At Partner Forum 2026, Oliver Wyman’s Rick Oxenhandler challenged software leaders to rethink what growth looks like in the next era of embedded finance.
For years, embedded payments have been one of the biggest success stories in the software industry, helping platforms unlock new revenue streams, deepen customer relationships and become a more integral part of the businesses they serve. Many providers invested heavily in building and scaling their payments programs, and the results have been significant.
But as payments become increasingly common across software platforms, the conversation is shifting. The question is no longer whether to embed payments. It’s how to build on that foundation to create more value for customers.
As AI reshapes the competitive landscape and customer expectations continue to rise, leading platforms are looking beyond the transaction. They’re exploring how financial services, automation and operational insights can help solve a broader range of customer challenges while creating new opportunities for growth.
That was the focus of Oxenhandler’s session – why the next phase of platform differentiation won’t come from payments alone, but from becoming an even more indispensable partner to the businesses you serve.
AI is raising the bar for differentiation
Today’s headlines around AI focus on what might be disrupted. Oxenhandler encouraged platform providers to focus on something else – the advantages software platforms already have.
The most successful platforms sit at the center of critical workflows. They understand how their customers operate day to day. They have years of transaction history, operational data and customer relationships that competitors can’t easily replicate.
Those advantages create a strong foundation. But as AI makes it easier to build new products and bring new capabilities to market, standing out requires more than having great software. Platforms will need to continue expanding the value they deliver to customers.
In other words, the moat is getting wider.
The next opportunity starts where payments leave off
For many software leaders in the room, payments have been one of the biggest growth stories of the last decade.
The challenge is now figuring out what comes next.
According to Oxenhandler, leading platforms are looking beyond payment acceptance and expanding into financial services that help customers solve broader business challenges. That can include:
- Working capital solutions
- Expense management
- Fraud prevention
- Payables automation
- Card issuing
- Banking capabilities
- Insurance products
The common thread isn’t the financial product itself. It’s solving a problem that already exists within the customer’s workflow. When platforms help customers manage more of their financial operations in one place, they create more value, strengthen customer relationships and open new opportunities for growth.
The best fintech strategies start with a customer problem
One of the most compelling parts of Oxenhandler’s session was hearing how software companies are putting this into practice.
- An HOA software provider expanded into invoicing and payables workflows, generating more than $5 million in annual recurring revenue within months.
- A childcare software platform introduced expense cards for schools and grew fintech attachment rates from 35% to 70% over time.
- A photography software provider launched working capital solutions to help customers navigate seasonal cash flow challenges while improving retention.
The use cases that Oxenhandler discussed were different, but the playbook was not. Each company started by understanding a customer pain point. Financial services became a way to solve that problem, not simply another feature to sell.
That’s an important distinction for platforms evaluating their next move. The biggest opportunities often aren’t found by asking, “What financial product should we launch?”
They’re found by asking, “What challenge is making life harder for our customer today?”
Customers are ready for more than payments
Another takeaway from the discussion was just how much customer expectations have evolved.
Businesses increasingly want connected experiences that reduce complexity. Rather than stitching together multiple providers for payments, banking and financial operations, many would prefer those capabilities to live within the software they already trust.
That shift represents a significant opportunity for software providers.
Platforms that can deliver additional financial services within existing workflows have the potential to expand wallet share while becoming a more valuable part of how customers operate every day.
AI’s biggest opportunity may be execution
While many conversations about AI focus on new products and features, Oxenhandler highlighted another opportunity that may be even more immediate – execution.
AI can help platforms identify which customers are most likely to adopt financial services. It can support more personalized outreach, improve customer support, automate workflows and help teams deliver the right offer at the right time.
For many software providers, the fastest path to growth may not be launching something new. It may be helping more customers discover and adopt the capabilities that already exist within the platform.
What it means for software platforms
The most successful platforms of the future won’t be defined by payments alone. They’ll be defined by how effectively they help customers operate their businesses.
Payments remain an essential foundation, but they can also serve as the starting point for something much bigger. By expanding into adjacent financial services, leveraging AI to drive adoption and solving a broader range of customer challenges, software providers can create stronger relationships and more durable competitive advantages.
As Oxenhandler’s session made clear, the goal is no longer simply to own the transaction. Instead, it’s about becoming an even more indispensable partner to the businesses you serve.
Continue exploring what’s next
Many platforms have already unlocked value through payments. The next opportunity is to understand how financial services, AI and operational workflows can work together to create even more value for customers.
Our resource library explores the trends, strategies and real-world customer stories shaping the future of embedded finance. From increasing fintech adoption to identifying new monetization opportunities, it’s designed to help software leaders think beyond transactions and build deeper customer relationships.
Explore the Global Payments for Platforms resource library to discover how leading platforms are turning payments into a broader growth strategy.