For software platforms, embedded payments are no longer just a revenue line, they’re a signal of how much of the financial layer you actually own. The platforms winning today aren’t those with payments switched on. They’re the ones that have made deliberate choices about their monetization model, built payments into their core workflows, and treated it with product-level discipline.

In this playbook, Worldpay and L.E.K. Consulting lay out a practical framework for ISVs and software platforms at every stage of their payments journey — from early-stage integrated payments all the way to full-fledged PayFac — and what it takes to move through each stage without leaving margin on the table.

Inside, you’ll find:

• A clear breakdown of the three embedded payments monetization models and which one fits your platform’s current scale and maturity.
• GPV growth benchmarks showing how leaders across integrated payments and managed PayFac models outperform by triple-digit CAGRs in years one through three.
• The attributes that consistently separate high-performing platforms from laggards across strategy, product, operations, and merchant activation.
• A Value Capture Framework to assess where your platform sits today and what it would take to advance.
• How platforms that expand beyond payments into embedded finance unlock valuation multiples up to 3x higher than software-only peers.