Stop Leaving Money on the Table: 3 Sneaky Revenue Levers for Embedded Finance Platforms
- Sean Graham
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 9 hours ago
Let’s be honest: when you talk about monetizing payments, everyone immediately thinks of interchange. It’s the low-hanging fruit—the free peanuts at the bar of embedded finance. It's safe, expected, and, frankly, boring.
If interchange is the baseline, why are so many B2B SaaS platforms treating it like the profit ceiling?
You're running a strategic asset, not a payment utility! By focusing only on the obvious, you are leaving millions on the balance sheet. Here are three high-impact revenue levers that turn your payments infrastructure from a predictable utility into a strategic profit-generating machine.
Lever 1: The Invisible Bank – Cashing In on the Float 🕰️
Float—the brief, beautiful window of time between when a customer's funds leave their account and when the money finally settles with the recipient. Most platforms see this as a compliance headache; the financially savvy see it as a gold mine.
💡 The Fun Part:
You are, for a fleeting moment, running a mini-treasury department on the back of every transaction. Why let that working capital sit idle?
The Power Play: This isn't about being greedy; it's about being smart. By partnering with the right BaaS provider and optimizing your settlement schedules, you can strategically manage the holding period. Even earning a tiny, compliant return on funds awaiting disbursement—especially across massive B2B payment volumes—can stack up faster than you can say "Q4 earnings."
Actionable Step: Stop treating float like an accident. Build a float management strategy with your finance team and banking partner to legally and compliantly earn interest on funds that are temporarily "on vacation" within your system.
Lever 2: Recruit the Other Side – Making Suppliers Your Co-Monetizers 🤝
In AP Automation, platforms obsess over the buyer's experience. But who is receiving the money? The supplier! They have cash flow problems too, and you can monetize solving them.
💡 The Fun Part:
You're not just moving money; you're offering suppliers a financial fast pass.
The Conversion Strategy: The shift from cheap ACH/check payments to higher-margin virtual cards is key. Instead of forcing it, sell the benefit. You get higher interchange, and the supplier gets accelerated, guaranteed cash flow (which they love). It's a win-win where you get the bigger win!
Premium Options: Why not offer suppliers a "Turbo-Pay" option for an extra fee—guaranteed payment within 24 hours instead of 7 days? They pay for speed; you pocket the difference.
Actionable Step: Design a "Supplier Delight" enrollment campaign. Focus on clear, high-value communication that explains why accepting your preferred payment method is a net positive for their business, leading to higher adoption and a juicier blended take rate for you.
Lever 3: The VIP Lane – Monetizing Complexity and Speed 🏎️
If your basic payments solution is the economy class ticket, your advanced features should be the exclusive, fully-stocked first-class cabin. Stop giving away the features that save your biggest customers the most pain.
💡 The Fun Part:
Charge for saving your customer from a headache that only your software can fix.
The Premium Feature Audit: Basic reporting is free. AI-powered reconciliation across 10 global ledgers? Real-time FX optimization that saves finance teams 100 hours a month? That’s gold. Those features belong in a monetized tier.
Tiered Velocity: Your largest customers move hundreds of millions and demand the fastest, most reliable infrastructure. Why charge them the same as your smallest clients? Monetize the complexity: charge for guaranteed processing speed, multi-entity support, or advanced compliance tooling.
Actionable Step: Isolate your "hero features"—the ones your best customers can't live without. Wall them off behind a Premium Payments Tier. This instantly increases your Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) while providing non-obvious value.
Ready to Build Your Profit Engine?
Interchange is for amateurs. ExpandUp Consulting helps you design and implement the strategic frameworks that turn your embedded finance platform into a multi-lever profit machine. We don't just optimize payments; we build a Monetization Blueprint that impacts your enterprise valuation.
Let's turn your hidden costs into revenue opportunities.
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