Who We Serve › SaaS & ISVs

Payments Are a
Product Decision.
Make the Right One.

Whether you're embedding payments into your platform, optimizing your existing stack, or exploring how to monetize your merchant base - the decisions you make now have long-term revenue implications. MARGN advises SaaS founders and ISV product teams on the right path forward.

Get Started How It Works
Optimizing Your Stack
Processor selection, gateway consolidation, and rate benchmarking for your existing payment infrastructure
Monetizing Your Merchant Base
Referral fee programs, revenue-share agreements, and white-label financing - turn your distribution into a revenue stream
Embedding Payments
Stripe, Adyen, Braintree, PayFac-as-a-Service - we help you choose the right infrastructure for your product and merchant base
Compliance & Registration
ISO registration, PayFac requirements, PCI scope reduction - navigated with experienced guidance

Three Ways MARGN Advises Software Companies

Every SaaS and ISV engagement is different. Here are the most common starting points.

Optimizing Your Stack

For SaaS companies with existing payment infrastructure

Processors and gateways have a way of becoming legacy infrastructure that's expensive to change. We benchmark your current setup, identify where you're overpaying, and model the tradeoffs of switching - including integration complexity, migration risk, and long-term cost savings.

Monetizing Your Merchant Base

For ISVs with an existing merchant distribution

If you already have merchants processing through your platform or referred through your network, you may be leaving significant interchange revenue on the table. We identify monetization opportunities and structure the right referral or revenue-share programs to turn your distribution into recurring income.

Embedding Payments

For SaaS companies adding payments as a feature

Adding payments to your platform is a significant architectural and business decision. We advise on infrastructure options - PayFac-as-a-Service, referral/ISO models, direct gateway integration - and help you understand the tradeoffs between control, revenue, and compliance complexity before you build.

Embedded Payments

Build on the Right Foundation the First Time.

The infrastructure choice you make when embedding payments affects your revenue potential, compliance burden, and operational complexity for years. PayFac-as-a-Service gives you more control and more revenue - but more compliance. A referral or ISO model is faster to market with less overhead. We help you understand the tradeoffs clearly before you commit.

  • PayFac-as-a-Service vs. ISO/referral model - honest tradeoffs
  • Processor & gateway selection for your merchant profile
  • PCI scope and compliance implications mapped upfront
  • Revenue model modeled - markup structures, referral fees, and program economics
Talk to a Payments Advisor
// MARGN Infrastructure Decision Framework
Option A - PayFac-as-a-Service
revenue_control: "high"
time_to_market: "8–16 weeks"
compliance_burden: "significant"
best_for: "scale > 1,000 merchants"
Option B - ISO / Referral Model
revenue_control: "moderate"
time_to_market: "2–4 weeks"
compliance_burden: "low"
best_for: "faster path to revenue"
// MARGN helps you model both before you decide

Your Distribution Is Worth More Than You Think.

If your platform touches merchants who accept payments, the right payments partner can add real value to your product and your business. MARGN helps SaaS companies and ISVs evaluate and select the right payments partner - and once that relationship is in place, we help you explore the broader landscape of embedded financial products that can deepen what you offer.

  • Structured RFP and evaluation process - apples-to-apples comparison across payments partners
  • Revenue modeling - partnership economics modeled before you commit
  • Developer network - experienced payments engineers available to support implementation
  • Embedded financial products - lending, banking, and financial services partners explored post-placement
Talk to an Advisor
Payments Partner Evaluation
We run a structured RFP and evaluation process to ensure you're comparing payments partners on the right criteria
Revenue Modeling
Partnership economics modeled across scenarios before you commit, so you go in with clear expectations
Developer Support
Access to a network of experienced payments developers who can support integration, testing, and go-live
Embedded Financial Products
Beyond payments - once the right processor is in place, we help identify lending, banking, and financial services partners to expand your product offering

Navigate the Regulatory Layer
Before It Navigates You.

ISO registration, PayFac requirements, PCI scope, card brand rules - the compliance landscape for software companies that touch payments is genuinely complex. Most founders only discover the gaps after they've already committed to a path. MARGN maps the requirements early so you make architecture decisions with the full picture.

  • ISO and PayFac registration guidance - what's required and when
  • PCI scope analysis - understand your liability before you build
  • Card brand rule review for your specific use case
  • Introduction to specialist payments legal counsel when needed
Talk to an Advisor
PCI Scope Analysis
Map your cardholder data environment and understand your compliance obligations before you architect
ISO Registration
What's required, what it costs, and how long it takes - clearly explained before you commit
PayFac Requirements
Underwriting obligations, merchant monitoring, chargeback liability - the full picture upfront
Legal Introductions
We connect you with specialist payments counsel when the situation requires legal advice beyond our scope

What SaaS & ISV Clients Ask

 

How does MARGN charge for SaaS and ISV engagements?+
SaaS and ISV engagements are structured as consulting engagements - we charge a consulting fee based on the scope and complexity of the work. The advisory is a discrete, scoped engagement with clear deliverables and a defined fee.
We already have Stripe. Should we consider alternatives?+
Stripe is excellent infrastructure, but it's not always the most cost-effective at scale - and it's not always the right fit for every merchant profile. We'll benchmark your current setup honestly. If Stripe is the right answer for your situation, we'll tell you. If there are meaningful savings or better-fit alternatives, we'll show you the numbers.
We're not sure if we're big enough to monetize our merchant base yet. When does it make sense?+
There's no hard threshold, but in general a referral or ISO program starts to make sense once you have 50+ merchants processing meaningful volume. Below that, the administrative overhead may outweigh the revenue. We'll model the numbers for your specific situation and give you a clear picture of when and whether it makes sense to pursue.
Do you work with early-stage companies or only at growth stage?+
Both. Early-stage conversations tend to focus on making the right infrastructure decisions before you build - which is exactly when the advice is most valuable. Growth-stage engagements often focus on optimization and monetization. In both cases, getting the payments architecture right early is far less expensive than fixing it later.

Let's Talk About Your Payment Strategy.

Whether you're pre-build, post-launch, or somewhere in between - a conversation with MARGN will give you a clearer picture of your options.

Request a Consultation - Free