Episode 33 | How to build a successful embedded payments strategy Part 1

We’ve seen it far too often. Software companies embark on their embedded payments journey only to discover they’ve underestimated the complexity that’s involved and struggle to launch.

If you’re thinking about Embedded Payments for your platform, make time to listen to this episode of the PayFAQ Embedded Payments podcast. Our new host Ian Hillis is kicking off a multi-part series, exploring all the important details you should be thinking about before you get to far down the road.

To start the series, Ian and his guest Andy Meadows, Head of Partner Success Management for Payrix, dive into the topic of resourcing and what you need to consider when it comes to selling payments, boarding and underwriting, service and support, and development and tech.

Andy explains that selling payments are what trip software companies right out of the gate. “Any conversation with an end user, i.e., a business or a merchant, is going to involve pricing. If you’ve never had those conversations around merchant-level payment pricing, the interchange dues, and assessments, you’re to going to run into roadblocks on day one.” The solution is to hire a payments expert to train your sales team, sitting side by side over a few weeks to create a single selling motion for software and payments that your end users will have confidence in.

The next hurdle is often underwriting because of the lack of expertise with operational considerations, especially the additional documentation and information that needs to be procured from perspective merchants. According to Andy, you won’t need a full-time resource from the get-go if you’re taking a crawl, walk, run approach. He suggests creating a combination role for a payment guru who covers the operational piece along with service and support. “In the context of the first two components of the conveyor belt, that’s kind of how I think of it.”

He says most software companies struggle with the back-end service and support piece as well. They haven’t trained staff on the frequently asked questions, inquiries, and issues they’re going to encounter, which tend to be around pricing, rates, fees or reporting, reconciliation, and feature functionality specific to embedded payments. “It’s as much about serving your end user as it is making sure your team is armed with the information they need to be excited about it and to maintain that enthusiasm for the new solution moving forward.”

Ian and Andy wrap up their conversation at the beginning: Embedding payments into your software. Andy warns, “If you don’t have someone on staff from a development or product management perspective, who’s danced the dance with payments and been in the payment industry before, you’re really kind of running through a forest with a blindfold on, and you’re gonna hit a lot of trees along the way.”

Have a listen to the full conversation, and clear the way to embedded payments success!