opens with a hard truth many leaders overlook—self care is strategy. When your cup is full, you lead with clarity and generosity. Margaret Weichert draws on three decades across Bank of America, First Data, Accenture, EY, and The Clearing House to champion curiosity as a daily practice: learn the tech, the processes, and the business context so every presentation connects to customer value and shareholder outcomes. That framing travels across product, risk, and operations, especially as rails evolve and real-time becomes table stakes.Relationship building gets tactical with Rebecca Walden (Corvia), who shares how to deepen ties beyond LinkedIn: Zoom coffees, thoughtful introductions, timely articles, and in-person meetups that convert weak ties into trusted allies. Executive coach Cynthia Knowles underscores investing in purpose and skills, noting that the summit creates rare neutral ground where fierce competitors become generous collaborators. Melissa Desjardins (Protiviti) offers a powerful structure—build a personal board of directors who challenge your assumptions and push you to take bold steps, then return the favor for others.From the talent pipeline, Laura Gibson Lamothe (Georgia FinTech Academy) shows how belonging accelerates careers, especially for those who haven’t always seen themselves reflected in leadership. Kathy Kmiotek urges leaders to own their personal banner—your story, your value proposition—through every career shift. And Naomi Donaldson (FISERV) connects the dots across industry change, from cash and checks to crypto, stablecoins, and agentic commerce, while navigating the realities of growth, family, and leadership on a shared stage with industry rivals.If you care about payments innovation, career momentum, or simply leading with purpose in a competitive market, this conversation delivers practical, repeatable moves you can use today.