Platform payments become the business
Payments are shifting from a product feature to a core revenue engine for software platforms, with Adyen describing platform payments as native monetisation inside vertical software and noting it processed $1.6 trillion in 2024. (Payments on Fire™ episode notes via media briefing) Adyen also reported a 95% chance of recognising any shopper on its platform, while Airwallex has launched a cross-border point-of-sale product to take embedded payments into the physical world—both signals that data, recognition and full-stack control are central to platform economics. (techcrunch.com)
Software platforms are turning payments into a primary line of business, not just a checkout feature. (adyen.com) Adyen said in its 2024 annual report that it is helping platform customers create “additional revenue streams,” and its 2024 processed volume reached €1.285 trillion, or about $1.4 trillion on its current site. (adyen.com, adyen.com) Airwallex pushed that model further on April 15, 2026, when TechCrunch reported the company is launching a point-of-sale product for in-person payments across multiple countries from one platform. Airwallex told TechCrunch it now serves more than 46,000 United States businesses, processes $100 billion in annual volume, and holds close to 90 regulatory licenses across 70 to 80 regions. (techcrunch.com) Embedded payments means a software company builds payment acceptance inside its own product, so a salon system, booking app, or marketplace handles the transaction without sending users to another provider. Stripe says platforms use that setup to charge transaction fees, take revenue share, and add products such as instant payouts, cards, tax tools, and lending. (stripe.com, stripe.com) That model has been spreading through vertical software, the industry term for software built for one trade such as restaurants, beauty, or field services. Andreessen Horowitz wrote that companies including Mindbody, Toast, and Shopify started by reselling payments and then expanded into loans, cards, and insurance inside their software. (a16z.com) Adyen is pitching that shift as a revenue story as much as a payments story. The company said in October 2024 that embedded finance beyond payments is a $185 billion opportunity for software platforms, and that software-as-a-service platforms embedding financial products can raise revenue by 3 to 4 times. (adyen.com) The attraction is control over the full money flow. Adyen says its single stack combines payments, data, and financial products in one place, while Airwallex says its own infrastructure and licenses let merchants hold, convert, and deploy funds inside local markets instead of wiring everything back out immediately. (adyen.com, airwallex.com, techcrunch.com) That is why point of sale matters in this race. Stripe says platforms can monetize in-person payments through Connect, and Airwallex is now trying to bring the same embedded model from online checkouts to physical counters and terminals. (stripe.com, techcrunch.com) Adyen said Platforms was its fastest-growing pillar in the second half of 2024, and it tied that growth to embedded financial products that help businesses open new revenue streams. Airwallex, founded in 2015, said it passed $1 billion in annual recurring revenue in 2025 and now has more than 200,000 customers globally. (adyen.com, airwallex.com) The result is a payments market where the software company increasingly owns the merchant relationship, the interface, and a slice of every transaction. Providers such as Adyen, Stripe, and Airwallex are competing to supply the rails underneath that business. (stripe.com, adyen.com, techcrunch.com)
