Software companies that build payment processing into their platforms tend to keep customers longer. The reasons are practical. When a business runs transactions, manages payouts, and handles disputes inside the same tool they use for daily operations, switching to a competitor becomes complicated and expensive. This stickiness explains why embedded payments have grown from a nice-to-have feature into a core revenue strategy for SaaS providers.
The numbers tell a story. According to Juniper Research, global transaction value from embedded payments will increase 134% by 2028, climbing from $1.1 trillion in 2024. Worldpay research shows that 90% of small and medium businesses say access to financial products within their software platforms is critical to their operations. For software companies watching these trends, the question has moved from “should we offer payments?” to “which solution fits our model?”
The answer depends on your technical resources, customer base, and how much of the payments stack you want to control. Some platforms need a turnkey solution that handles compliance and underwriting. Others want full ownership of merchant relationships and are willing to invest in the infrastructure.
1. Finix
Finix provides PayFac-as-a-Service and full payments infrastructure built specifically for software platforms. The company, founded in 2016, has developed a complete payment processing solution that businesses across the U.S. and Canada use for online and in-store transactions.
The technical foundation is solid. The Finix API processes billions of calls annually with 99.999% uptime, supported by multiple failovers to maintain reliability. For platforms without extensive engineering teams, APIs and no-code tools enable fast onboarding without heavy development lift.
What sets Finix apart is the growth path it offers. Platforms can start with PayFac-as-a-Service and transition to full PayFac ownership over time, all within the same system. This means you are not locked into a model that becomes limiting as your payment volume scales. Subscription management, flexible fee structures, and real-time payouts are all supported natively.
Reporting includes more than 10 out-of-the-box report types covering transaction data, interchange, reconciliation, settlements, disputes, and fees. Each sub-merchant receives a white-labeled dashboard for monitoring their own transactions and payouts. One platform reported increasing payments-related revenue by over 100% in less than 3 months after launching their embedded payments program with Finix.
2. Stripe Connect
Stripe maintains its position as the largest private financial technology company, valued at approximately $65 billion with $1 trillion in processed payment volume last year. The company recently announced its biggest upgrade to Connect, now featuring 17 embedded components, including 10 specifically for payments.
Platforms like Shopify and DoorDash use Stripe Connect to embed payments into their products. The single integration supports over 135 currencies and local payment methods, which simplifies international expansion for platforms with global ambitions.
Stripe handles Know Your Customer obligations and helps meet other compliance requirements, reducing the regulatory burden on platforms. The embedded components make it straightforward to integrate fully functional financial services into existing websites without building from scratch.
Stripe and Mastercard together hold a market share exceeding 10% in the embedded payments industry, according to market research. Developer documentation is extensive, and the ecosystem of plugins and integrations is among the largest available.
3. Adyen for Platforms
Adyen for Platforms serves peer-to-peer marketplaces, on-demand services, crowdfunding platforms, and other multi-sided business models. Users can sign up, sell, and receive payment through one integrated solution.
The platform supports 27 local and international payment methods for localized customer payment options worldwide. Enterprise clients can access support for 250+ payment methods total. Notable customers include Facebook, Netflix, Etsy, Uber, and Spotify.
Adyen uses an Interchange++ pricing structure that provides a breakdown of costs for every transaction. There are no monthly fees, setup fees, integration fees, or closure fees. This transparent model works well for platforms that want predictable economics without hidden costs.
Enterprise businesses tend to choose Adyen for its unified commerce platform and direct acquiring capabilities. The technical architecture supports complex fund flows and commission structures that marketplace models require.
4. PayPal for Platforms
PayPal for Marketplaces handles both payment acceptance and fund disbursement for businesses with multi-party payment needs. The global footprint is substantial, supporting buyers in more than 200 markets and sellers in more than 120 markets.
Marketplace businesses often need to collect commissions, set variable payouts, and manage multi-party disbursements. PayPal provides a Platform fee feature for split payments functionality, automatically deducting processing fees when money moves from buyer to seller.
Brand recognition gives PayPal an advantage with consumer trust. Many buyers already have PayPal accounts, which can reduce friction at checkout. Mollie announced a strategic partnership with PayPal focused on delivering payment solutions for marketplace platforms across Europe.
For platforms serving international sellers or buyers who expect PayPal as an option, this solution addresses a common customer request without requiring additional integrations.
5. Square Developer Platform
Square provides over 20 APIs and 100+ endpoints for building commerce solutions. The payment APIs are free to integrate into software. Online sales cost 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction, while in-person sales through the Square POS app run 2.6% + 15¢ per swipe, chip dip, or NFC payment.
There are no monthly fees, long-term contracts, or commitments. Square handles PCI-DSS compliance, meaning customer credit card information never touches your website or application directly.
Payments can be processed across multiple channels including online, in-app, and in-person. Server-side APIs support online payments while mobile SDKs handle transactions on seller or buyer devices. This makes Square particularly useful for platforms whose customers operate physical retail locations alongside their online presence.
The hardware ecosystem is another consideration. Square terminals and readers integrate natively, giving platforms a straightforward path to offer point-of-sale capabilities.
6. Worldpay for Platforms
Worldpay processes for 75% of Mastercard PayFacs and maintains close relationships with industry leaders. The PayFac-as-a-Service offering handles underwriting and compliance complexities while platforms retain control over the payment journey.
The modern API architecture provides a single integration point for credit cards, debit cards, direct debit, digital wallets, and additional payment methods. This reduces the technical work needed to support multiple payment types.
According to a Forrester report, implementing Payrix Pro, which is Worldpay’s PayFac-as-a-Service solution, can provide a 264% return over 3 years with a payback period of less than 1 year. This calculation factors in reduced operational burden and increased revenue share potential.
For platforms that want payment facilitation benefits without absorbing all the associated risks and build-out costs, Worldpay provides managed infrastructure that reduces time to market.
7. Checkout.com
Checkout.com offers direct acquiring in over 50 countries, which means payments process through their infrastructure rather than through intermediary banks. This direct connection typically results in higher acceptance rates and lower fees for high-volume platforms.
The technical integration emphasizes flexibility. APIs support complex routing logic, allowing platforms to optimize transaction paths based on payment method, geography, or other factors. Webhook infrastructure provides real-time notifications for transaction events.
Enterprise platforms processing substantial volume often negotiate custom pricing arrangements. The Interchange++ model provides transparency into actual card network costs, making it easier to understand where money goes at each stage of a transaction.
Checkout.com tends to attract platforms with international transaction volume where the direct acquiring model creates meaningful cost advantages over aggregated processing.
8. Payrix
Payrix was purpose-built for software companies that want to embed payments into their platforms. The focus on vertical SaaS means the onboarding flows, compliance tools, and reporting features are designed specifically for the platform business model rather than adapted from merchant-focused products.
Revenue sharing arrangements give platforms a portion of transaction fees, turning payments into a profit center. This model aligns incentives between Payrix and the software company, as both benefit from growing payment volume.
Managed merchant underwriting allows platforms to run white-labeled KYC, anti-money laundering, and MATCH checks using API-driven underwriting engines. Sub-merchant management helps platforms keep their merchants compliant with PCI requirements, tax reporting, and sanctions screening obligations.
The platform handles risk monitoring and dispute management, reducing the operational burden on software companies that lack dedicated payments expertise.
9. Stax Connect
Stax Connect uses a subscription-based model combined with wholesale interchange rates. Instead of marking up each transaction, platforms pay a flat monthly fee and pass interchange costs through at cost or with their own margin applied.
For platforms with predictable transaction volume, this model can result in lower overall costs compared to percentage-based pricing. The math tends to favor Stax Connect when average transaction sizes are higher, since the flat-fee component becomes a smaller percentage of total processing costs.
White-label capabilities let platforms present a branded payment interface to their customers. Merchant onboarding, reporting, and dispute management flow through customizable dashboards that carry the platform’s branding rather than Stax branding.
The model works best for platforms confident in their volume projections and willing to pay a consistent monthly fee in exchange for lower per-transaction costs.
10. Tilled
Tilled provides turnkey PayFac infrastructure for software companies that want to offer embedded payments without building the compliance and underwriting systems from scratch. The revenue share model gives platforms a portion of processing fees generated by their merchants.
Technical integration emphasizes speed to market. Pre-built components handle merchant onboarding, identity verification, and compliance monitoring. Platforms can launch payment capabilities faster than building equivalent functionality internally.
The API documentation and developer tools focus on common platform use cases. Split payments, flexible payout schedules, and multi-party transactions are supported natively. Customer support includes implementation assistance for platforms during the integration phase.
For software companies prioritizing launch speed over maximum customization, Tilled provides a middle ground between fully managed solutions and building payment infrastructure from scratch.
How to evaluate your options
Selecting an embedded payment provider involves weighing several factors against your specific situation.
- Economics matter most for many platforms. Consider your take-rate goals, the mix of card versus ACH transactions in your customer base, per-payout fees, and active-account fees. Lightspeed, the point-of-sale company, now generates 50% of its revenue from embedded finance products, showing how substantial this revenue stream can become.
- Technical requirements vary based on your development resources. Hosted onboarding reduces engineering work but limits customization. Embedded onboarding provides more control but requires more integration effort. Marketplace flows, webhook reliability, and reconciliation detail become important as volume grows.
- Risk and compliance ownership affects your operational burden. Some providers handle all KYC, while others expect platforms to participate in the underwriting process. PCI scope, fraud tools, and dispute workflows all require attention regardless of which provider you choose.
Future needs should influence current decisions. Will you need in-person terminals? International processing? The ability to migrate to full PayFac status? McKinsey estimates that 30% of all global economic activity will be mediated by platforms by 2025, which suggests payment volume will continue growing for successful platforms.
Research from IDC Financial Insights projects that non-financial institutions’ platforms will conduct 74% of global digital consumer payments by 2030. Software companies that build payment capabilities now position themselves to capture this transaction volume rather than sending it to third-party processors.
The embedded B2B payments market alone will reach $15.6 trillion by 2030, according to Edgar, Dunn & Company, representing nearly a fourfold increase from $4.1 trillion in 2024. The scale of this opportunity explains why software companies across industries are treating embedded payments as a core strategic priority rather than an afterthought.
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