Brian Abernethy, founder of Utopaya, is an expert in helping SaaS leaders navigate the complicated process of adding payments monetization to their product offerings and business strategies. With a long history in the payments industry, Brian has worked with hundreds of early-stage SaaS leaders and their investors to optimize their payments strategies.

In this expert podcast interview, Brian explains the basics of payments monetization for practical SaaS founders, answering questions like these:

• When should SaaS companies consider monetizing payments and when is it not a good fit?
• What are the first steps to adding a profitable payments offering to your SaaS product?
• What’s happening in the payments industry to make it easier or harder for SaaS companies?
• How do investors value payments offerings in a SaaS business?
• What are the biggest misconceptions and mistakes that SaaS companies make when get started with payments?
• How can SaaS businesses lower their payments bills for the credit card customer they take from their customers?

Quote from Brian Abernethy, principal at Utopaya

“Most software companies are looking to include some type of fintech offering. Payments is typically the first one of those. These software companies want to own not only the bigger portion of revenue, of course, but also improve the customer experience. 

“Recent consolidation in the fintech and payments industry has created new options for SaaS companies to monetize payments. The big payments providers are now much bigger and have moved upmarket, creating a gap. Many new payments players are designed for smaller SaaS companies, with purpose-built platforms, APIs, and more support for integrated software solutions.

“There are more compelling solutions for SaaS companies to launch truly white-labeled, profitable, and easier-to-implement payments solutions. Also, the market data show that it does positively change the customer experience, so these smaller payment companies are winning share at a fast clip.”