Embedded Payments: Navigating The 2025 Market

Speaker A: Foreign.

Speaker B: Hi, welcome. Um, today we're talking about navigating the 2025 market. Um, we have very special guests, which I'll have introduce themselves in just a second. But basically we're going to be covering embedded payments and the future of trade. And uh, Kevin, do you want to go ahead and introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your background?

Speaker C: Absolutely. Kevin. Permanent. I'm a research director here at idc. Uh, my coverage area is financial applications. And that's everything from like the small business accounting apps to the big ERP financial suites. Uh, and then we cover, uh, five different point solutions here. Uh, accounts payable, accounts receivable, corporate tax, treasury and tne. And the reason I bring all that up is because embedded payments are seen as a, uh, uh, value generator, uh, differentiator for all of those constituencies. So really, uh, exciting time to be in this space and I'm happy to be here.

Speaker B: Absolutely. And then. Martha.

Speaker A: Hi, Clinton. It's great to be doing this with you. Kevin. Hi. Martha Salinas. I am, um, the Chief Commercial Officer at trevipay. And if you don't know, uh, anything about trevipay, we operate in different verticals and also in many locations around the world. So to Kevin's point, I think that's an important uh, point to make too, uh, because embedded payments are everywhere in the world and um, in all verticals. At least that's what we're seeing on the trading pace. Yes.

Speaker B: And just to jump in. So Kevin, you've been researching financial technology for well over a decade. What has surprised you the most about where fintechs are today and how companies are deploying their embedded payments?

Speaker C: Yeah, you know, I think the biggest surprise for me has been, uh, about how uh, embedded payments has sort of quietly become very strategic. Right. Um, moved away from sort of just being a workflow upgrade, um, to really sort of being um, a strategic function across all of those constituencies that I talked about. Whether it's accounts payable, treasury, procurement, ar, um, expense management. All of them, ah, have sort of seen, um, uh, embedded payments as a way to add value to their customers, uh, to shorten, um, sort of operational cycles so that they can be more agile. Um, so yeah, I would say the biggest surprise has been how, uh, quietly, I would say, um, embedded payments has uh, has become pretty strategic, um, going forward. I, you know, I really do see this uh, trend continuing, um, uh, especially around things like uh, working capital, um, some risk management, early pay discounts. Um, you know, I just think that that trajectory, uh, has been, um, One that uh we're seeing and we'll continue to see. Um, overall I do think that um ultimately we uh will see more and more financial services being brought to the table when it comes to embedded um payments. So it will grow beyond payments and to include financing and insurance and investments. Um so really exciting time for this space for sure.

Speaker B: Absolutely. And that leads us into talking about innovation. What are some of the innovative forms of embedded payments that you guys have seen in the market? And this can be B2C or B2B.

Speaker C: Yeah so one of the things that I've seen uh one of the most uh innovative uh trends is definitely around dynamic real uh time payment orchestration um within sort of the enterprise workflow. So the idea is uh routing payments based on not just static ap, AP rules, um pay this before this time, simple stuff but more like routing uh payments based on working capital goals. Right. So we need to have this amount of money uh available for this particular project or this particular expansion. So now we can dynamically change um our payment um sort of workflow and our payment uh profile. Um beyond that uh, we definitely are seeing a uh ton of excitement around virtual cards uh being embedded into AP and procurement platforms, um being able to do instant issuance with those cards. But mainly it was the control, um being able to dictate time, merchant um category when it comes to payments, even location. These are all things that really get um AP managers and expense teams um, and directors of finance really excited that level of control. We've also seen um a rise of buy now pay later kind of stuff. Uh this is more of um, uh smaller uh kind of situations, um mid sized companies maybe. Um but yeah we've definitely seen this idea around buy now pay later uh within B2B um and I would say the last thing I would point to is um we've seen the rise of APIs, uh powering some multi rail payments. So the idea is that ach, rtp, cross uh border FX can all happen and sort of coincide with the same payment flow. Um so using some APIs and even some AI around those APIs to do some multi rail payment capabilities, um and multi rail payment flows, those are really exciting um things that people are telling us that they're excited about. Now the last thing I'll say stablecoins, um because I'm mandated to say it uh as an analyst in this space, um people are excited about it. It's still sort of finding a home, uh I'd still say it's niche but uh people are talking about it and some of the regul. Regular regulatory landscape is moving in that direction and building momentum, um, for stablecoins. So some really exciting times for sure.

Speaker B: Absolutely. And Martha, does this line up with everything we're, uh, saying as well?

Speaker A: Yeah, but uh, you know, being the chief commercial officer, for me it's all about how do we take care of our uh, buyers and our clients. And so for me it's fascinating to see everything that uh, Kevin is talking about, but also tired to the pains that we're solving for the buyers. And so like for example, uh, when uh, Kevin talks about controls, uh, we saw C. We saw a C that on that side, when you have a seller who is, uh, you know, has a buyer that is asking for you to be able to not only send the transaction to a specific call center, but also to specific buyer and then make sure that you have controls whether there is service or there is, uh, uh, you know, a computer, uh, being bought. Right? All of those things that you can solve with integrations, artificial intelligence, personalization, and uh, it's all about solving problems. And it goes back to uh, the rate of change as well, because we all getting used to all those problems being solved in the consumer side. And so then you want the same type of seamless, uh, experience when you are doing it for work. Right? So, um, I totally agree. It's all about API integrations. It's about artificial intelligence that leads you to personalization. It's all about fast decisions and um, fast credit decisions, but also fast purchasing decisions. And it's all about to a certain degree leveraging their missing data. Ah, that is everywhere. And that, yes, it's being collected on all of us. But when you are a buyer of a, uh, big corporation, you want that data to be collected because you want that transaction to be seamless. I, uh, recently read an article that uh, said that 90% of, of buyers that are purchasing on a weekly basis experience pain. Like that blows your mind, right? Like 90%. So going back to what Kevin is saying, how do you solve that pain? Right? You solve that pain by, you know, API integrations, you know, data analytics, uh, all of these things that sort of solve the pain. And when you solve the pain, you create a buyer that is more loyal to you. And when that happens, there is also a lot of data that says your AOV average order value increases. I think the latest statistic that we see is about 30%. That is huge. Talk about results. And then your uh, average, uh, purchase frequency increases as well. So kind of embedded payments, right? Not Only it becomes. Makes more efficient, but it also creates, uh, uh, stickiness and more loyalty with your bank.

Speaker B: Absolutely.

Speaker A: I don't know if I answered your question. I got excited about.

Speaker C: No, that was great.

Speaker B: Uh, this has been a great conversation. Um, it sounds like, you know, uh, what we're talking about is embedded payments, if nothing else, are going to be table stakes for survival as this, uh, as we've said many times, ever changing and quickly changing world that we live in. Um, do you guys. I'll give you each, uh, time. Do you guys have any other thoughts you want to leave us with about our discussion today for the audience?

Speaker C: Yeah, let me hurry up before my, uh, camera starts, uh, acting up again. But, um, yeah, so embedded payments, for me, the big takeaway, it's no longer a back office upgrade. Uh, it's becoming, you could call it like the connective tissue or sort of the bridge, um, inside of the organizations that are trying to move toward an intelligent finance sort of stance. So AI is going to reshape everything. Buy side, sell side, settle. Um, and then I think the winners are definitely going to be, uh, the ones that embrace it, um, uh, both, uh, technologically and culturally. Um, and those are the folks that are going to, uh, be set for the next, uh, decade or so.

Speaker A: Yeah. And once more I agree with Kevin. Maybe we need more, uh, controversial questions the next time I can. A little more. Uh.

Speaker B: But, uh, talk about words are said. But yes.

Speaker A: So I think I started at the beginning. And, uh, it's not. Embedded payments is not just a convenience. Right. There's really a competitive, uh, necessity and on purpose. I'm not saying competitive advantage because I think it's more than that. It's a competitive necessity. Uh, I deal with this like on a daily basis. And I don't know how m. Many times we hear about a pain that the buyer is having that can be solved. That indeed is solved with embedded payments. And so, uh, change is difficult, but embrace it and make it happen, because change is here. And if you want to have loyal customers that continue to buy from you and that, um, want to buy more from you, you have to embrace it and make the change.

Speaker B: Yeah, I don't think we could end on a better or more helpful note than that. And I just want to thank you both. It was such an interesting and fun, uh, conversation. So thank you both for being here today. Really great stuff. Okay, so as per usual, our guests really brought a ton of interest, insight and amazing knowledge to the table. But, uh, not per usual. That was only half of the actual conversation. If you want to hear the entire conversation where you're going to get even more knowledge, even more insight, please go to trevipay.com and check out Under Our Resources, the Webinar Embedded Payments unveiled navigating the 2025 market, and you'll get twice as much content. So that, uh, wraps it up, except for one last thing. Go to Crossroads.Trevipay.com and get your tickets for the September 16th New York edition of Crossroads. You do not want to miss it. It's going to be amazing. And tickets are going fast, so get in there and get your ticket now. Thank you, especially to our guests, uh, Martha and Kevin. And join us next time as we'll be sure to find more interesting conversations that keep you ahead of the curve when it comes to all things beyond the transaction.