Ep. 172 - Break the Bundle: Why Merchants Are Building Their Own Payments Stack, with Evervault

In the latest episode of The Payments Shed Podcast, filmed live from Money20/20 USA 2026 in Las Vegas, Sarah Stapp is joined by Ugne Buraciene, Group CEO of payabl., for a special Walk & Talk exploring why payments have become increasingly complicated for merchants, how expectations of payment providers are evolving and why the next big opportunity in payments innovation could be everything that happens after checkout. For years, merchants have been encouraged to adopt more payment methods, integrate additional providers and introduce new technologies to improve performance. But has all that choice actually made payments harder to manage? Ugne takes us inside the growing complexity of the modern payments ecosystem, exploring how fragmented infrastructure, multiple relationships and disconnected financial tools can create operational challenges for businesses trying to scale. The conversation then turns to the shift towards more connected and consolidated payment solutions. With payabl.one bringing acquiring, business accounts and cards together into a single platform, Sarah and Ugne explore why merchants may increasingly favour simplicity and integration over managing multiple specialist providers. They discuss the commercial and operational benefits of bringing financial capabilities together and whether the industry's traditional best-of-breed approach is beginning to lose its appeal. A major focus is what merchants will actually expect from their payment providers in 2027. Simply processing transactions is no longer enough for businesses operating across multiple markets, currencies and sales channels. Sarah and Ugne also unpack the changing relationship between merchants and payment providers. As businesses demand more sophisticated financial capabilities, the role of the payment provider is expanding beyond transaction processing. The discussion then shifts to one of the most overlooked areas of payments innovation: everything that happens after checkout. While much of the industry's attention has traditionally focused on payment acceptance, conversion rates and the customer experience, merchants face an entirely different set of challenges once a transaction has been completed. They also explore where merchants should focus their attention to make the biggest operational improvements. With so many moving parts across the payments lifecycle, identifying the right priorities can be difficult. Plus, Ugne takes on The Payments Shed's legendary Shelf of Shame, challenging one of the persistent frustrations in merchant payments that the industry should have addressed long ago. *** The Payments Shed Podcast is sponsored by Cyclops. Cyclops helps payments companies offer crypto acceptance, stablecoin settlement and payouts through one unified infrastructure platform. Find out more: https://cyclops.finance/ The Payments Shed Podcast is sponsored by Salesloft. Salesloft uses agentic AI to turn buyer, conversation, deal and forecast data into clear actions that help revenue teams sell smarter. Find out more: https://www.salesloft.com The Payments Shed Podcast is sponsored by Mastercard Open Finance. Mastercard Open Finance enables businesses to use consumer-permissioned financial data to create more connected and personalised financial experiences. Find out more: https://www.mastercard.com/global/en/business/open-finance.html The Payments Shed Podcast is partnered with PCN. PCN is a global boutique recruitment agency connecting leading talent and businesses across fintech, cybersecurity, SaaS, e-commerce and Salesforce. Find out more: https://teampcn.com/ Disclaimer: Views expressed are those of The Payments Shed Podcast hosts and guests, not their respective employers. Nothing discussed constitutes investment, legal, tax or financial advice.

In the latest episode of The Payments Shed Podcast, filmed live from Money20/20 USA 2026 in Las Vegas, Kara Parkey is joined by Dan Owens, Chief Strategy Officer at Oceanpayment, for a special Walk & Talk exploring how payment orchestration is reshaping the relationship between merchants and payment providers, why traditional merchant loyalty is being challenged and what it really takes to build a defensible payments business. For years, payment service providers and acquirers have relied on deep technical integrations to build long-term merchant relationships. But as orchestration platforms make it easier for merchants to connect with multiple providers through a single integration, the competitive landscape is changing. Dan takes us inside the evolving role of PSPs within the orchestration ecosystem, exploring why providers are increasingly looking to orchestration platforms as a route to distribution and how they can distinguish genuine new business opportunities from simply migrating existing transaction volumes. The conversation then turns to one of the biggest questions facing payment providers: are merchants becoming less sticky? Historically, the complexity and cost of switching payment providers created a natural barrier to merchant churn. With orchestration removing much of that friction, Kara and Dan explore what actually keeps merchants loyal when changing providers becomes easier, and whether performance, commercial value and service quality are replacing technical integration as the foundations of long-term relationships. A major focus is the difference between being connected to a merchant and being chosen to process their transactions. Kara and Dan also unpack what makes a payments business genuinely defensible in an increasingly competitive market. As merchants gain greater flexibility and control over their payment infrastructure, providers need to demonstrate why they deserve transaction volume rather than relying on the difficulty of switching. The discussion then shifts to Oceanpayment's OP Link proposition and the opportunity to simplify payments for international travellers visiting mainland China. With China's digital payments ecosystem heavily centred around local wallets, Western visitors can face challenges accessing familiar payment experiences. Plus, Dan returns to The Payments Shed's legendary Shelf of Shame. Having previously challenged the industry's use of the term "alternative payment methods", he turns his attention to the orchestration ecosystem and what the industry continues to get wrong as merchants gain more control over their payment choices. *** The Payments Shed Podcast is sponsored by Cyclops. Cyclops helps payments companies offer crypto acceptance, stablecoin settlement and payouts through one unified infrastructure platform. Find out more: https://cyclops.finance/ The Payments Shed Podcast is sponsored by Salesloft. Salesloft uses agentic AI to turn buyer, conversation, deal and forecast data into clear actions that help revenue teams sell smarter. Find out more: https://www.salesloft.com The Payments Shed Podcast is sponsored by Mastercard Open Finance. Mastercard Open Finance enables businesses to use consumer-permissioned financial data to create more connected and personalised financial experiences. Find out more: https://www.mastercard.com/global/en/business/open-finance.html The Payments Shed Podcast is partnered with PCN. PCN is a global boutique recruitment agency connecting leading talent and businesses across fintech, cybersecurity, SaaS, e-commerce and Salesforce. Find out more: https://teampcn.com/ Disclaimer: Views expressed are those of The Payments Shed Podcast hosts and guests, not their respective employers. Nothing discussed constitutes investment, legal, tax or financial advice.

When did you first learn how money works? For most of us it wasn't at school.Children pick up money habits early, yet many still leave school without being taught how to manage it. And the first real lesson often comes on a credit card in their twenties.So how do you teach a nine-year-old to earn, save, spend and give?In this episode of The Payments Shed Podcast, Grant Evans and Justin Hanna are joined by Louise Hill, Founder and CEO of GoHenry, to talk about building the youth fintech category and her campaign for financial education in schools.Louise explains how GoHenry got past the assumption that kids can't have debit cards, why she asks her team to see the exact clause whenever someone says the rules forbid something, and what she learned when her own name kept appearing on the company's list of single points of failure.They discuss:• Launching early ecommerce sites for Next Directory, John Lewis and Debenhams• The personal problem behind founding GoHenry in 2012• Convincing banks, regulators and card schemes that kids' cards were a real market• Raising money through crowdfunding on Crowdcube• Expanding to the US, acquiring Pixpay and merging with Acorns• Moving from COO to CEO• Why so many children still leave school without money skills• The campaign for compulsory financial education in UK primary schools• Making financial education engaging with Money Missions• The role parents play in kids' money habits• Kids' side hustles and the youth economy• What still needs to change for women in fintech leadership• The two money myths Louise puts on the Shelf of ShameLouise also has a simple case for letting kids handle real money early:"Better a £5 mistake aged eight than a £5,000 mistake on the credit card aged 28."

In the latest episode of The Payments Shed Podcast, filmed live from Money20/20 USA 2026 in Las Vegas, Sarah Stapp is joined by Mike Ward, CEO of Mica, for a special conversation exploring why the payments industry continues to operate across fragmented rails, whether stablecoins really solve the problems they're promising to fix and why the future of payments could look very different if we rethink how transactions are authorised and priced. From traditional cards and bank accounts to stablecoins, loyalty points and digital wallets, the payments ecosystem has become increasingly complex. Every new way to pay seems to introduce another integration, another set of rules and another layer of cost. Mike takes us inside Mica's vision for bringing different forms of value together through a single payment rail, challenging the assumption that every payment method needs its own dedicated infrastructure. The conversation begins with the growing fragmentation of payments infrastructure. Sarah and Mike explore why the industry continues to build separate systems for different types of value and whether stablecoins genuinely address the challenges of speed, fraud and flexibility. They also unpack Mica's Multi-Tender approach, examining how a consumer could combine loyalty points, coupons and a debit card within a single authorisation rather than treating each as a separate transaction. A major focus is the idea of removing reusable payment credentials from the authorisation process altogether. Card numbers, tokens, vaults and the infrastructure required to protect sensitive credentials have become fundamental parts of the modern payments ecosystem. Sarah and Mike also tackle the evolving relationship between banks, stablecoins and emerging payment infrastructure. While stablecoins are often positioned as an alternative to traditional financial institutions, Mica is exploring a model that keeps issuers involved in the payment journey. The conversation then turns to one of the industry's most established commercial models: percentage-based transaction pricing. Why should a £2,000 purchase cost significantly more to authorise than a £100 transaction when the underlying technical process may be largely the same? They also examine who benefits from the existing pricing model and where resistance to change might emerge. As merchants continue to scrutinise payment acceptance costs, Sarah and Mike discuss whether separating transaction value from processing fees could fundamentally change the economics of payments, and what it would take for a different commercial model to gain traction. Plus, Mike takes on The Payments Shed's legendary Shelf of Shame, challenging one of the industry's longstanding approaches to payment authorisation that he believes deserves to be left behind. *** The Payments Shed Podcast is sponsored by Cyclops. Cyclops helps payments companies offer crypto acceptance, stablecoin settlement and payouts through one unified infrastructure platform. Find out more: https://cyclops.finance/ The Payments Shed Podcast is sponsored by Salesloft. Salesloft uses agentic AI to turn buyer, conversation, deal and forecast data into clear actions that help revenue teams sell smarter. Find out more: https://www.salesloft.com The Payments Shed Podcast is sponsored by Mastercard Open Finance. Mastercard Open Finance enables businesses to use consumer-permissioned financial data to create more connected and personalised financial experiences. Find out more: https://www.mastercard.com/global/en/business/open-finance.html The Payments Shed Podcast is partnered with PCN. PCN is a global boutique recruitment agency connecting leading talent and businesses across fintech, cybersecurity, SaaS, e-commerce and Salesforce. Find out more: https://teampcn.com/ Disclaimer: Views expressed are those of The Payments Shed Podcast hosts and guests, not their respective employers. Nothing discussed constitutes investment, legal, tax or financial advice.

In the latest episode of The Payments Shed Podcast, filmed live from Money20/20 USA 2026 in Las Vegas, Sarah Stapp is joined by Klas Bäck, Co-Founder & CEO of Pagos, for a special Walk & Talk exploring how artificial intelligence is changing the way merchants manage payments, why better visibility into payment performance is becoming essential and how collaboration could help businesses solve some of the industry's most persistent challenges. For years, payments teams have relied heavily on data analysts, technical specialists and complex reporting tools to understand what's happening across their payment infrastructure. Now, AI is beginning to change that. Klas takes us inside the growing role of AI in payments operations, exploring how payments managers can access insights, investigate performance issues and make more informed decisions. The conversation also tackles where AI should and shouldn't be trusted with payments decisions. While automation and intelligent analytics promise significant improvements in efficiency, payments remain an area where accuracy, commercial impact and operational control matter enormously. A major focus is Pagos' approach to payments intelligence and monitoring. Unlike payment processors or orchestration providers, Pagos deliberately operates outside the transaction flow, focusing on helping businesses understand and improve the performance of their existing payments infrastructure. They also explore the challenge of turning payments data into meaningful action. Identifying a drop in authorisation rates, an unexpected performance issue or an opportunity to improve payment outcomes is only the beginning. The discussion then turns to one of the biggest challenges facing subscription and recurring-payment businesses: failed payments. From involuntary churn to recurring transaction performance, merchants across different industries often encounter remarkably similar problems. Klas introduces RETAIN, Pagos' initiative bringing recurring-payments merchants together, exploring why creating a space for businesses to compare challenges, exchange insights and discuss best practices could help improve payment performance across the wider ecosystem. Plus, Klas takes on The Payments Shed's legendary Shelf of Shame, challenging the payments metrics that merchants spend too much time obsessing over and questioning whether the industry is always measuring the things that genuinely matter. Recorded live on the exhibition floor at Money20/20 USA 2026, this special Walk & Talk explores how AI is becoming an increasingly valuable member of the payments team, why visibility and actionable intelligence are critical to better payment performance and how merchants can achieve more by learning from one another. The Payments Shed Podcast is sponsored by Cyclops. Cyclops helps payments companies offer crypto acceptance, stablecoin settlement and payouts through one unified infrastructure platform. Find out more: https://cyclops.finance/ The Payments Shed Podcast is sponsored by Salesloft. Salesloft uses agentic AI to turn buyer, conversation, deal and forecast data into clear actions that help revenue teams sell smarter. Find out more: https://www.salesloft.com The Payments Shed Podcast is sponsored by Mastercard Open Finance. Mastercard Open Finance enables businesses to use consumer-permissioned financial data to create more connected and personalised financial experiences. Find out more: https://www.mastercard.com/global/en/business/open-finance.html The Payments Shed Podcast is partnered with PCN. PCN is a global boutique recruitment agency connecting leading talent and businesses across fintech, cybersecurity, SaaS, e-commerce and Salesforce. Find out more: https://teampcn.com/ Disclaimer: Views expressed are those of The Payments Shed Podcast hosts and guests, not their respective employers. Nothing discussed constitutes investment, legal, tax or financial advice.