Reviewed by Mayer Hyman, Payments Specialist | Reviewed for accuracy July 2026
Key Takeaways
- Payments have shifted from a bolted-on technical requirement to a strategic growth lever that affects retention, revenue, and valuation for software platforms.
- 91% of ISVs expect embedded payments to play a larger role in their growth strategy over the next 12 months, including 51% who expect that role to be much larger (Stax Payments ISV Survey, 2025).
- U.S. ISV payment-processing revenue is projected to reach $16 billion in 2025, up from $6.5 billion in 2020 (McKinsey, 2025).
- The right payments partner is judged on strategic fit, integration flexibility, transparent pricing, onboarding support, security, scalability, actionable data, and the people behind it, not just transaction processing.
Payments Have Become a Growth Lever, Not a Back-Office Task
Payments used to be something ISVs bolted on. Today, they’re something customers expect to be built in.
As software platforms mature, payments quietly move from a technical requirement to a strategic growth lever. They influence user experience, retention, revenue, and valuation. The most successful ISVs recognize this shift early and treat payments as a core part of their product ecosystem, not an afterthought. The market reflects that shift: U.S. ISV payment-processing revenue is projected to reach $16 billion in 2025, up from $6.5 billion in 2020 (McKinsey, 2025), and 91% of ISVs expect embedded payments to play a larger role in their growth strategy over the next year, including 51% who expect that role to be much larger (Stax Payments ISV Survey, 2025).
Not all payment partners are created equal. Choosing the right one isn’t just about who can process transactions; it’s about who can support where your platform is going next, and who will pick up the phone and respond in a way that makes you feel informed, advised, and supported.
What ISVs Should Evaluate in a Payments Partner
1. Strategic Fit Over Simple Processing
A true payments partner aligns with your long-term product vision. That means supporting your roadmap, understanding your market, and evolving alongside your platform, not just settling transactions in the background.
2. Flexible, Developer-Friendly Integration
Speed to market matters. Robust APIs, SDKs, sandbox environments, and responsive developer support make the difference between payments accelerating innovation or slowing it down. Integration should be flexible enough to scale as your platform grows.
3. Transparent Pricing and Monetization
Payments can be a revenue opportunity, but only if pricing models are clear and sustainable. Transparent fees and fair revenue-sharing structures help protect margins, avoid surprises, and build trust with both ISVs and merchants.
4. Onboarding and Support That Reduce Friction
Merchant onboarding is often where momentum is won or lost. Strong enablement for both your internal teams and your customers reduces friction, shortens time-to-value, and lowers churn.
5. Security and Compliance by Default
PCI compliance, fraud prevention, and data protection shouldn’t be optional or something you’re told “we can do later.” They should protect both your platform and your customers from day one.
6. Scalability and Future Readiness
As ISVs mature, so do their needs. Supporting new payment methods, devices, currencies, and geographies becomes essential. The right partner helps you expand strategically without forcing re-architecture down the line.
7. Actionable Insights, Not Just Reports
Payments generate valuable data. Real-time visibility into transaction performance, conversion trends, and revenue flows empowers ISVs to optimize experiences and make smarter decisions faster.
8. The People Behind the Technology
You want a trusted, valuable relationship with the team supporting your company. The technology matters, but the people matter more. A true payments partner brings an accessible, experienced team who act as an extension of your business, not just a support queue.
Why This Decision Carries More Weight Than It Used To
At its best, a payments partner brings more than technology. They bring perspective, industry expertise, and a partnership mindset, proactively helping ISVs navigate complexity while staying focused on what they do best: building great software. That expectation is only growing, given how many ISVs now see payments as central to their growth strategy rather than a commodity utility.
Payments aren’t just infrastructure. They’re a growth engine in a competitive marketplace. Cartis Payments works with ISVs on exactly this kind of partnership, helping platforms embed payments in a way that supports where the product is headed, not just where it is today.
FAQ
What’s the biggest mistake ISVs make when choosing a payments partner?
Treating the decision purely as a processing-cost comparison. The bigger factors over time are integration flexibility, support quality, and whether the partner can scale with new payment methods, currencies, and markets as the platform grows.
Why are payments considered a growth lever instead of just infrastructure?
Because payments now directly affect user experience, retention, and revenue. Platforms that embed payments well see it show up in average revenue per user and in how sticky the product becomes for merchants.
How important is security when evaluating a payments partner?
It should be a baseline requirement, not an add-on. PCI compliance, fraud prevention, and data protection need to be built in from day one, since retrofitting security after onboarding merchants is far more disruptive.
