As a fast-growing software as a service (SaaS), choosing the right embedded payment solution is an important strategic decision. If you’re currently researching solutions, perhaps one, or more of the following apply to you:

• You’ve been tasked with finding an embedded payment solution for your SaaS and you’re not sure where to start.
• Your existing embedded payment solution is no longer fit for purpose, either because it’s a legacy solution with complicated technology or because it’s a mass-market solution (like Stripe) that doesn’t offer the support or flexibility you need.
• You’re looking to improve your operations by streamlining your checkout process, removing the need for manual entry at your point of sale and improving user experience.

We know how difficult it can be to identify the right embedded payment solution from the array of providers in the market. To help you make the right choice, this article will cover:

• The challenges SaaS platforms experience when looking for an embedded payment solution
• The barriers to embedded payments for SaaS
• Three questions to ask when looking for an embedded payment solution for your SaaS or ISV
• Why choose Fiska as your SaaS or ISV embedded payment solution

Prefer to talk to an embedded payments expert? Get in touch with our CEO. 

What challenges do SaaS or ISVs experience when looking for an embedded payment solution?

Depending on your business model, the size of your business, and your existing technology set-up, there are various challenges you might find yourself up against when looking for an embedded payment solution for your SaaS.

The more channels, the more complexity

First of all, the complexity of your setup will depend on the number of channels you support. For example:

• You accept online, or card-not-present (CNP) payments only: The integration of CNP payments is a well-established practice and therefore relatively easy. There are a lot of payment gateways out there, which offer a simple API connection to the payment processor (or multiple payment processes if you support more than one for your merchants).
• You accept in-person or card-present payments as well: If you also support card-present payments, things become a bit more complicated. For example, you need to incorporate a payment terminal. Traditionally, these weren’t designed to support third-party integrations and can only connect with other devices installed on the same network. On top of that, there’s the matter of certification, which can take between six to 12 months, is very costly, and requires a high level of payment knowledge.
• You accept omnichannel payments: Finally, if you support both the card-present and card-not-present transactions in a single omnichannel offering, things become even more difficult. There are very few payment APIs today that allow you to process both via the same integration. This makes it hard to support the unified experiences consumers expect.

Barriers to embedded payments for SaaS or ISVs

In addition to the complexity that comes with multiple channels, you might also encounter the following barriers to embedded payments:

Lack of payment knowledge

Small to mid-sized SaaS or independent software vendors don’t typically have the right level of payment knowledge to build and manage embedded payments themselves. And, since you don’t know what you don’t know, it’s easy to underestimate the amount of time, expertise, and cost associated with embedded payments.

Insufficient technology

Many of the major payment processors lack the open APIs that allow SaaS ISVs to embed payments easily. To work with them, you need to set up multiple integrations for each channel – one for the payment terminal, another for in-person payments, one for your online store, and maybe even separate ones for each country you’re serving. This fragmented payment ecosystem can quickly get messy, complicated, and expensive.

Legacy providers

Legacy payment processors can hold you back by requiring you to have multiple levels of certification, including EMV certification. This can end up becoming very costly and time-consuming.

Mass-market providers

Mass-market solutions, such as Stripe, provide a simple payment acceptance with a broad depth of features that will meet 90% of the market’s needs. However, if you’re one of the remaining 10% who needs some customization, hands-on support, or pricing flexibility, you’ll run into issues. Stripe, for example, won’t be proactive in helping you manage your costs and margins. It’s up to you to stay on top of that yourself.

Read more about when it might be time to move away from Stripe

Five questions to ask when looking for an embedded payment solution for SaaS

Most embedded payment solutions are similar: they all fundamentally offer some form of card processing and settlement. So, to find the perfect solution for your SaaS or ISV, here are three things to consider:

1. What is the pricing model?
The right pricing model depends on how payments fit into your business strategy. Monthly fees can be predictable but often eat into margins, making them a poor choice if transaction volumes fluctuate. Blended pricing simplifies costs but lacks transparency and flexibility.

Interchange-plus or revenue-share models offer more control, allowing you to adjust pricing for merchants and optimize profitability. If payments are a key revenue driver, look for a true payments partner, that lets you set your own pricing without locking you into fixed fees or restrictive markups.

2. How is the support?
Payment issues can be complex, and slow or inadequate support can disrupt your business. Relying solely on self-service documentation works if you have a strong development team, but it’s limiting when problems arise.

Basic customer service, such as ticketing systems or chatbots, can be frustratingly slow and impersonal. A provider with a dedicated support team ensures you have direct access to experts who can help with integration, troubleshooting, and merchant onboarding. If your merchants rely on payments, it’s worth considering a provider that also offers white-label support, so issues can be handled quickly without adding to your internal workload.

3. Is the solution truly omnichannel?
Every business wants to deliver a frictionless experience, regardless of where the transactions originated. And, today, it’s likely that at least some part of the journey will take place on a cell. So, you’ll want to know your embedded payment provider can support a range of customer journeys, even allowing them to start on one channel and finish on another.

4. Will the solution help me stay on top of the latest payment trends?
After decades in which very little changed, payment innovation has accelerated in recent years. For example, car manufacturers are exploring embedded payments. They are trialling partnerships with petrol companies to allow drivers to simply pull up, fill their car and drive off. Behind the scenes, the car automatically detects the pump and once the tank is full, payment is taken (Uber-style).

Similarly, the classic store self-checkout experience is evolving into one where you just fill your bag and walk out (as pioneered by Amazon-Go). No need to queue, no need for supermarkets to add more checkout lanes or staff at peak times.

And finally, restaurants don’t want people occupying space at tables once they’ve finished their meal and are waiting to pay. That’s why we’re seeing an increase in pay-at-table solutions where you just scan a QR code or pay in-app.

If you build and manage your own integrated payment solution, you’re also responsible for keeping pace with emerging payment trends. Given that staying on top of technology and compliance is hard enough, this can be a big ask for your internal teams. However, if you outsource embedded payments to the right partner, you won’t have to worry about any of this. You can focus on your core software and let them advise you on payments.

5. Does it support universal tokenization?
Cart abandonment is a big problem. Everybody loves to go online and browse or add products to a shopping cart, but when it comes to payment, it’s a whole different story. Cell phones have taught us to be impatient. So entering a shipping and billing address and your credit card number can be a real blocker to consumers completing a payment.

Tokenization is the ability to replace the credit card number with a value that renders it useless to hackers. It’s a relatively common solution for preventing card fraud. However, there’s another application of tokenization, which is less well-known but just as valuable: Universal tokenization.

Universal tokenization can be used across multiple merchants to create user profiles with information such as shipping and billing information allowing end users to checkout with one click across your whole platform. This can even be extended to in-person payments where a token captured online can then be used to process a payment at the point of sale. Not only does this remove barriers to pay but it also allows SaaS and ISVs to capture more customer behavior data. As such, it can be an important differentiating factor for your platform.

Learn more about universal tokenization

Why choose Fiska as the embedded payment solution for your SaaS or ISV

Fiska was founded by professionals with backgrounds in both SaaS and payment technology. We saw a significant gap in how small businesses accessed payment solutions and recognized that the future of commerce lay in SaaS and ISVs. We created Fiska as a middleware solution designed to link SaaS and ISVs with payment networks.

Our platform empowers ISVs to create additional revenue streams through tailored pricing models, take full ownership of the merchant onboarding process, and use modern technology that integrates with their existing payment systems.

Here’s how our embedded payment solution supports software companies:

Integrate with multiple processors in weeks, not months

We exist to remove the barriers to embedded payments and so we created a straightforward API that connects to multiple processors. To ensure you’re live and processing as soon as possible, we’ll walk you through the integration and the certification process step-by-step. So, instead of taking months or even years, you can expect to complete an end-to-end integration within weeks.

Once you’re integrated, we’ll maintain all updates, payment integrations to new terminals, certifications, and PCI compliance. This ensures you keep out of security scope as much as possible.

Support payment experiences that match Amazon and Shopify with universal tokenization

Our universal tokenization solution allows you to replicate the smooth customer experience at checkout offered by Amazon and Shopify. By tokenizing customers during an initial purchase, you can allow them to checkout with one click across all the merchants on your platform – giving you a distinct competitive advantage.

Additionally, our solution is fully omnichannel, meaning tokens can be created and used regardless of where the payment was captured. For example, someone can pay in person for an initial product or service and that token then be used to charge subsequent payments online.

Set custom pricing and merchant onboarding and offer full support to your customers

At Fiska, we recognize that software providers need three essential capabilities to transform payments from a simple feature into a powerful revenue driver:

Flexible Pricing: We pass through the standard interchange rates set by Visa and Mastercard and give you full control over your markup. This means you can customize your pricing and generate profit on every transaction. We use a revenue share model and don’t charge set monthly fees.

Find out more: Why Fiska doesn’t charge fees (and how our partnership model works)

Branded onboarding: Our merchant application form can be embedded into your platform and branded to match. This level of control ensures a smooth onboarding experience and also allows you to diagnose and resolve any onboarding issues.

White-label and Level 2 support: We provide multi-channel support for your team via phone, email, or Slack – or a combination of all three. And, if your team needs assistance, we step in with Level 2 support, ensuring issues are resolved quickly.

Work with a partner that lives and breathes SaaS

At Fiska, we build for that 10% of the market which isn’t served by a mass-market solution like Stripe – specifically SaaS companies. We work very closely with our platform customers to provide a solution that’s right for them. This isn’t just about delivering great technology; it’s about helping our customers implement it in the best way to serve their customers and ensuring the pricing works for them.

You can think of us as your Fractional Head of Payments. We’ll conduct workshops, help you understand the requirements of different payment channels, and provide guidance when you need to make important decisions. We are also very proactive in ensuring you’re getting the best from your embedded payments. For example, we recently noticed that one of our partners was losing money with several of their merchants. We worked with them to understand where their costs had increased and how they could manage their pricing to get back to a profitable level.

Embedded payments can be easy with the right partner

Embedding payments as a software platform can be expensive, complex, and time-consuming, but it doesn’t have to be.

The right payments partner will remove a lot of the burden from your shoulders. They’ll handle the compliance and licensing and simplify the integration process with easy-to-use APIs. And, because they truly understand your business model, they will be able to provide practical, hands-on advice and assistance to ensure your payment experience is exceptional in the front end and set up for success in the back end.

Ultimately, embedded payments should enhance your competitive edge, introduce new revenue streams, and help you scale your payment volumes. And the right partner will make everything much easier.

If you’re looking for the right embedded payments solution for your SaaS or ISV, we’d love to support you. Contact our CEO to find out more.