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Category: Payments

Workflow Commerce: The Next Operating Model for B2B Payments 

Posted on by Chris Haldane

Read time: 6 minutes 

If the problem in B2B payments isn’t checkout, then what is it?  

Over the past decade, the industry focused on transaction efficiency—and that focus made sense. Digital acceptance needed to happen. Payment methods needed to expand. Friction at the moment of payment needed to decrease. B2B payments needed to modernize, and they did.  

But as organizations modernized their payment rails, a different problem came into focus. The transaction improved. The workflow around it didn’t.  

Payments in B2B environments don’t exist in isolation. They originate in contracts, purchase orders, milestone schedules, and subscription agreements. They move through approvals, update ERP records, and influence reconciliation, reporting, and working capital decisions. And yet most payment systems still function as endpoints—discrete transaction tools sitting adjacent to the operational workflows they’re supposed to serve.

That’s the shift now taking shape. We call it Workflow Commerce.

What Is Workflow Commerce? 

In most B2B environments today, payments sit adjacent to the workflows that govern financial operations. They interact with ERP systems and billing platforms, but they don’t behave as part of them. Data passes between systems after the fact. Reconciliation happens in a separate step. Reporting lags behind what’s actually happening in receivables. 

Workflow Commerce changes the underlying assumption. Instead of asking how do we make this payment easier to complete, the question becomes how does this payment behave inside the system that governs invoicing, approvals, reconciliation, and reporting? 

In practice, that means a few things look different: 

  • Payment initiation is tied to workflow events—an invoice created, a milestone approved, a subscription renewed—rather than being a standalone action a customer takes. 
  • Payment activity interacts directly with ERP records in real time. Invoices update. Customer balances reflect accurately. Project accounting adjusts. No export, no manual match, no lag. 
  • Reconciliation happens within the same workflow that generated the obligation, not in a separate process downstream. 
  • Workflow logic, the rules that govern how the business operates, can be used to trigger follow-ups, retries, approvals, and dispute handling automatically, rather than requiring someone to manage exceptions by hand. 

None of these capabilities are entirely new in isolation. What’s new is treating them as a system, and recognizing that they only deliver real value when they work together.

Why This Is Happening Now 

Three forces are converging to push the market in this direction.  

ERP and vertical SaaS platforms have become the operational core of how B2B companies run. Billing, inventory, project accounting, financial reporting—it all lives inside structured systems of record. When payments operate outside that structure, the misalignment is no longer just inconvenient. It’s a measurable operational cost.  

Finance teams are under real pressure on receivables performance and working capital visibility. Getting paid faster matters. But if payment acceptance doesn’t connect to accurate reconciliation and forecasting, the downstream value is limited.  

And software platforms are competing on operational depth, not just features. Embedding a payment experience creates a monetization opportunity. Orchestrating the full financial workflow creates something harder to displace.  

When those three pressures converge, optimizing the transaction is no longer a sufficient answer. 

Digitization vs. Orchestration 

There’s a useful distinction worth drawing here.  

Digitization converts paper to pixels. It takes a manual process and makes it electronic. B2B payments have largely achieved this—checks gave way to ACH, invoices moved online, payment links replaced phone-in payments.  

Orchestration is something different. It’s about aligning systems so that activity in one part of the workflow automatically and accurately reflects in every other part. It’s not about converting a process. It’s about connecting them. 

Most B2B organizations have digitized their payments. Very few have orchestrated them. 

That’s the gap Workflow Commerce is designed to close—not by replacing what’s already working, but by making payments function as infrastructure inside the business rather than a layer on top of it. 

What Change When This Works 

When payments operate as part of the workflow rather than alongside it, the impact isn’t limited to the moment of acceptance. It runs through the entire financial lifecycle.  

Finance spends less time reconciling and more time analyzing. Receivables visibility is live, not lagged. Working capital decisions are based on accurate data. Operational teams aren’t waiting for the back office to catch up.  

And for the platforms that power these workflows, it changes the value proposition entirely. 

Embedded payments give customers a better way to pay. Workflow Commerce  gives them a better way to operate.   

The organizations that move from transaction optimization to workflow orchestration won’t just process payments more efficiently. They’ll fundamentally change how their businesses operate. 

Next: what it takes to actually build for this—and why the architecture matters. 

Embedded Payments in Field Service Software: Why Getting Paid Slows Down—and How Platforms Can Close the Gap

Posted on by Chris Haldane

How field service platforms can help accelerate time-to-payment, reduce collection friction, and improve the end-to-end customer experience

Getting paid quickly is one of the biggest challenges in field service. When invoices are delayed, payments aren’t collected on-site, or follow-up falls through the cracks, revenue lags behind the work being completed.  

In field service, the job isn’t done when the technician packs up. It’s done when the invoice is sent, the payment is collected, and the books are updated. And for too many field service businesses, that last mile takes longer than it should. 

60% of small businesses cite cash flow as a top concern. For service companies with mobile workforces and high job volume, delayed or missed collections aren’t just a finance problem—they’re an operational one. Every unpaid invoice sitting in a queue is revenue that’s been earned but not realized. 

Most solutions focus on technician behavior or internal processes. But increasingly, the ability to collect payment quickly is shaped by the field service platforms those teams rely on every day.

Speed Is Revenue—And Payments Are Part of the Workflow Now 

When embedded payments work the way they should in field service software, the entire dispatch-to-cash cycle tightens up. Technicians can collect payment on-site—tap-to-pay, mobile card reader, text-to-pay link—and the transaction flows directly into the platform. No manual reconciliation. No chasing down invoices after the fact. 

The downstream effects are meaningful: 

  • Faster invoice-to-cash cycles
  • Higher payment attachment rates at point of service
  • Better customer experience at job completion
  • Improved revenue predictability for the platform and its users
  • Incremental recurring revenue from payment processing 

In other words, accelerating time-to-payment and improving collection rates isn’t just about frontline execution—it’s driven by how seamlessly payments are embedded into the workflow. 

According to Ardent Partners, digital workflows can reduce invoice processing time by up to 50%. That’s not just an efficiency gain—it’s a direct improvement in cash flow velocity.

When Payments Stop Evolving, Growth Slows Down 

Most field service platforms that have embedded payments reach a point where things “work.” Transactions go through, users are onboarded, the integration is stable. But stable doesn’t mean optimized. 

Signs that a payments program may have plateaued: 

  • Limited visibility into what payments are contributing to platform revenue
  • Adoption that grew during rollout but hasn’t continued to improve
  • Mobile payment capabilities that lag behind the rest of the product experience
  • Payments managed as operational infrastructure rather than a strategic asset 

These patterns may seem incremental, but they show up in real ways—missed opportunities to collect in the field, more post-job follow-up, and a less consistent customer experience at the point of payment.  

These patterns tend to be gradual—which is part of what makes them easy to miss. The program isn’t broken, so it doesn’t get attention. But left unchecked, they quietly limit what the platform can achieve.

Knowing Where You Stand 

Evaluating a payments program means looking beyond transaction volume. The most effective embedded payments programs are built around a clear understanding of four dimensions: 

  • Revenue transparency: Do you have clear visibility into what your payments program is actually generating?
  • Merchant adoption depth: Are your users collecting payments in the platform, or working around it?
  • Integration flexibility: Can your payments layer keep up as the platform evolves?
  • Strategic alignment: Is payments part of how your team thinks about product and growth? 

When these areas aren’t aligned, the result isn’t just operational friction—it’s slower collections, inconsistent workflows in the field, and limited ability to scale efficiently. 

Most platforms lack a clear view across all four dimensions—creating a gap between what their payments program does and what it could deliver in the field. That gap, between functional and optimized, is where Fortis comes in. As a payments partner purpose-built for software platforms serving field service businesses, Fortis goes beyond processing to help teams evaluate their payments strategy, identify missed revenue opportunities, and build a roadmap for stronger performance across scheduling, invoicing, and collections. 

The result is a more collaborative, growth-oriented approach—one that moves beyond a vendor relationship to a true partnership.

The Bottom Line 

Salesforce research shows that 88% of customers say experience matters as much as product. In field service, payment collection is part of that experience—and friction at that moment leaves a lasting impression. 

The real opportunity isn’t just collecting payment—it’s enabling faster job completion, smoother customer interactions, and a more efficient path from work performed to revenue realized. 

The platforms pulling ahead in field services aren’t just better at scheduling and dispatch. They’re better at making the financial side of the job as seamless as the operational side. When payments are fast, easy, and embedded into the workflow, everyone wins: technicians close jobs faster, customers have a better experience, and the platform drives more revenue from the infrastructure it’s already built. 

Where to Go From Here 

If you’re curious how your payments program stacks up—or where the next layer of growth might be hiding—it starts with a conversation. Talk to a Fortis payments expert to explore what’s possible for your platform. 

Embedded Payments in Manufacturing & Distribution: Why Order-to-Cash Slows Down—and How Platforms Help Accelerate It

Posted on by Chris Haldane

How software platforms can help reduce payment delays, improve working capital, and turn financial workflows into a growth engine 

Late payments, extended invoice cycles, and limited visibility into receivables are persistent challenges in manufacturing and distribution. When cash is tied up in the order-to-cash process, it restricts working capital and limits how quickly businesses can operate and grow. 

In manufacturing and distribution, money moves in cycles. Orders go out, invoices follow, payments (eventually) come in. For a lot of businesses in these sectors, that cycle takes longer than it should—and the delays add up. 

Most efforts to fix this focus on internal improvements—tightening AR processes, improving invoicing accuracy, or increasing collections efforts. But there’s another lever that’s often overlooked: the software platforms that manage these workflows end to end. 

U.S. wholesale trade exceeds $8 trillion annually. Manufacturing contributes more than $2.3 trillion to GDP. According to PwC, optimizing working capital can unlock 5–10% of revenue in liquidity. The order-to-cash workflow is where that optimization happens—and payments sit right in the middle of it.

What Happens When Payments Are Truly Embedded 

There’s a difference between accepting digital payments and having payments embedded in the workflow. When invoices, payments, and reconciliation all happen within the same platform, the benefits compound: 

  • Invoice-to-cash cycles accelerate
  • Working capital improves without adding headcount
  • Digital payment adoption grows naturally as the workflow makes it easy
  • Revenue becomes more predictable
  • The platform itself becomes stickier—and more valuable
  • In other words, improving working capital and shortening payment cycles isn’t just a back-office initiative—it’s increasingly shaped by how seamlessly payments are built into the platform experience. 

That’s the version of embedded payments that drives growth. It’s not just about removing a manual step. It’s about making payments a core part of how the platform delivers value.

Where Growth Gets Stalled 

Many manufacturing and distribution platforms have taken payments from “none” to “functional.” That’s real progress. But functional isn’t the same as optimized, and “functional” has a ceiling. 

Some common signs a payments program has stopped evolving: 

  • Reporting that shows volume but not strategic insight
  • Digital payment adoption concentrated among early users, with the rest still writing checks
  • ERP integrations that haven’t kept pace with platform capabilities
  • Limited executive visibility into what payments are actually contributing to the business 

At the surface, these may look like reporting or adoption issues. But underneath, they show up as longer payment cycles, more manual follow-up, and inconsistent experiences across the customer base.  

These gaps don’t just limit efficiency—they limit monetization. And they tend to be invisible until someone looks for them.

Evaluating Where You Stand 

Embedded payments programs mature along predictable dimensions. Understanding where yours stands in each area is the first step toward optimizing it: 

  • Revenue transparency: Are payments a visible line item in your platform’s financial performance, or a black box?
  • Customer adoption depth: Are your customers actually using the embedded payment tools, or defaulting to outside processes?
  • Integration flexibility: Can your payments layer scale and adapt as your platform evolves?
  • Strategic alignment: Is payments part of how leadership thinks about platform growth?

When these areas aren’t aligned, the result isn’t just inefficiency—it’s constrained working capital, limited insight into performance, and financial workflows that can’t keep pace with the business.  

Most platforms lack a clear view across all four dimensions—creating a gap between what their payments program does and what it could deliver across complex B2B workflows. That gap, between functional and optimized, is where Fortis comes in. As a payments partner purpose-built for software platforms serving manufacturing and distribution businesses, Fortis goes beyond processing to help teams evaluate their payments strategy, identify missed revenue opportunities, and build a roadmap for stronger performance across invoicing, AR processes, and cash flow management. 

The result is a more collaborative, growth-oriented approach—one that moves beyond a vendor relationship to a true partnership.

The Bottom Line 

Digital leaders in industrial sectors achieve 2–3x higher revenue growth than their peers (McKinsey). A major driver is financial workflow optimization—and payments are at the core of it. 

The real opportunity isn’t just moving money—it’s helping your customers unlock working capital, operate with greater predictability, and remove the bottlenecks that slow down growth. 

Platforms that treat payments as a strategic asset—rather than a utility—are the ones building the kind of sticky, recurring revenue that holds up over time. The order-to-cash race is already happening. The question is whether your payments program is helping you win it. 

Where to Go from Here 

If you’re curious how your payments program stacks up—or where the next layer of growth might be hiding—it starts with a conversation. Talk to a Fortis payments expert to explore what’s possible for your platform. 

Embedded Payments in Construction: Why Cash Flow Breaks Down—and How Platforms Turn it into an Advantage

Posted on by Chris Haldane

How construction software platforms can help solve cash flow challenges, reduce DSO, and transform payments into a growth engine

Cash flow is one of the biggest challenges in construction. When billing cycles stretch, retainage delays pile up, or subcontractors wait to get paid, margins erode fast. 

Construction is a margin-thin business. Margins typically sit between 3–7%, and 82% of firms report cash flow challenges as a persistent concern. When billing cycles stretch or subcontractor payments stall, those already-tight margins erode fast. 

Most conversations focus on how contractors can fix these issues—through better invoicing, tighter AR processes, or improved collections. But there’s another lever that’s often overlooked: the construction software platforms those contractors rely on every day. 

For construction management platforms, this is both a problem and an opportunity. Most have already embedded payments into their product. But embedding payments isn’t the same as optimizing them—and that gap is where real growth potential lives.

Payments Are Already Part of the Job—Are They Doing Their Part? 

Construction management software sits at the heart of milestone billing, retainage, and contractor payments. When payments work well inside the platform, financial workflows accelerate across the entire project lifecycle: contractors invoice faster, funds move sooner, and project managers spend less time chasing down collections. 

In other words, improving cash flow, reducing days sales outstanding (DSO), and streamlining AR doesn’t just happen at the business level—it’s increasingly driven by how well payments are integrated into the platform experience. 

When implemented strategically, embedded payments can help platforms: 

  • Improve cash flow predictability 
  • Reduce days sales outstanding (DSO)
  • Increase contractor adoption of digital workflows
  • Generate incremental recurring revenue 

According to McKinsey, digitizing construction financial workflows can improve productivity by 10–15%. Payments sit at the center of that transformation.

Signs Your Payments Program Has Stopped Growing with You 

As platforms scale, payments programs tend to reach operational stability—and then plateau. The system works, so it doesn’t get much attention. But stability and optimization are different things. 

Some common indicators that a payments program may be underleveraged: 

  • Limited visibility into payments revenue performance
  • Contractor adoption that stalls after initial onboarding
  • Integrations that haven’t kept pace with the rest of the product
  • Payments treated as infrastructure rather than a revenue driver 

At the surface, these may look like product or operational challenges. But underneath, they show up as delayed payments, heavier admin lift, and a more fragmented experience for the customers your platform serves. 

Individually, these may feel manageable. Together, they quietly put a ceiling on growth.

A Smarter Way to Evaluate Payments Performance 

The most effective embedded payments programs don’t just process transactions—they’re built around a clear understanding of how payments affect the broader platform strategy. That means regularly evaluating performance across a few core dimensions: 

  • Revenue transparency: Can you clearly see what payments are contributing to the business?
  • Contractor adoption depth: Are users actually paying and getting paid within the platform, or working around it?
  • Integration flexibility: Can the payments layer evolve as the product does?
  • Strategic alignment: Is payments part of the product roadmap, or an afterthought? 

When these areas aren’t aligned, the result isn’t just an underperforming payments program—it’s missed revenue opportunities, limited visibility into performance, and financial workflows that don’t scale with the platform.” 

Most platforms lack a clear view across all four dimensions—creating a gap between what their payments program does and what it could deliver. That gap, between functional and optimized, is where Fortis comes in. As a payments partner purpose-built for software platforms serving B2B businesses, Fortis goes beyond processing to help teams evaluate their current strategy, identify missed revenue opportunities, and build a roadmap for stronger performance.  

The result is a more collaborative, growth-oriented approach—moving beyond a vendor relationship to a true partnership.

The Bottom Line 

U.S. construction spending exceeds $2 trillion annually. At that scale, even small inefficiencies compound quickly. A payments program that’s merely functional is a missed opportunity. 

The real opportunity isn’t just processing payments—it’s helping your customers get paid faster, operate more efficiently, and remove the friction that slows down their business. 

The platforms gaining competitive ground in construction aren’t just the ones with the best project management tools. They’re the ones that have made financial workflows—payments included—a seamless part of how work gets done. That’s the difference between payments as plumbing and payments as a growth lever.

Where to Go From Here 

If you’re curious how your payments program stacks up—or where the next layer of growth might be hiding—it starts with a conversation. Talk to a Fortis payments expert to explore what’s possible for your platform.  

B2B Payments Work. The Workflows Around Them Don’t

Posted on by Chris Haldane

Read time: 5 minutes 

Most of the innovation in B2B payments over the last decade has been focused on the wrong moment. 

Faster checkout. More payment methods. Embedded pay buttons inside platforms. These were real improvements—and they were necessary. But they addressed the visible part of a much longer chain, and in B2B, the visible tip was never really the problem. 

A B2B payment doesn’t start at checkout. It starts when a contract is signed, a purchase order is approved, a milestone is hit, or an invoice is generated inside an ERP. From there, it moves through approval workflows, touches credit limits, triggers billing logic, and eventually has to land correctly in reconciliation and reporting. Checkout is one moment in that sequence. A lot has to go right before it. Even more has to go right after.   

That’s where most organizations are still struggling.

The Work That Happens After the Transaction 

Take a construction company running progress billing. A project hits a milestone. An invoice goes out. The customer pays through a digital link. The funds clear—and that part works fine. 

But now retainage needs to be tracked. The partial payment has to be applied to the right line items. Job-cost accounting has to reconcile. The ERP needs to reflect updated project balances. Finance needs to know what’s outstanding and what’s actually collectible.   

The transaction succeeded. The workflow didn’t. 

The same pattern shows up in distribution, where high invoice volumes create reconciliation lag across shipments, credits, and returns. In field services, where billing varies by project, location, and contract terms—and payment acceptance is just one variable in a far more complex equation.   

In each case, the real friction isn’t getting paid. It’s everything that has to happen for that payment to mean something operationally.

Embedded Payments Aren’t Enough 

Many platforms have moved toward embedded payments as a solution, and it’s a step in the right direction. But embedding a payment experience inside a platform doesn’t automatically integrate it into the workflow.  

A payment button inside a SaaS platform simplifies how customers pay. It doesn’t ensure that payment activity aligns with invoice states, approval logic, or reconciliation processes inside the ERP. The payment clears on one side. The operational system has to catch up on the other.  

When that gap exists, teams fill it manually—exporting reports, matching exceptions, chasing data across systems that were never designed to work together. It doesn’t show up in a product demo. It shows up in how many hours finance spends every month not analyzing, but reconciling.  

As B2B organizations have centralized operations around ERP systems and vertical platforms, these misalignments have become harder to ignore. Workflows are more structured now, which means the places where payments fall out of sync are more obvious—and more costly.

The Right Question 

For years, B2B payments strategy has asked: how do we make it easier to pay? 

That’s still worth asking. But there’s a more consequential question beneath it: how do payments function as part of the workflow, not alongside it? 

The constraint in B2B isn’t usually acceptance. Most businesses can get paid. The constraint is alignment—between what the payment system knows and what the operational system needs to act on. Between when money moves and when the business actually has visibility into it. Between the transaction and everything it’s supposed to trigger. 

Until that’s solved, organizations will keep absorbing the friction internally. It just won’t show up in payment metrics. It’ll show up in headcount, in delayed closes, in reporting that’s always a step behind. 

This isn’t a checkout problem. It’s a workflow problem. 

Next: what it looks like when payments are designed to solve it.

Visa’s Commercial Enhanced Data Program: Impact on B2B Payments

Posted on by Charlie Colletti

How Fortis partners help businesses lower interchange through clean, verified transaction data under Visa’s Commercial Enhanced Data Program (CEDP)

Why B2B Payment Costs Are Rising, and What’s Changing

Many businesses pay more than they should for credit card processing—not because of their payment provider, but because of missing or incomplete transaction data. When details like invoice numbers, tax amounts, or purchase order information aren’t captured and transmitted accurately, transactions default to higher interchange tiers and costs rise. 

Visa’s Commercial Enhanced Data Program (CEDP), active since October 2025, brings those inefficiencies into focus. For the first time, data accuracy directly determines interchange cost, creating a clear incentive for businesses to modernize how they capture, validate, and submit payment data.

For ERP providers, software platforms, and their customers, CEDP turns payment data quality into a measurable financial outcome.

What Is Visa’s Commercial Enhanced Data Program (CEDP)

Visa’s Commercial Enhanced Data Program (CEDP) is a framework that links interchange rates for U.S. B2B and small business card transactions to the completeness and accuracy of transaction data. Businesses that submit verified, enhanced data qualify for lower interchange rates, while transactions with missing or inaccurate data incur higher costs.

CEDP replaces the old Level 2 and Level 3 structure with a single, standardized validation model, making data quality a direct driver of payment economics.

CEDP Rewards Accuracy—and Exposes Data Gaps

Under CEDP, businesses that submit complete, validated transaction data are classified as verified and qualify for Visa’s Product 3 interchange rates.

  • Verified Product 3 transactions generally qualify in the 1.75%–2.05% range
  • Non-verified transactions typically range from 2.65%-2.95%
  • Even after Visa’s 0.05% participation fee, verified transactions can deliver a 7–10% reduction in interchange costs

Businesses that fail to meet verification requirements continue paying higher rates—while still incurring the participation fee, raising their effective processing costs. The implication is clear: enhanced data is no longer optional. It’s a cost-control requirement.

Why Visa CEDP Matters for B2B Organizations

Visa now validates qualifying transactions in real time, checking for data completeness and accuracy. Clean, consistent data unlocks better rates; gaps or inconsistencies increase costs.

  • Data quality becomes a financial strategy—not just a back-office task
  • Line-item detail, tax, duty, and freight accuracy directly affect interchange
  • Businesses that modernize benefit from lower costs; those that don’t face rising expense and competitive pressure

CEDP makes payment performance transparent—and actionable.

How Fortis Partners Create Immediate Value

ERP and software partners are uniquely positioned to help businesses adapt to CEDP. Through Fortis, partners can embed CEDP-ready payment experiences directly into the ERP systems their customers already use.

1. Built-in Alignment with CEDP Requirements

Fortis provides standardized data models, APIs, and reporting tools that support Visa’s validation standards. Partners can map required fields, enable accurate data capture, and reduce manual processes that introduce risk and cost.

2. Deep ERP and Commerce Integrations

Fortis integrates directly with platforms such as Acumatica, NetSuite, Sage, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central—so enhanced data is captured at the source.

These integrations help businesses:

  • Auto-populate line-item and tax data
  • Reduce validation errors that lead to disqualification
  • Maintain consistent verification without added operational burden

3. Real-Time Visibility into Interchange Qualification

Partners can give customers insight into which transactions qualify, which don’t, and why—turning data transparency into measurable cost savings.

What the Cost Savings Can Look Like

The difference between verified and non-verified commercial card transactions can be meaningful, particularly at scale.

Verified Product 3 transactions generally qualify in the 1.75%–2.05% interchange range, compared to 2.65%–2.95% for non-verified transactions. That difference reflects how Visa rewards complete, validated transaction data—not negotiated pricing.

For every $100,000 in B2B payment volume, that gap can translate into hundreds of dollars in potential savings. For manufacturers, distributors, and service providers processing large invoice values, the cumulative impact increases as volume grows.

Rather than a one-time adjustment, CEDP turns interchange optimization into an ongoing opportunity. As data quality improves and more transactions qualify as verified, businesses can continuously reduce unnecessary payment costs over time.

CEDP Is a Part of a Broader B2B Payments Modernization Trend

Beyond cost savings, CEDP reinforces a broader shift in B2B finance toward greater visibility, automation, and control. Finance and operations leaders are modernizing payment workflows to reduce reconciliation effort and improve data accuracy across systems.

Visa’s program rewards organizations that invest in clean, connected payment data, making enhanced data the new standard for operational efficiency.

The Fortis Advantage: A Platform Built for What’s Next

Fortis provides the infrastructure partners need to succeed under CEDP and beyond. With standardized data models, developer-friendly APIs, and real-time reporting, Fortis makes it easy to embed CEDP-ready payments into ERP and software platforms.

  • Capture enhanced data automatically
  • Reduce validation failures
  • Qualify for lower interchange rates
  • Improve long-term efficiency and financial control

As CEDP adoption accelerates, early movers will realize measurable savings first. Fortis partners are positioned to bridge the gap between transaction data and payment performance—delivering accuracy, transparency, and confidence at scale.

The Bottom Line

Visa CEDP changes how B2B payment costs are determined, shifting the focus from card type to data quality. Businesses that adapt early can reduce interchange, improve visibility, and strengthen financial control.

With Fortis, partners can help customers meet today’s requirements while building a more efficient, future-ready payments foundation.

Let’s start the conversation about how Visa CEDP fits into your broader payment strategy.

Digital Wallets and the Shift in Payment Expectations Heading Into 2026

Posted on by Charlie Colletti

Why Modern Payment Experiences Are Now Critical to Customer Retention

As organizations look ahead to 2026, one reality is already clear: customer expectations around payments have permanently changed. What once felt like a competitive differentiator—fast, flexible, digital payment options—has become the baseline. 

Digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and Venmo are no longer viewed as emerging capabilities or optional enhancements. They reflect how customers expect digital experiences to work. When those expectations aren’t met, friction shows up quickly—and over time, that friction impacts trust, satisfaction, and retention.

For businesses, software platforms, and ISVs, the strategic implication isn’t about unlocking incremental payment revenue.  It’s about protecting customer relationships by removing moments of friction that quietly erode loyalty. 

Digital Wallet Adoption Reflects Changing Expectations 

Digital wallet adoption continues to accelerate globally, but the real signal isn’t adoption alone. It’s what that adoption says about customer tolerance for friction.  

According to Capital One Shopping, over 4.3 billion people worldwide used digital wallets in 2024, with usage projected to reach 5.8 billion by 2029.  In the U.S., more than half of adults already rely on digital wallets—not because they’re novel, but because they’re faster, simpler, and feel more secure. 

Wallets succeed because they remove effort from the transaction. Biometric authentication, tokenization, and stored credentials allow payments to happen quickly and confidently, without forcing customers to think about the mechanics behind them. 

Payment Expectations Are Retention Expectations 

Digital wallets now account for 53% of global online purchases and 32% of in-store transactions, according to Capital One Shopping. But the more telling insight is behavioral, not transactional: 51% of digital wallet users have stopped shopping with a business that only accepted traditional payment methods. 

This isn’t about preference. It’s about patience—or the lack of it. When payment experiences feel outdated or inconvenient, customers don’t just notice. They interpret that friction as a signal about the organization itself. 

Over time, those signals compound—and churn follows. The payment experience has become one of the most visible drivers of customer retention. 

Why This Shift Matters for Platforms and ISVs 

For software platforms and ISVs, payment experience is inseparable from product experience. As payments become embedded into workflows, any friction at the point of payment reflects back on the platform delivering it. 

Digital wallets are increasingly used for: 

  • Embedded payments within vertical SaaS platforms 
  • Subscription-based B2B purchases and renewals 
  • Mobile invoicing and field-service interactions 
  • Corporate and virtual card transactions 

In these environments, even minor points of friction can trigger outsized consequences—support tickets, delayed payments, abandoned transactions, or strained customer relationships. 

Each issue may seem small in isolation. Together, they erode long-term loyalty. 

The Convergence of eCommerce and B2B Expectations 

Another critical shift heading into 2026 is the convergence of consumer and business payment expectations.  

Today’s business buyers are also consumers—and they increasingly expect the same speed, flexibility, and familiarity in professional transactions that they experience personally. As B2B interactions move toward self-serve, digital-first models, tolerance for rigid or manual payment processes continues to shrink. Digital wallets sit at the center of this convergence. They offer a consistent experience across personal and professional contexts, reinforcing a simple truth: ease is no longer channel-specific. 

For organizations focused on retention, consistency across experiences matters.  Friction in one channel doesn’t stay isolated—it influences how customers perceive the entire relationship. 

Digital Wallets as Signals of Experience Maturity 

Digital wallets are evolving beyond simple card storage. Many now support additional payment rails and use cases. But the strategic insight isn’t about feature breadth—it’s about adaptability. 

Wallet support signals whether an organization’s payment infrastructure is built to: 

  • Reduce effort rather than introduce steps
  • Integrate seamlessly into broader digital journeys 
  • Adapt as customer expectations evolve 

Organizations that lack this flexibility may not lose customers overnight. But over time, misaligned experiences quietly increase dissatisfaction—and attrition becomes inevitable. 

Why Fortis Thinks About Payments Differently 

At Fortis, we see payment experience as a critical extension of the customer relationship—not just a transaction layer. As expectations continue to rise, modern payment strategies must be designed to reduce friction, reinforce trust, and scale alongside customer growth. 

That’s why we focus on helping platforms, ISVs, and businesses align payment experiences with how customers actually want to interact—today and in the future. When payments work the way users expect, they strengthen retention instead of putting it at risk.  

The Bottom Line: Retention Follows Experience 

Retention is no longer driven by individual transactions—it’s shaped by cumulative experience. Payment flows that feel slow, manual, or disconnected from the rest of the journey quietly undermine trust. 

Heading into 2026, the organizations that win on retention will be the ones that remove friction wherever it appears—especially at the point of payment. When payment experiences work the way customers expect, they fade into the background. 

And that’s exactly where they belong.

Let’s start the conversation about how payment experience impacts customer retention. 

Top Accounts Receivable Trends for 2026

Posted on by Chris Haldane

How Real-Time AR and Embedded Payments Will Transform Finance and Customer Experience 

AR Is Entering Its Most Transformative Year Yet 

Finance teams are entering 2026 facing tighter cash flow, rising customer expectations, and increasingly complex operational environments. What was once a back-office workflow—Accounts Receivable—has become a strategic function tied directly to financial resilience and customer satisfaction. 

Deloitte’s 2026 Finance Trends Outlook highlights that finance organizations are rapidly shifting toward real-time, continuous insight to support faster, more agile decision-making. That shift places AR at the center of modern financial performance: responsible for accurate reporting, stronger forecasting, and a more reliable customer experience. 

As finance leaders expand their enterprise influence, AR is evolving into foundational financial infrastructure—grounded in accurate, connected, always-current receivables data.

2026 Trend #1: AR Becomes a Customer Experience Function

Accurate, intuitive AR interactions now influence customer trust and retention. 

In 2026, every AR touchpoint—every invoice, balance inquiry, portal login, or payment attempt—will shape the customer relationship. Businesses increasingly expect the same level of clarity and ease they get in consumer commerce. 

But fragmented AR processes create delays, confusion, and unnecessary friction. 
When AR is connected and consistent, it reinforces trust and strengthens long-term account health. 

This year, AR moves firmly from back-office execution into a frontline customer experience driver.

2026 Trend #2: Real-Time AR Powers Faster, More Confident Decisions

Finance teams can no longer rely on delayed or manual AR reporting. 

Traditional AR models—batch-based, manually reconciled, and slow to update—are no longer adequate for the pace of modern business. 

Deloitte notes that finance leaders are under intensifying pressure to support rapid, scenario-based decision-making amid economic and regulatory uncertainty. This level of agility is only possible when AR data reflects the current moment. 

Real-time AR visibility unlocks: 

  • Earlier risk detection
  • More accurate forecasting 
  • Cleaner, more reliable cash-flow insight 
  • Better alignment across finance, operations, support, and product teams 

In 2026, real-time AR becomes the new baseline for operational and financial confidence.

2026 Trend #3: Embedded Payments Become the Foundation of AR Accuracy

Instant payment data = instant financial truth. 

Even the best AR processes break down when payment data is delayed or siloed. If transactions happen outside the ERP, platform, or commerce system, AR visibility becomes out of sync the moment the payment is made. 

Embedded payments solve this by moving payment acceptance inside the systems where customers already work. With native, integrated payment flows: 

  • Balances update automatically 
  • Payment status is accurate in real time 
  • Reconciliation becomes dramatically easier 
  • Teams operate from a single financial source of truth 

In 2026, embedded payments will be essential to AR modernization and real-time financial accuracy.

2026 Trend #4: AR Extends into Every Customer Touchpoint

AR can no longer “live” solely inside the ERP. Customers move fluidly across channels, and AR must follow them. 

A modern AR ecosystem ensures that: 

  • A portal payment should sync instantly with the ERP 
  • A subscription renewal should adjust balances without delay 
  • A mobile checkout should influence cash-flow projections in real time 

This requires unified, integrated workflows that connect ERP, commerce, and platform ecosystems into a single financial experience. 

AR becomes the connective tissue between customer activity and financial truth.

2026 Trend #5: AR Becomes a Key Driver of Retention

Accurate billing and immediate confirmations shape customer loyalty. 

Trust is built on clarity. When billing, balances, and payment confirmations are accurate and instant, customer confidence grows. When they’re not, frustration quickly follows. 

In 2026, AR will directly influence: 

  • Subscription renewals 
  • B2B contract longevity 
  • Platform engagement 
  • Multichannel commerce satisfaction 

AR’s role will expand from collections to proactive revenue protection and customer-retention strategy.

2026 Trend #6: Automation and AI Raise the Stakes for AR Modernization

AI requires consistent, high-quality AR data to work effectively. 

Automation and AI adoption will accelerate in 2026—yet these technologies depend entirely on clean, connected, real-time financial data. 

If AR data is delayed, inconsistent, or fragmented: 

  • Automations fail 
  • Workflows stall 
  • AI-driven forecasting loses accuracy 

Deloitte notes that successful AI adoption requires strong data foundations—starting with AR, where financial truth originates. 

 Organizations that modernize AR will be best positioned to leverage AI for prioritization, forecasting, and workflow orchestration. 

How Fortis Helps Finance Teams and Platforms Lead This Transformation

Fortis enables businesses and software platforms to adopt these trends without disrupting existing systems. 

By embedding payments directly into native financial and operational workflows, Fortis helps teams gain: 

Instant Payment Activity 
Balances, statuses, and ledger entries update in real time—eliminating reconciliation delays. 

Real-Time AR Visibility 
Finance teams operate from clean, high-integrity data suitable for forecasting, automation, and AI. 

A Better Customer Experience
Customers enjoy smoother billing, intuitive payment options, and consistent confirmation across every channel. 

A True Transformative Partnership 
Fortis supports teams with hands-on expertise, flexible integrations, and a partnership model designed to drive long-term growth—consistent with our high-service, high-growth commitment. 

For CFOs and finance leaders, this means clearer forecasts and more informed decisions. For software platforms and developers, it means deeper product value, higher retention, and a modern embedded-payments foundation. 

Fortis turns fragmented invoice-to-cash workflows into a unified financial ecosystem that strengthens visibility, trust, and performance.

2026: The Year AR Becomes Strategic 

The trends shaping 2026 point to a clear shift: AR is evolving from a reactive process into a strategic growth engine. Organizations that unify payments, data, and customer workflows will move faster, deliver stronger experiences, and gain lasting competitive advantage. 

Fortis helps teams make that shift—one payment, one workflow, and one real-time insight at a time. 

Let’s connect and explore how Fortis can help modernize AR for the year ahead. 

Intelligent Flow: How Agentic AI Will Transform the Future of Payments

Posted on by Chris Haldane

Why Intelligent, Connected Systems Will Redefine How Businesses Move Money

Businesses lose time and revenue every day to one simple truth: payments don’t think.

Automation can move money faster, but it can’t see around corners. Agentic AI can. It doesn’t just follow instructions—it learns from context, recognizes patterns, and recommends smarter actions in real time.

Consider this: A key customer’s payment is delayed by 48 hours. Automation sends a reminder. Agentic AI recognizes the customer’s payment history, notes their recent order increase, cross-references industry trends, and proactively suggests extending terms or reaching out with a strategic check-in.

That’s not just automation. That’s intelligence in motion—and it’s redefining how businesses move money.

From Automation to Intelligence

Automation changed payments for the better. It removed manual steps, reduced errors, and improved consistency. But automation can only do what it’s told. It follows instructions instead of understanding them.

Agentic AI goes further. It understands context, learns from patterns, and acts autonomously in real time. Instead of waiting for problems to appear, it anticipates them, and acts.

Imagine a system that identifies when liquidity is tightening and adjusts disbursements automatically, or reconciles an invoice based on patterns it’s learned from past behavior.   This is the shift from efficiency to intelligence—where payments stop being a process to manage and start becoming a strategic advantage.

Why It Matters: Turning Data into Strategy

Every transaction creates data—but most businesses can’t access or apply it fast enough to drive decisions. Agentic AI changes that, turning payment activity into real-time business intelligence.

AI-driven systems can detect trends in cash flow, identify anomalies, and recommend next steps before problems arise.  They don’t just report what happened—they show what’s coming next, helping finance leaders move from reaction to readiness.

For example: Instead of simply noting a slowdown in payments, an intelligent system might forecast, “You’ll need an additional $2M in working capital by Q2 based on current trends.” It could also alert your team that a key customer’s order volume is dropping and suggest a proactive outreach before revenue impact hits.

The result is faster decisions, fewer surprises, and stronger financial control—because when payments become predictive, strategy follows.

The Technology: APIs as the Arteries of Intelligent Commerce

The modern economy runs on APIs. They connect systems, partners, and platforms, allowing payments to flow securely across environments. As AI becomes more integrated into operations, those APIs are evolving from static connectors into intelligent channels that carry context, not just data.

Emerging technologies like the Model Context Protocol (MCP) are already making this possible. They allow AI agents to securely interact with software environments, verify data, and execute actions automatically, all while maintaining full transparency and auditability.

At Fortis, we’ve seen how embedding payments within core systems like NetSuite, Acumatica, Sage, and other leading ERPs can transform the experience for businesses. When payments are part of the workflow, they no longer feel separate from operations—they become an extension of the business itself.

Agentic AI will take this even further, enabling systems that dynamically route transactions, forecast liquidity, and reconcile exceptions without human intervention. When payments flow intelligently, friction disappears and growth accelerates.

The Foundation: Trust and Data Integrity

 As innovation accelerates, one question remains constant: Can I trust it?

Data security and integrity are non-negotiable in payments. According to Deloitte’s Global Future of Cyber Survey 2023, 77% of executives cite data protection as their top concern when adopting new technologies.

Trust must evolve alongside intelligence. Agentic systems can only make good decisions when they’re built on verified, reliable data—and that’s where the next major shift is already happening.

Visa’s CEDP: A New Standard for Data Integrity

 On October 17, 2025, Visa’s Commercial Enhanced Data Program (CEDP) began requiring businesses that process commercial card transactions to submit accurate, complete, and validated data—including SKU-level detail, tax, freight, and PO information—to qualify for the best interchange rates.

Visa’s move rewards accuracy and transparency. Clean, verified data now directly improves financial outcomes.

That’s a powerful sign of what’s next. Agentic systems depend on the same principles—complete, contextual data that enables confident, compliant action.

At Fortis, we see this as a blueprint for readiness. Businesses that invest in strong data foundations today will lead in tomorrow’s era of intelligent, autonomous payments.

How to Prepare for the Intelligent Payment Future

Intelligent payment flow won’t happen overnight, but forward-thinking leaders can start laying the groundwork today.

  • Strengthen your data foundation.
    Ensure your systems capture complete and accurate transaction details. AI is only as good as the information it learns from.
  • Evolve your integrations.
    Move from one-way APIs to real-time, event-driven architectures that enable contextual updates and intelligent decision-making.
  • Automation should never feel like a black box. Every action must remain transparent, auditable, and explainable.
  • Adopt secure access models.
    Implement least-privilege access and modern authentication frameworks to protect sensitive data as you scale.
  • Choose future-ready partners.
    Work with providers who view innovation, integration, and security as interconnected—not competing priorities.

Each of these steps helps create a more intelligent, frictionless flow of funds and information—the foundation of every great business relationship.

People at the Center of the Flow

 It’s easy to view AI as replacing people, but in reality, it’s empowering them.

When routine reconciliation or settlement tasks happen automatically, teams gain time for strategy, insight, and customer experience.

At Fortis, we see intelligent flow as a partnership between people and technology—one that gives businesses back their time, confidence, and creative edge.

The Bottom Line

 Agentic AI represents the next phase in the evolution of payments—one where transactions don’t just happen; they think.

The businesses preparing today—investing in clean data, modern APIs, and trusted integrations—will lead tomorrow. Because the future of payments isn’t about adding more tools. It’s about creating flow without friction.

Where Fortis Fits In

Fortis helps businesses and software partners create connected, secure payment experiences that build trust and accelerate growth. We may not offer an AI solution today, but we’re building the intelligent infrastructure that will make Agentic AI possible: adaptable, fast, and deeply integrated into the systems businesses rely on every day.

  • For ERP users: Fortis integrates seamlessly with leading ERP systems—including NetSuite, Sage, and Acumatica—reducing reconciliation time and creating the clean structured data that fuels AI-driven insights across finance, operations, and customer systems.
  • For software platforms: Our embedded payment technology helps differentiate your offering—delivering a smoother, more intelligent payment experience your customers will trust and unlocks future AI capabilities
  • For finance leaders: Real-time insights and unified data access help you move from reactive to strategic decision-making, laying the groundwork for future-ready automation and predictive intelligence.

Let’s start the conversation about what frictionless payment flow could mean for your business.

Accelerate Reporting—Turn AR Data into a Growth Engine

Posted on by Chris Haldane

Read Time: 4 minutes 

This is the final post in our Accelerate AR series—a four-part guide to transforming your invoice-to-cash process using embedded payments inside your ERP.

In this post, we’re exploring how real-time AR reporting turns your data into a strategic asset—and helps you drive smarter decisions across the business.

Even the most sophisticated companies often struggle to access timely, reliable data across the invoice-to-cash cycle. Key metrics like Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), overdue balances, and customer payment behavior are hidden in spreadsheets, locked in siloed systems, or calculated manually after month-end.

The result? Incomplete visibility. Delayed decision-making. And a reactive AR strategy that slows growth.

The AR Reporting Gap

Reporting is the final stage of AR—but it’s often where the biggest breakdowns happen. Many finance teams rely on manual processes to pull data, validate inputs, and build reports. Even when ERPs are in place, those reports are often outdated by the time they’re reviewed.

This leads to:

  • Slow decision cycles
  • Disjointed insights across teams
  • Inaccurate forecasting
  • Missed opportunities to improve collections

Without a real-time view of what’s paid, pending, or overdue, your team is flying blind.

Why Real-Time AR Reporting Matters

AR isn’t just about what’s come in—it’s about what hasn’t. And knowing that in real time gives you the power to act quickly.

When your reporting is up to date, you can:

  • Identify at-risk accounts before they become write-offs
  • See how your DSO is trending—week to week, not just month to month
  • Forecast with confidence, based on actual performance
  • Support strategic planning with live insights into liquidity and collections

It’s not just operational efficiency—it’s a financial advantage.

Automation Drives Results

That’s a powerful stat—and it underscores what’s possible when reporting is automated, embedded, and accurate.

What Modern Reporting Looks Like

Imagine dashboards that show you—in real time—which customers are behind, which regions are outperforming, and where your collections process is falling short.

You don’t need to wait for month-end. You don’t need to request a data pull. You can log into your ERP and see everything—instantly.

With the right tools, reporting becomes:

  • Live and automated
  • Consistent across teams
  • Tied to your cash flow strategy
  • Flexible enough to scale with your business

That’s what AR acceleration looks like at the reporting level.

Bringing AR into Focus

Strong financial decisions start with visibility. When your AR data lives in silos or lags behind reality, it’s hard to plan effectively or respond with confidence. That’s why real-time reporting inside your ERP is a game-changer—not just for finance, but for the business as a whole.

With the right embedded tools, finance teams can monitor performance metrics as they evolve, spot trends faster, and make more informed decisions—without toggling between systems or relying on outdated reports.

Fortis supports this shift by helping you unify and simplify how AR data is captured, tracked, and acted on.

Series Recap: Accelerating AR, End to End

This concludes our four-part Accelerate AR series, where we’ve explored how finance teams can modernize their approach to the full invoice-to-cash cycle:

  • Invoicing – Automate billing and reduce errors with ERP-native workflows
  • Payments – Remove friction and get paid faster with embedded options
  • Reporting – Gain real-time visibility to guide smarter decisions

When these pieces work together, AR becomes more than a function—it becomes a driver of growth.

And the best part? You don’t need to replace your ERP. You just need to extend its power.

Next Steps: Build a Smarter AR Strategy

If your team is ready to move faster, plan with confidence, and reduce manual work, embedded payments could be a powerful next step.

Let’s connect and explore how Fortis can help you streamline your AR process—while keeping everything inside the system you already use.

Empowering Small Businesses, Every Day

Posted on by Chris Haldane

From Main Street to Enterprise—Fortis Helps Businesses Grow

Read time: 3 Minutes

Inspired by national initiatives such as American Express’s Shop Small® movement—which encourages consumers to support local and independent businesses—Fortis shares the same belief: empowering local businesses strengthens communities and drives lasting economic growth.

At Fortis, we believe powerful commerce happens when innovation connects people, businesses, and communities. Every transaction represents trust—and for us, that trust is earned through technology that helps partners and businesses thrive.

While our platform delivers enterprise-grade B2B payment solutions, our impact extends to the small and mid-sized businesses fueling local economies every day. Through our network of software platform partners, we help local entrepreneurs simplify payments, strengthen relationships, and unlock growth opportunities.

Whether it’s a neighborhood shop, service provider, or online seller, Fortis empowers the small businesses that power our communities.

Why Small Businesses Matter More Than Ever

Small businesses are more than storefronts—they’re the creative engine of our economy. They bring innovation, personal connection, and authenticity to every interaction. But running a business today means navigating complex systems, evolving customer expectations, and tighter margins.

That’s where Fortis comes in.

We empower partners and the businesses they serve with modern, embedded payment technology that removes friction and builds efficiency. Our solutions help businesses accept payments anytime, anywhere, across any channel—while streamlining operations and creating consistency that turns everyday transactions into lasting customer loyalty.

When payments work seamlessly, small business owners can focus on what really matters: serving their customers and growing their communities.

The Fortis Difference: Technology + Partnership

At Fortis, we believe that powerful commerce doesn’t just come from great technology—it comes from true partnership. Our approach goes beyond delivering payment capabilities; it’s about helping businesses transform how they operate and grow with confidence.

We combine innovative payment solutions with a partner-centric business model designed for growth. That means simplifying complex payment experiences, scaling seamlessly across channels, and providing dedicated support that helps our partners and businesses thrive.

Through embedded, human-centered technology, Fortis enables small businesses to manage payments effortlessly, improve cash flow, and build stronger relationships with the people they serve.

Empowering Small Businesses—All Year Long

Supporting small businesses isn’t a seasonal initiative—it’s at the heart of what we do. Every day, Fortis helps entrepreneurs simplify operations, accelerate cash flow, and deliver exceptional customer experiences.

Our connected payment experiences bridge in-person, online, and mobile environments—helping business owners focus on what truly matters: growing their business and strengthening their community.

By making payments smarter, faster, and more connected, Fortis turns every transaction into an opportunity for growth.

Connected Commerce Builds Stronger Communities

From enterprise organizations to Main Street businesses, Fortis empowers businesses to scale, simplify, and succeed. By combining cutting-edge technology with the power of partnership, we’re helping businesses of all sizes create meaningful connections, drive growth, and keep communities thriving.

Because when small businesses grow, everyone benefits—and that’s a mission worth supporting every day of the year.

Accelerate Payments: Make It Easy to Get Paid

Posted on by Chris Haldane

This is the third post in our Accelerate AR series—a four-part guide to transforming your invoice-to-cash process using embedded payments inside your ERP.

Today’s focus: how to remove friction from the payment experience, so customers pay faster—and your cash flow keeps moving.

You’ve delivered value. You’ve sent the invoice. But if the payment process is clunky, that revenue may still be weeks—or months—away.

For too many B2B businesses, payments are where momentum breaks down. The process is filled with unnecessary steps, limited options, and outdated systems that frustrate customers and slow down collections.

Getting paid should be simple. Instead, it’s often a manual, time-consuming bottleneck that leaves both your finance team and your customers unhappy.

The Payment Experience is Broken

Here are the common friction points we see: 

  • Limited payment options: Some customers prefer ACH. Others want to use a card or even a digital wallet. If you don’t offer it, they’ll delay. 
  • Disconnected systems: Payments processed outside your ERP require manual matching, increasing errors and wasting time. 
  • Security concerns: If your payment system feels clunky or untrustworthy, customers hesitate to complete the transaction. 
  • Lack of reminders: Without proactive nudges, busy AP departments miss due dates—even if they want to pay. 

All of these issues add friction—and friction kills cash flow.

That means you could be losing nearly six out of ten payments—not because customers won’t pay, but because they can’t pay easily.

That’s a solvable problem.

The Case for Embedded Payments 

The solution? Remove the friction. Let customers pay how they want, when they want—without jumping through hoops. 

Here’s what that looks like in a modern business:

  • Invoices are sent electronically, with embedded payment links
  • Customers click once and choose their preferred method: ACH, credit card, digital wallet, or even check
  • Payments are automatically applied to the correct invoice
  • Finance leaders can see real-time payment status, aging, and Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) metrics—without waiting for manual updates

It’s intuitive, fast, and removes unnecessary complexity—for both sides of the transaction.

How It Works in Practice 

A customer receives an invoice via email with a payment link. They click once, choose their preferred method, and complete the payment on a branded, secure page. That payment is then automatically applied to the correct invoice in your ERP—no manual entry required. 

It’s intuitive, efficient, and scalable. 

Why It Matters 

The longer it takes to receive payment, the more pressure you put on cash reserves, borrowing, and operations.

Accelerating payments isn’t just about improving AR—it impacts your entire business:

  • More working capital means you can invest in growth
  • Lower risk of bad debt protects margins
  • Fewer manual tasks frees up your team for higher-value work
  • Better customer experiences increase retention and loyalty

And when customers can pay how they want, they pay faster. It’s that simple.

Simplifying the Path to Payment

When the payment process is seamless, customers pay faster—and finance teams spend less time chasing down revenue. Embedded payment tools make it possible to offer flexible options, reduce manual steps, and improve real-time visibility across your AR cycle.

Instead of relying on disconnected systems or delayed processes, modern businesses are integrating payment directly into the invoicing experience—meeting customers where they are and getting paid sooner.

That’s the kind of simplicity and scale Fortis helps enable.

What’s Next in the Series  

In our final post, we’ll explore how real-time AR reporting turns data into strategy—and why accurate visibility is key to long-term growth.

Take the Next Step

Talk to Fortis today and see how embedded payments can help you accelerate collections—without increasing the workload.

Accelerate Invoicing: Kill Manual Entry and Speed Up Billing

Posted on by Chris Haldane

Read Time: 4 minutes 

This is the second post in our Accelerate AR series—a four-part guide to transforming your invoice-to-cash process using embedded payments inside your ERP.

Today’s focus: why manual invoicing is costing you more than time—and how automation helps you bill faster with fewer errors.

Invoicing is the heartbeat of your cash flow. But for too many finance teams, it’s a process riddled with inefficiencies—manual tasks, outdated tools, and fragmented systems.

Despite having powerful ERPs in place, businesses often still rely on spreadsheets, email attachments, and disconnected billing workflows that slow everything down. The result isn’t just a little friction—it’s a direct hit to revenue and customer satisfaction.

Manual Entry Madness

Surprisingly, 53% of mid-market B2B companies still rely on spreadsheets to manage accounts receivable.
Source: e2b teknologies

That’s not just out of date—it’s risky.

Spreadsheets are static, siloed, and prone to human error. They can’t offer real-time visibility, and they certainly don’t scale with your business. When your team is spending hours each week copying invoice data between systems, the margin for error increases—and the cost of those mistakes adds up.

In fact, 94% of spreadsheets contain errors.
Source: Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth

Those errors often lead to incorrect invoice amounts, missing details, or formatting issues that delay payments and erode customer trust.

Delayed Invoicing, Delayed Payments

It’s not just the accuracy of invoices that matters—it’s the speed. Manual processes often delay invoice creation and delivery, especially when teams toggle between ERPs and third-party tools or rely on batch processing.

According to the Credit Research Foundation, 61% of late payments are due to administrative errors or invoices arriving too late.

That’s a staggering stat. It means most of your payment delays may have nothing to do with customer behavior—and everything to do with internal bottlenecks.

And with every delay, cash flow takes a hit.

Why Speed and Accuracy Matter Now More Than Ever

In a fast-paced, digital-first economy, outdated invoicing doesn’t just cause frustration—it limits your ability to grow.

Here’s why:

  • Delayed billing = delayed revenue. The longer it takes to issue invoices, the longer it takes to collect.
  • Manual effort scales poorly. As your business grows, AR teams become overwhelmed by volume—leading to burnout, more errors, and slower collections.
  • Customer relationships suffer. Mistakes or delays create friction, damage trust, and increase the likelihood of disputes or payment holds.
  • Reporting is unreliable. Without real-time data, finance leaders can’t forecast accurately or respond to changes quickly.

Modern businesses need more than spreadsheets and email attachments. They need embedded workflows that move at the speed of business.

What Automated Invoicing Looks Like

Imagine this: A sale is completed. The ERP system instantly pulls the right billing information and generates a professional, branded invoice—automatically.

The invoice is emailed to the customer immediately, with a secure link to pay online. If payment isn’t made within a few days, a polite reminder is sent—automatically, based on the rules your team has set.

Meanwhile, your AR team has a live dashboard showing exactly which invoices are pending, which are overdue, and which are paid. No digging. No spreadsheets. No delays.

That’s what AR acceleration looks like—and it starts with invoicing.

How to Modernize Your Invoicing Workflow

Most modern ERPs already have the capability to support embedded payments and AR automation. The key is tapping into those native features and eliminating your reliance on disconnected tools.

Here are three areas to focus on:

  • Automate invoice generation. Look for tools that pull directly from ERP data to reduce errors and avoid manual entry.
  • Digitize invoice delivery. Replace printouts and attachments with direct-to-inbox emails that include payment options.
  • Set smart follow-ups. Use rule-based reminders to ensure consistent collections without the need for manual outreach.

By focusing on these improvements, your team can move faster, reduce mistakes, and improve customer experience—all without switching platforms.

Embedded Invoicing: A Smarter Way Forward

Modern ERPs already offer powerful tools for automating invoicing—but tapping into those features often requires the right configuration and support. That’s where embedded payment solutions come in.

By integrating invoicing and payment capabilities directly into your ERP, you create a more cohesive, automated workflow. Invoices can be generated and delivered instantly, payment options can be included up front, and follow-ups can run on autopilot—reducing delays and manual effort.

For finance teams, that means more time for strategic work, fewer errors, and better visibility across the billing cycle.

What’s Next in the Series

Modern invoicing sets the stage for faster payments. In the next post, we’ll explore how embedded payment options remove friction for your customers—and accelerate collections for your team.

Take the Next Step

Talk to Fortis and discover how automated invoicing inside your ERP can help you move faster—with fewer errors and a better experience for everyone involved.

The Hidden Cost of Fragmented AR Workflows: What Tech Leaders Should Know

Posted on by Chris Haldane

Read Time: 6 minutes 

TL;DR: Fragmented AR integrations cost users up to $1.3M annually in lost productivity. 59% of U.S. companies attribute poor cash flow to manual AR processes, while IT teams waste hours maintaining broken integrations. The solution? Native or deeply integrated AR automation delivers 80% faster processing, 70% cost savings, and 20% DSO reduction. Teams should prioritize certified integrations, audit current AR workflows, and eliminate the “invisible project” draining IT resources. 

The Invisible Project Draining Your Resources 

Every company has one: the “invisible project” that no one budgets for, but everyone works on. It’s not a product launch, new initiative or campaign—it’s simply keeping your accounts receivable functional. 

When invoices don’t sync to your ERP, AR data lags, or a connector fails, your tech teams quietly step in. They rebuild, export, reconcile, repeat, all to keep revenue flowing. 

But that invisible project isn’t free. It costs hours of manual work, delayed insights, and missed opportunities that could be spent on strategic growth.

The Cost of Disconnected Payments 

Disconnected payment and AR tools create hidden costs that add up quickly. In fact, 59% of U.S. businesses attribute poor cash flow and forecasting to outdated manual AR methods, while another 57% cite difficulties in managing credit risk (PYMNTS Intelligence, 2024). 

Manual AR processes drain productivity across the organization. According to recent research, half of businesses report excessive time wasted on AR processing, while 44% struggle with collecting delinquent payments (PYMNTS, 2024). Beyond operational challenges, companies face direct financial losses: studies suggest businesses can lose up to $1.3 million annually on inefficient processes (Formstack/Mantis Research, 2022). 

The time cost is staggering. Each hour spent reconciling data, managing logins, or manually re-keying information is time your team could be using to move the business forward.

The IT Bottleneck: When Your Tech Team Becomes a Manual Data Bridge 

When payment processors, billing platforms, and AR automation tools don’t integrate seamlessly someone has to fill the gap—usually your IT or Applications teams. Sometimes it falls to the Finance leader who knows the workflow best but doesn’t have bandwidth to manage yet another integration project. 

The result? Your tech team becomes a human middleware layer. They’re constantly building custom scripts, managing API connections, creating saved searches for data exports, or worse—manually entering payment data into their ERP because the integration broke again. 

According to the National Automated Clearing House Association, 71% of remittance information associated with electronic payments travels separately from the actual payment, forcing AR teams to manually match payments to invoices (Citizens Bank Corporate Finance Insights). This often means toggling between multiple systems, exporting data, and using spreadsheets to reconcile what should be automatic. 

Teams find themselves spending valuable time on: 

  • Re-creating APIs when third-party connectors fail 
  • Building and maintaining custom connectors for data transformations 
  • Manual cash application because payment data doesn’t map to invoices 
  • Creating workarounds when batch imports fail or take too long 
  • Troubleshooting why payment gateway data isn’t syncing to customer records 

This fragmentation doesn’t just slow operations—it damages team morale and retention. Accounts Receivable staff are especially vulnerable to defections: according to the Institute of Finance and Management, 27% say they plan to leave within the next year, and nearly half say they’ll leave within three years (IOFM, 2023).  

When talented developers and systems administrators spend their time on repetitive integration fixes instead of innovation, disengagement follows. Disengagement due to manual processes costs organizations $3,400 for every $10,000 in salary (OPEN.money, 2024).

The ROI of Integration 

The business case for AR automation is compelling. Companies that implement comprehensive automation solutions report significant benefits: 

  • Processing time reductions of up to 80% and cost cuts of 30-40% on manual processes (SNS Insider Market Research, 2024) 
  • Reduction in Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) by up to 20% (multiple industry sources) 
  • Invoicing cost savings exceeding 70% when transitioning to automation (HighRadius, 2024) 
  • 83% of AR executives report improved process efficiency and accuracy after implementing automation (PYMNTS Intelligence, 2024) 

The AR automation market is experiencing explosive growth, projected to increase from $3.2 billion in 2025 to $8.6 billion by 2035, with a compound annual growth rate of 10.3% (Future Market Insights, 2025). This growth reflects the urgent business need for integrated solutions.

From Fragmentation to Flow: Invisible Work Becomes Visible Impact 

The path forward requires more than just new software—it demands integrated systems that reduce manual handoffs and give teams real-time visibility into the entire order-to-cash cycle. 

Modern AR automation platforms offer: 

Seamless Integration 

  • Native connectors or prebuilt integrations that eliminate custom coding 
  • Real-time, bi-directional data sync between payment systems and your ERP 
  • Automatic cash application that posts directly to customer records and invoices 
  • No more CSV exports, batch uploads, or manual reconciliation 

AI-Powered Intelligence 

  • Predictive analytics for customer payment behavior based on your transaction history 
  • Automated credit risk scoring that updates customer credit limits 
  • Smart payment matching that handles partial payments, credits, and discrepancies 
  • Machine learning that improves accuracy over time 

Automated Collections That Scale 

  • Dunning workflows that trigger based on invoice aging 
  • Multi-channel payment reminders (email, SMS, portal) with embedded payment links 
  • Customer self-service portals that pull live data from your system 
  • Automated escalation paths based on customer payment history 

Real-Time Financial Visibility 

  • Dashboards that reflect current AR data without manual reporting 
  • Cash flow forecasting based on actual receivables and payment patterns 
  • Custom saved searches and KPI tracking integrated with your ERP analytics 
  • Role-based access that works with your existing permission structure 

For organizations still relying on manual processes, the window to act is narrowing. Invoice volumes are projected to increase by 46% over the next three years (PYMNTS Intelligence, 2024), which will only magnify existing inefficiencies.

Taking Action 

Tech leaders should: 

  1. Audit current AR processes to identify the most time-consuming and error-prone manual tasks 
  1. Calculate the true cost of fragmentation, including staff time, delayed payments, and opportunity costs 
  1. Prioritize integration capabilities when evaluating automation solutions—58% of enterprises consider integration a key factor in selecting financial automation software (IMARC Group, 2024) 
  1. Select scalable cloud-based solutions that can grow with your business and integrate with existing systems 
  1. Focus on change management with strong training and support to ensure successful adoption 

The invisible project of keeping AR functional doesn’t have to drain your organization’s resources. With the right integrated automation platform, tech teams can shift from firefighting disconnected systems to enabling strategic growth.

Sources 

Accelerate AR: Fast-Tracking Financial Performance with Fortis 

Posted on by Chris Haldane

Post 1: Why It’s Time to Accelerate Your AR Workflow  
Read Time: 4 minutes 

This post kicks off our Accelerate AR series—a four-part guide to transforming your invoice-to-cash process using embedded payments inside your ERP. 

First up: Why manual Accounts Receivable (AR) is slowing you down, and what to do about it. 

In a perfect world, invoicing would be instant, payments would post immediately, and reporting would offer a crystal-clear view of cash flow. But for many mid-market B2B companies, the reality is different: invoices get delayed, payments arrive late, and reporting feels more like guesswork than a decision-making tool.  

These inefficiencies often stem from outdated, fragmented processes. Despite investing in ERP systems to centralize operations, many companies still rely on spreadsheets and manual workarounds for AR tasks. If your team is switching between tools, manually entering invoice data, and chasing payments without clear visibility, your AR process is likely holding you back. 

The results can be painful:  

  • Payments trickling in well past due dates  
  • Hours lost each week to reconciliation and follow-up  
  • Limited insight into Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) and cash flow forecasts  
  • Mounting frustration across finance, sales, and customer service  

It’s a common reality, and it’s costly. Businesses in the Americas lose over 50% of unpaid receivables that aren’t settled within 90 days. On average, 4% of accounts receivable are written off entirely.
Source: Atradius & U.S. Census Bureau 

The Hidden Cost of Staying “Good Enough”  

Too often, AR workflows are seen as a back-office task—not a business growth opportunity. But in an environment where speed and accuracy matter more than ever, staying stuck in outdated processes puts your financial health at risk.  

Even incremental delays can cascade into:  

  • Missed revenue opportunities  
  • Cash flow shortfalls that impact budgeting or expansion  
  • Lower customer satisfaction due to billing confusion or payment friction  

It’s not just about operational efficiency—it’s about unlocking real financial performance. 

What If AR Could Move as Fast as Your Business?  

That’s where true transformation begins—not just faster workflows, but smarter, more connected ones that accelerate every step of your AR process. 

When you embed payments into your ERP environment, you create a single, frictionless AR system that works across your invoicing, payment collection, and reporting functions. You reduce touchpoints, minimize errors, and gain full control over your cash cycle.  

Imagine:  

  • Invoices sent the moment a sale closes  
  • Customers paying instantly using their preferred method  
  • Payments posting automatically to the correct account  
  • Finance having real-time visibility into every step  

This isn’t a future-state—it’s what embedded AR can deliver today.  

Why Now?  

Companies that haven’t modernized their AR systems are feeling it: longer collection cycles, higher operating costs, and a lack of data clarity to plan effectively. In contrast, businesses that integrate payments within their ERP are reclaiming time, reducing DSO, and scaling with less friction.  

Modernizing AR isn’t just a technology decision—it’s a growth strategy.  

Turning Strategy into Action 

Fragmented AR processes don’t just slow you down—they make it harder to plan, respond, and grow. When invoicing, payments, and reporting operate in silos, inefficiencies compound and visibility fades. 

But for companies using embedded payment solutions within their ERP, the story looks different. 

With a single, connected workflow, finance teams can streamline invoicing, enable easier payments, and monitor key AR metrics in real time—all without switching platforms or adding new tools to manage. 

That’s the power of embedded AR—and it’s what Fortis is built to support. 

Where to Go from Here  

Accelerating AR starts with recognizing the friction—and then replacing it with smart, embedded processes that work the way your business does. 

In this four-part series, we’ll explore how Fortis helps finance teams automate the full invoice-to-cash journey: 

  • In our next post, we’ll break down the hidden costs of manual invoicing—and how native ERP automation speeds up billing and reduces errors. 
  • Then we’ll look at the payment experience: what’s slowing it down and how to eliminate the barriers that frustrate customers and delay revenue. 
  • Finally, we’ll dive into AR reporting—and how real-time visibility transforms AR from a reactive function into a strategic growth driver. 

Each post will offer practical insights and examples to help you modernize your AR process—and set your team up to scale. 

Ready to uncover hidden inefficiencies in your AR process? Talk to a Fortis expert to see how embedded payments can streamline invoicing, reduce delays, and give your finance team time back. 

The Embedded Payments Guidebook: Turning Payments into a Strategic Asset 

Posted on by fortis2025

It’s no secret that embedded payments are the future of eCommerce. In 2021, 73% of European business leaders planned to implement embedded finance solutions, and the trend has only continued to grow worldwide. Customer demands, new revenue streams, and an improved customer experience further propel merchants and ISVs toward embedded payment solutions. 

As a leader in the payments industry, we looked at the primary benefits of embedded payments, how they work, and why this technology can become a strategic asset. The full story is in our free Embedded Payments Guidebook.  

In our whitepaper, we discuss: 

  • The Basics of Embedded Payments 
  • The Business Benefits of Embedded Payments 
  • The Models of Embedded Payments 
  • Evaluating an Embedded Payments Provider 
  • Elevating Payments to a Strategic Asset 
  • Additional Resources for Getting Started 

We’ve summarized some highlights from the whitepaper, below: 

5 Benefits of Embedded Payments 

Legacy payment systems contribute to a sluggish and disjointed customer payment experience. Customers must often leave the merchant site to verify their payment information with a third party, creating friction. Customers then bear the burden of manual data entry and payment reconciliation. 

Embedded payments change that and more. The benefits of this technology turn everything around: 

  1. Automation reduces the amount of data entry. 
  1. Merchants can keep their payment portals on-brand and on their website or app. 
  1. This technology applies to every industry.  
  1. Organizations can leverage real-time insights and analytics. 
  1. They experience complete control over the payment experience.

How Embedded Payments Work

Given the flexibility of this technology, it only makes sense that there is more than one way to apply it. There are approximately three embedded payment models: 

  • Partner Referral Model – This a convenient plug-and-play solution, but it lacks customization options and is challenging to scale. 
  • Payment Facilitation (PayFac) Model – A PayFac simplifies the process by aggregating all transactions under an account, and these platforms are accountable to acquiring banks. This model offers software companies a greater revenue share but is also more costly to maintain.  
  • Embedded Payments-as-a-Service (EPaaS) – This embedded payments model allows software companies to leverage the customization and revenue benefits of a PayFac model but reduces the compliance and regulatory burden. 

From Payment Feature to a Strategic Asset 

The right embedded payments solution is a strategic asset, supporting customer retention efforts; a frictionless check-out experience, loyalty or rewards programs, alternative payments, and other value-adds streamline payments.  

What is the result of a technology-driven payments strategy? Healthy cash flow and opportunities for growth. 

To leverage embedded payments, you’ll want to carefully evaluate solutions to ensure they align with your financial and long-term goals. Furthermore, you want a solution that will scale with your business.  

Download our Whitepaper 

Ready to optimize your payments workflow and capture even more revenue? Then, you’ll want to download our Embedded Payments Guidebook for more insights from the leader in embedded payments.

Apple Pay and Google Pay: Digital Payments Made Easy

Posted on by fortis2025

Did you know that nine in 10 Americans use digital payments and 53% use digital wallets? 

While digital payment methods have been around for years, the pandemic brought them to national consciousness, and their popularity is only continuing to soar. Today, it has become increasingly common to see consumers and businesses, alike, paying via their digital wallet rather than by credit card or check. 

Unfortunately, integrating these payment types to legacy infrastructure isn’t always so simple. Most payment processors and facilitators have limited payment options and may not include these other types of alternative payments. 

Let’s explore why you should adopt these digital payment methods, and why it’s important to pick a payment processor that can seamlessly embed them into your current software or solution. 

Digital Wallets

There are a multitude of digital wallet options, some of which are international, like Apple Pay or Google Pay, and others that are regional or country specific. Digital wallets have several benefits for both the payor and the payee: 

  • Convenience – Digital wallets may be loaded with funds or draw funds from saved payment sources, such as bank accounts or credit cards. All the payee needs is their phone or wallet information to make a payment, and these transfers are lightning-fast for both the payor and payee. 
  • Security – One of the most important benefits of a digital wallet is its enhanced security. When a customer makes a payment, the payment information is never disclosed. In other words, the business receiving the payment never gets a look at the credit card or bank account number, which also reduces their compliance burden.  
  • Speed – Digital wallets offer instant or near-instant payments, allowing businesses to maintain a healthier cash flow and log payments in real time. 
  • Fewer fees – Accepting digital wallet payments typically costs less than credit card fees, making it more lucrative for business owners.  

Apple Pay 

The Apple Pay wallet maintains a 92% market share of the US industry, making it the most popular wallet. Customers can verify payments directly from the App Store with their biometrics or passcode, making it convenient and relatively secure.  

Fortis allows merchants to accept and monitor Apple Pay transactions. To tap into Apple Pay, Fortis users only need to visit their Virtual Terminal Settings to show these transactions. 

Google Pay

Google Pay is one of the top digital wallets worldwide, and it is accepted in at least 19 countries. As a reliable payment processor, consumers and businesses have begun using Google Pay more and more over the years.  

Similar to Apple Pay, Fortis users can enable Google Pay options through their Virtual Terminal Settings.  

Digital wallets as a part of a payments strategy  

Offering digital wallet payment options solves significant problems for both B2B and B2C businesses. 

For instance, Apple Pay or Google Pay may: 

  • Reduce processing costs and boost savings 
  • Increase conversions 
  • Improve the customer experience—thus building customer loyalty 

As more consumers and businesses tap into digital wallets, they will likely come to expect this option while checking out or fulfilling an invoice. Therefore, it can be helpful to take a forward-looking approach to payments strategy and include these popular payment choices. Not only will you be able to leverage the above benefits, but you can position your business for long-term gains.  

Optimize your payments 

Providing Apple Pay and Google Pay as payment methods offers a number of benefits for businesses. Greater security, increased convenience, and lower fees are just a few. However, as mentioned above, once you decide to include digital wallets as part of your strategy, choosing the best payment processor is the next step. 

Timmy emphasizes the importance of choosing the right payments advisor for your journey. 


As an industry leader with award-winning APIs, Fortis understands the importance of security, flexibility, and innovation when it comes to accepting payments. That’s why our platform is built around providing a seamless and secure omnichannel solution. 

Speak with our payment experts to learn more about how Fortis can become a strategic advantage in your business. 

Adobe Commerce: Enabling Merchants and ISVs to Streamline Payments

Posted on by fortis2025

Back in 2018, Adobe announced its agreement to purchase Magento Commerce for $1.68 billion. As a leading commerce software, the Magento solution enabled Adobe to expand its stellar cloud service offerings. 

Magento’s cloud-based platform supported both B2C and B2B organizations with a number of top-notch features, including: 

  • Category management 
  • Client accounts 
  • Customer service 
  • International support 
  • Marketing tools 
  • Order management 
  • Payments 
  • Product management 
  • Promotions 
  • Search technology 

We’ll explore how Magento’s software evolved after becoming Adobe Commerce, and what benefits businesses and ISVs can expect from the new approach, especially when it comes to payments.  

From Magento to Adobe Commerce: How the Platform Looks Today 

Adobe has long been an essential software for businesses across industries. As a leader in content creation, marketing, advertising, and analytics, it’s only natural that the organization would add payments to its applications. Magento’s versatility was integral to expanding Adobe into payments. And, now as Adobe Commerce, the software has been integrated into the new platform, with several changes. 

The first of which is the dependence on the cloud. Prior to its acquisition, Magento offered both on-premise and cloud platform options. With Adobe Commerce being included in the Experience Cloud, users can now tap into their payments data from anywhere—and sync with other Adobe applications. In other words, merchants and ISVs can leverage the vertical integration between the eCommerce software and other key applications, such as web development and video production. Having the same vendor for multiple functions simplifies the workflow and tech burden, too. 

Adobe also enables users to take advantage of various payment integrations. This component makes accepting and processing payments easy.  

The Top 5 Benefits of Adobe Commerce 

There are many advantages to ISVs and merchants when it comes to using Adobe Commerce. The top 5 include: 
 

  1. Personalized experiences – Merchants and ISVs can leverage the platform’s AI to create and deliver relevant promotions and recommendations to customers.   
  1. Reach more customers – Omnichannel capabilities enable new ways to reach customers, either through enhanced marketing campaigns, merchandising options, or additional payment features. Reach can be extended to new locations and customer segments without leaving the platform with localized options.  
  1. Extensive integrations – As one of the biggest software systems out there, Adobe supports hundreds of free and premium plugins.  
  1. PCI-compliance — Security and compliance is critical for any payment system. Adobe Commerce not only offers high-quality security measures, but also PCI-DSS compliance. 
  1. Enhanced data and analytics – Adobe Commerce enables merchants and ISVs to gain full visibility over their sales and commerce processes.  

The Fortis Difference 

As the leader in embedded payments, Fortis seamlessly integrates with Adobe Commerce, enabling merchants and ISVs to enhance their payments experience. 

Our award-winning APIs and payment solutions provide unique, customizable payment pages, increased security through tokenization, and a faster and easier checkout process for end-customers.  

Looking to get started? Learn more about how Fortis can accelerate your payments with our Adobe Commerce plugin. 

4 Must-Have Features for a US-Based Canadian Payment Processing Solution

Posted on by fortis2025

The infrastructure for Canadian digital payments has been a long time in the making. For years, payments giant Interac has been a leader in building digital payment infrastructure in the country.  

Now, US-based payment solutions can leverage this infrastructure and further transform it with proprietary technology. This includes empowering ISVs and merchants with embedded payments and omnichannel payment systems.  

Below, we discuss the essential features needed for US-based business to process payments in Canada. 

Top Features for US / Canadian Payment Processing Solution

Any powerful payment processing platform should include several features, regardless of the country, like multi-currency support, customization, and multiple payment options. But here are four specific features to consider when thinking about processing in a Canadian ecosystem:  

  1. Local payment options: Accepting local payment methods, including Interac debit acceptance and other forms of electronic funds transfer (EFT), is essential. Simply accepting card-not-present (CNP) or card-present (CP) is not enough. 
  1. Loyalty programs: When it comes to accepting payments, it’s not all about credit cards and digital transfers. Gift and loyalty programs can also help businesses build revenue and boost customer retention. Having a platform that integrates these features with your regular payment options enables you to get creative with your overall payment strategy.  
  1. Omnichannel approach: Not all customers are keen to use a credit card—and even if they are, merchants may need to accept their payments via phone, computer, or in-person. An omnichannel approach to payments streamlines the experience for both the merchants and customers. 
  1. Seamless customer experience: The end customer may abandon their cart during the payment process, particularly if it takes too long or looks unsafe. A platform that offers detailed customization without sacrificing local compliance standards helps merchants optimize their processes. The increase in revenue then filters down to their software provider so everyone wins.  
Timmy Nafso, Executive VP of Fortis, tackles the crucial question: “Why Canada?”

Optimize Your Payments Strategy

Fortis has long been a leader in embedded payments in the United States, and solutions are just starting to expand to Canadian customers. ISVs and merchants processing in Canada can now access the Fortis Platform’s full suite, award-winning APIs, and thorough guides. To learn more about this recent expansion, read the formal press release, here. 

To find out more about the Fortis Platform’s support for payment processing in Canada, schedule a call or download this one-pager.  

What is a PayFac and How is it Beneficial to a Software Provider?

Posted on by fortis2025

For software providers, streamlining the sales process, onboarding merchants quickly, and having an all-in-one solution is top of mind to stay competitive. Keeping up with the ever-evolving payments industry, however, makes this a little difficult. Considerations like selling in regional or global markets and building a solution that’s adaptable and accepts multiple currencies is critical. All the while, software providers want to ensure that their account is protected against fraud and other threats. 

Software providers have one of two options – either building the payments infrastructure themselves or enlisting the help of a PayFac. A PayFac is a payment facilitation solution for software providers and small businesses that enables them to streamline payments without investing in the infrastructure themselves. Instead, they choose a payment facilitation provider that manages everything from underwriting to gateways. 

Let’s explore some of the reasons why a software provider might consider using a PayFac. 

Timmy Nafso dives into the myths and realities of payment facilitation and talks about the importance of choosing the right model for your business.

PayFac and the advantage of payment facilitation providers 

As an embedded payments solution, payment facilitation providers can customize services to meet software providers’ specific needs. This approach isn’t just convenient in terms of cost and time-savings, but it allows software providers to scale as they serve more merchants or customers. At the same time, they do not have to handle the liabilities related to maintaining a payments module, such as PCI-DSS compliance, gateway reporting, or regular security tests.  

Depending on the PayFac solution chosen, merchants can accept more than just credit cards. ACH payments, eChecks, and other forms of digital transfers provide a better customer experience while retaining more revenue.  

Measuring the competitive edge of adopting a PayFac 

It’s easy to see how PayFac offers software providers the technology to effortlessly process payments at a fraction of the cost of in-house solutions. However, it’s the tangible benefits to their merchants that ultimately adds to the bottom line. 

For instance, merchants and eCommerce businesses struggle with high cart abandonment rates, thus reducing their revenue and the amount software providers would receive from payment processing. 18% of customers abandon their cart due to complex or lengthy check-out processes alone, and another 19% didn’t trust the website with their credit card information.  

Fortunately, these issues, along with others, can be resolved with a streamlined, user-friendly payment facilitation system. Improving the check-out experience can boost conversion rates by 35.36% — and when the merchant earns more, so does the software provider.  

A best-in-class payment solution 

With Fortis’ PayFac solution, software developers and merchants can leverage award-winning APIs and leading payment technology to scale their business. Fortis manages everything for you – underwriting, fraud monitoring, funding, gateway reporting, and chargeback management. Fortis also leverages negotiations made with acquiring banks and processors, supply an in-house Level 1 PCI compliant payment gateway, and provides all necessary certifications and licenses. Even better, if you don’t want Fortis to manage it all – you have that option, too! The Fortis Platform’s sophisticated and diverse API libraries allow you to leverage and control the payment process flow and customize the merchant’s onboarding and transactional experience.  

To learn more about the Fortis difference, discover how easy it is to simplify your payments with our PayFac solution.