Software platforms have transformed how modern businesses manage daily operations. From scheduling and inventory, to CRM and reporting, vertical software gives businesses the control they need to run efficiently. But commerce moves fast. Customer expectations shift and the line between software and financial services continues to blur.
Integrating payments was once seen as an additional platform feature. Today, embedded financial tools serve as a core revenue engine and retention driver. Scaling these tools requires a cross-functional commercial strategy and infrastructure built for scale.
The go-to-market (GTM) reality
A recent Adyen report found that 86% of SMBs plan to move toward software platforms that offer built-in financial solutions. At the same time, 97% report higher overall satisfaction when using integrated platforms.
Despite this high demand, many platforms encounter a ~40% adoption gap across their user base.
The issue is rarely the product itself. Growth stalls when platforms treat payments as a short term add-on rather than an integrated GTM offer. The platforms leading the market focus on removing operational friction. They offer clear pricing tiers and provide efficient sign-up experiences. Your payments infrastructure partner is a critical resource for turning complexity into business strategy.
Look beyond payments
To keep pace with customer expectations, software platforms must look beyond basic card processing. Managing payments provides direct visibility into a business's revenue patterns and transaction activity. This operational data helps platforms offer financial tools that'll deepen user engagement and retention:
- Embedded capital: Provide short-term working capital loans backed by real-time platform revenue data.
- Commercial card issuing: Issue branded physical or virtual cards to help merchants manage business expenses directly.
- Business accounts: Provide business accounts for faster payout settlements and central cash management.
Expanding into financial services turns your software platform into an indispensable operational hub.
The new SaaS moat
As AI tools simplify code generation and feature replication, standard software capabilities risk becoming commoditized. Embedded finance provides a competitive moat across four pillars:
- Regulation and licensing: AI models can write code, but they cannot bypass or acquire regulatory frameworks like EMI or banking licenses.
- Operational oversight: Managing physical POS hardware, compliance, and rigorous KYC requires real-world infrastructure and human expertise.
- Liability and capital: AI models cannot hold balance sheets or underwrite financial risk when fraud occurs or transactions fail.
- Institutional trust: For businesses, cash flow is their livelihood. Entrusting financial operations to a platform requires deep trust that pure AI software agents cannot generate.
The pace of technology means SaaS leaders have a 18-24 month window to embed financial products and pivot to value-based selling.
Continue the conversation
How software platforms convert payment infrastructure into long-term commercial value is set to be a major theme at Money20/20 in Las Vegas. As the industry gathers to discuss the future of embedded finance, bridging the gap between platform capabilities and merchant adoption remains top of mind.
If you’re attending the event and evaluating how to scale your platform’s financial stack, connect with the Adyen team in Las Vegas to explore real-world strategies for your business.
