Payment Pulse

What work could your software platform start doing for customers? In this episode, Shannon and Michelle share a practical starting point for vertical SaaS platforms thinking about AI: map the customer’s entire workflow, including what happens outside the product. Where do people still handle repetitive decisions, manual follow-up, handoffs, or payment steps? They also look at how payments could be...

What determines whether a transaction is card present or card not present? The answer involves more than whether a physical card is in the room. In this episode of Payment Pulse, Noelle and Joe explain how payment credentials are captured and why that distinction matters. They cover common card-present transactions, such as tap and chip payments, as well as card-not-present transactions made throu...

Your customers are telling you what they want. But are theirfeature requests pointing you toward the right problem? In this episode of Payment Pulse, Shannon and Michelle sharehow SaaS platforms can separate a customer’s requested solution from the underlying challenge they’re trying to solve. You’ll learn: How to uncover the need behind a feature request What turns isolated feedback into evidence...

AI is reshaping product strategy, organizational structures, customer workflows, and the way founders think about long-term enterprise value.  Daniel Burton, VP of Payments at Xplor Pay, is joined by Mark Passifione, SVP of Integrated Payments at Xplor Pay, and Luke Sophinos, founder of Vertical SaaS Group. Together, they discuss how vertical SaaS leaders can determine where to invest next and why...

Customers have more ways to pay than ever, from contactless cards and mobile wallets to online checkout, self-service kiosks, and payment links sent by text or email. As these options become part of everyday life, they’re also changing what customers expect from businesses. In this episode of Payment Pulse, Noelle and Joe discuss how payment flexibility can improve the customer experience by makin...

Launching embedded payments involves much more than completing a technical integration. It requires cross-functional alignment, thoughtful planning, customer education, and a long-term strategy for driving adoption.  In this episode of Payment Pulse, Shannon speaks with Hannah, Senior Director of Payments for the partner channel at Xplor Pay, about what happens after a SaaS platform selects a paym...

Making a sale is important, but that revenue cannot support your business until it reaches your bank account. In this episode of The Payment Pulse, Noelle and Joe explain how payment funding affects business cash flow. They walk through what happens after a customer completes a card transaction, why deposits may not match the previous day’s sales, and how batch cutoff times, fees, refunds, and cha...

Should your software company become a payment facilitator? Move beyond a referral model? Gain more control over its payments program? These are important questions, but they may not be the bestplace to start. In this episode of Payment Pulse, Shannon and Michelleexplain why a company’s payments model and its payments maturity are not the same thing. A payments model determines how a program is str...

Launching embedded payments is a major milestone, but it’s not the finish line.  Shannon and Michelle discuss why some payments programs continue growing while others plateau after a strong launch. They discuss why technology alone doesn’t create long-term payments success, how merchant adoption signals future momentum, and why existing customers may be one of the biggest growth opportunities for...

Chargebacks can be frustrating for businesses, but they become much easier to manage when you understand how they work.  In this episode of Payment Pulse , Noelle and Joe explain what chargebacks are, why they happen, and how businesses can respond when a customer disputes a transaction. They discuss the difference between true fraud and friendly fraud, common reasons chargebacks occur, and why do...

Embedded payments are increasingly becoming part of investor diligence and broader conversations around growth, monetization, retention, and enterprise value. In this episode of Payment Pulse , Shannon and Michelle discuss what investors look for when evaluating a SaaS payments program. They share why payments adoption, attach rate, merchant activation, internal ownership, and long-term strategy c...

Getting leadership buy-in for embedded payments takes more than a revenue projection. Shannon and Michelle discuss how software companies can build a stronger business case for embedded payments by connecting the opportunity to customer experience, monetization, retention, product innovation, and long-term business value. They also break down the questions leadership teams are likely to ask before...

Choosing a payments partner is one of the most important decisions a business owner can make- and it goes far beyond asking, “What’s your rate?” Noelle and Joe discuss what merchants should consider when evaluating a payments provider, from support and transparency to technology, funding timelines, reporting, scalability, and customer experience. They also explore why the cheapest option may not a...

Virtual cards are part of a bigger shift in how businesses manage spend, payouts, and financial workflows.  In this episode, Shannon and Michelle discuss how virtual cards are changing B2B payments by giving businesses more control, visibility, and efficiency.   They break down why finance teams are moving away from manual processes like checks, ACH transfers, shared cards, and reimbursement workf...

Payment processing fees are a regular part of doing business, but there are programs that can help make those costs more manageable.  In this episode, Noelle and Joe discuss cost savings programs that can help businesses reduce or offset the cost of accepting credit cards. They break down three common approaches- cash discounting, surcharging, and dual pricing- and explain how each one works.  You...

What happens when AI doesn’t just recommend purchases- but actually makes them? In this episode, we break down agentic commerce: a shift where systems, not people, trigger and complete transactions. Instead of optimizing checkout experiences for humans, software platforms now need to support transactions that happen in the background- driven by logic, preferences, and automation. In this episode,...

Most SaaS platforms treat payments like a one-time decision. Pick a model. Launch it. Move on. But that approach can quietly limit your growth. In this episode of Payment Pulse, Shannon and Michelle break down why static payment models create hidden revenue ceilings, and how top SaaS companies adapt their strategy over time to drive adoption, improve margins, and unlock more revenue. You’ll learn:...

Most SaaS teams think they understand their customers. But do they really know how their customers make money? In this episode of Payment Pulse , Shannon and Michelle break down how payments data gives product teams a clearer view into customer behavior, revenue patterns, and hidden friction points. Instead of relying on feature requests or assumptions, payments data shows: • Where customers strug...

If you’ve ever looked at your merchant statement and wondered what all those payment processing fees mean, you’re not alone. In this episode of Payment Pulse, Noelle and Joe break down the fundamentals of interchange and payment pricing models so you can better understand where your money is going and how to evaluate your payment setup. You’ll learn: • What interchange fees are and why they vary •...

What’s the difference between embedded payments and integrated payments? And why does it matter for SaaS platforms?  Shannon and Michelle break down one of the most talked-about (and often misunderstood) topics in fintech and vertical SaaS.  You’ll learn:  What integrated payments actually mean in practice  How embedded payments create a more seamless user experience  When each model makes sense b...

Many platforms start with payments as a feature. But the highest-performing companies treat payments as a business line- with clear ownership, KPIs, marketing support, and executive visibility.  Shannon and Michelle discuss how vertical SaaS platforms turn embedded payments into one of the most powerful revenue drivers in the business by talking about:  Why adoption doesn’t happen by accident  How...

AI readiness isn’t about launching a chatbot or adding generative features to your interface.  Shannon and Michelle break down what AI readiness really means for software leaders, and why the foundation starts with payments, data, and integrations.  We cover:  Why messy data and manual reconciliation block AI progress  The difference between enabling payments and owning the payments experience  Ho...

Most business owners want visibility into their payments. But merchant statements can feel overwhelming when you’re juggling everything else. In this episode of Payment Pulse, Noelle and Joe walk through how to read a payment processing statement in a practical, time-efficient way. They explain where to start, what each section is telling you, and which details actually matter so you can review yo...

Payments are one of the most overlooked and most powerful retention levers in SaaS. In this episode of Payment Pulse, we explain how embedded payments drive customer stickiness by creating habits, reinforcing trust, and enabling transaction-based growth. From micro-frictions like tab-hopping and manual reconciliation to the compounding impact of reliable payouts and transparent fees, we share why...

Choosing a payments partner is often treated as a technical decision. But in reality, it’s a strategic one that impacts revenue, retention, and merchant trust. In this episode of Payment Pulse, we break down what vertical SaaS providers should actually evaluate when selecting a payments partner, based on real-world experience owning and operating more than 20 vertical SaaS platforms. We cover: • W...