Description

A focused course, tailored for you

Building the Modern Payments Strategic Partner Practice (ISV + Vertical SaaS + Embedded Finance + AI + Compliance + Co-Innovation)

Build the modern payments strategic partner practice in 10 weeks. ISV + vertical SaaS + embedded finance + AI + compliance + co-innovation.

Strategic partner practice in payments has shifted: ISV partners modernising, vertical SaaS embedding payments, embedded finance expanding, AI-driven payments orchestration, regulatory compliance overlay, and co-innovation programmes. Strategic partner directors who build the modern practice take the senior partner work. Here is the 10-week build.

$199 one-time

Tailored to your situation. Access within 24 hours. 30-day money-back.

Includes a hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access, generated for your specific situation.

Why this course

Strategic partner practice in payments (the firm, Stripe, Adyen, Worldpay, FIS, Fiserv, Block, PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, the firm Payments, Bank of America Merchant Services, Elavon, Nuvei, NCR Voyix, Toast, Square, Tyro, Lightspeed, Shift4) has shifted in 2024-2026.

ISV partners modernising payments integration, vertical SaaS platforms embedding payments at scale (healthcare, dental, veterinary, fitness, restaurant, retail, professional services), embedded finance expanding beyond payments (lending, deposits, insurance, FX, cross-border), AI-driven payments orchestration (smart routing, fraud detection, authorisation optimisation, dispute management), regulatory compliance overlay (PCI DSS 4.0, GDPR/UK GDPR for cross-border, FinCEN BSA, EU PSD3/PSR1, EU DORA, state money-transmitter law, sanctions OFAC), and co-innovation programmes with the largest ISV/vertical SaaS partners all reshape the partner practice.

Strategic partner directors who build the modern practice take the senior partner work. Directors who stay on classic ISV-channel patterns watch the senior work shift to peers.

This course teaches the 10-week build of the modern payments strategic partner practice: ISV partner strategy, vertical SaaS strategy, embedded finance expansion, AI-driven payments orchestration, compliance overlay, co-innovation framework, and the executive engagement model. Twelve modules with deliverables. Plus a hand-built implementation playbook for your specific partner portfolio.

What you walk away with

A documented ISV partner strategy.
A vertical SaaS partner strategy.
An embedded finance expansion framework.
An AI-driven payments orchestration framework.
A compliance overlay (PCI 4.0 + PSD3 + DORA + state MT law + OFAC).
A co-innovation framework.
An executive engagement model.
A 10-week build plan.

The 12 modules

Module 1. Payments partner landscape 2026

Detailed walkthrough of the payments partner landscape in 2026: competitor partner-practice moves at the firm + Stripe + Adyen + Worldpay + FIS + Fiserv + Block + PayPal + Visa + Mastercard + the firm Payments, ISV-modernisation patterns, vertical SaaS embedded-payments patterns, embedded finance landscape, AI-driven payments orchestration, regulatory landscape (PCI DSS 4.0 mandatory March 2025, EU PSD3 + PSR1, EU DORA, state money-transmitter consolidation, FinCEN, OFAC), and the strategic-level decisions facing partner directors.

Module 2. ISV partner strategy

Build the ISV partner strategy: ISV-segmentation framework (transaction-volume tier, vertical concentration, embedded-payments maturity), ISV-engagement model (technical integration + commercial structure + joint go-to-market), ISV-migration framework (legacy ISV modernisation), ISV-onboarding workflow, ISV-success management, and the integration with broader partner programmes. Three ISV patterns at peer payments providers.

Module 3. Vertical SaaS strategy

Build the vertical SaaS strategy: vertical-segmentation (healthcare, dental, veterinary, fitness, restaurant, retail, professional services, real estate, education, nonprofit, B2B), vertical-specific compliance overlap, vertical-specific commercial terms, vertical-specific embedded-finance opportunity, vertical-specific co-innovation pattern, and the integration with broader vertical strategy. Three vertical patterns at peer payments providers.

Module 4. Embedded finance expansion

Build the embedded finance expansion framework: lending (working capital, merchant cash advance, BNPL), deposits (FBO accounts, partner deposits), insurance (merchant insurance, B2B insurance), FX (multi-currency settlements, FX hedging), cross-border (international acceptance, cross-border settlement), and the integration with broader bank-partner relationships. Three embedded finance patterns at peer payments providers.

Module 5. AI-driven payments orchestration

Build the AI-driven payments orchestration framework: smart-routing (least-cost routing, authorisation-optimised routing), fraud detection (network-pattern detection, customer-pattern detection, merchant-pattern detection), authorisation optimisation (issuer-pattern learning, retry logic, network-token use), dispute management (automated dispute response, chargeback prevention), and the integration with broader payments operations. Three orchestration patterns at peer providers.

Module 6. Compliance overlay

Build the compliance overlay: PCI DSS 4.0 (mandatory March 2025), GDPR + UK GDPR for cross-border merchants, FinCEN BSA (KYC, KYB, SAR, CTR), EU PSD3 + PSR1, EU DORA (live January 2025), state money-transmitter law (state-by-state, with ongoing consolidation), OFAC sanctions screening, ECP-2 + EBA + ESMA + national-CA AML, and the integration with broader regulatory affairs.

Module 7. Co-innovation framework

Build the co-innovation framework with the largest ISV / vertical SaaS partners: joint roadmap development, joint product development, joint engineering integration, joint go-to-market, joint customer-success management, joint commercial structure, and the integration with broader partner programmes. Three co-innovation patterns at peer payments providers.

Module 8. Partner-commercial structure

Build the partner-commercial structure: revenue-share model, interchange-plus pricing, surcharge and dual-pricing model, residuals model, MDR pass-through, embedded-finance commercial structure, and the integration with broader pricing strategy. Three commercial patterns at peer payments providers.

Module 9. Partner technology integration

Build the partner-technology integration: API design (REST, GraphQL), SDK design (web, mobile, server-side), tokenisation pattern, payment-form pattern (hosted, drop-in, custom), webhook design, sandbox environment design, partner-developer portal design, and the integration architecture.

Module 10. Measurement framework

Build the measurement framework: per-partner GMV tracking, per-partner authorisation-rate tracking, per-partner fraud-rate tracking, per-partner cost-per-transaction tracking, per-partner NPS tracking, per-partner retention tracking, and the integration with broader partner analytics.

Module 11. Executive engagement

Build the executive engagement: payments-executive partnership, technology-executive partnership, compliance-executive partnership, partner-CEO engagement (for the largest partners), board-of-directors engagement on partner strategy, and the integration with broader executive cadence.

Module 12. Your 10-week build plan

Week-by-week plan with weekly deliverables. Weeks 1-2: payments partner landscape + ISV partner strategy. Weeks 3-4: vertical SaaS strategy + embedded finance expansion. Weeks 5-6: AI-driven payments orchestration + compliance overlay. Weeks 7-8: co-innovation framework + partner-commercial structure. Weeks 9-10: partner-technology integration + measurement framework + executive engagement. Deliverable: modern payments strategic partner practice.

How this addresses your situation

Specific modules that map to what you said you are dealing with.

Module 1 covers the landscape.

Modules 2 to 5 produce ISV partner strategy, vertical SaaS strategy, embedded finance expansion, and AI-driven payments orchestration.

Module 6 covers compliance overlay.

Module 7 covers co-innovation framework.

Module 8 covers partner-commercial structure.

Module 9 covers partner-technology integration.

Module 10 covers measurement.

Module 11 covers executive engagement.

Module 12 covers the 10-week build plan.

What you get with this course

The 12-module course delivered as text plus downloadable templates.
Templates and worked examples for ISV partner strategy, vertical SaaS strategy, embedded finance expansion, AI-driven payments orchestration, compliance overlay, co-innovation framework, partner-commercial structure, partner-technology integration, measurement framework, executive engagement.
A hand-built implementation playbook generated for your specific partner portfolio.
Three worked examples of modern payments strategic partner practices at peer providers.
Scripted talking points for the partner-CEO and payments-executive engagement.

What you will have in hand by Day 1, Week 1, Month 1

Day 1: ISV partner strategy scaffold drafted.

Week 4: Vertical SaaS + embedded finance + AI orchestration designed.

Week 8: Compliance + co-innovation + commercial structure operational.

Week 10: Modern practice in operation.

Before and after

Before

Your strategic partner practice handles classic ISV channel work. Vertical SaaS embedded-payments growth is reactive. Embedded finance opportunities are missed. AI-driven payments orchestration is talked about but not deployed. Senior partner work goes to peers shipping the modern practice.

After

A modern payments strategic partner practice is in operation. ISV partner strategy, vertical SaaS strategy, embedded finance expansion, AI-driven payments orchestration, compliance overlay, co-innovation framework, partner-commercial structure, partner-technology integration, measurement framework, executive engagement are all designed.

What happens if you do not address this

Strategic partner directors without the modern practice lose ISV/vertical SaaS partners to peers. PCI DSS 4.0 became mandatory March 2025. EU PSD3/PSR1 transition is now active.

Who it is for

For Directors and VPs of Strategic Partner Solutions, ISV partnerships, vertical SaaS partnerships, and embedded finance partnerships at payments providers.

Who this is NOT for. Pure sales roles without partner-strategy scope. Practitioners at firms with no payments business. Pure technology firms without payments practice.

How it arrives

Text-based course via LMS, plus downloadable templates and worked examples and the hand-built implementation playbook.

Time investment. Roughly 18 hours of reading and 80 to 160 hours of director effort across the 10-week build.

Why $199 is the right number

External payments-practice consultants (McKinsey Payments, BCG Payments, Bain Payments, Oliver Wyman Payments, the firm Payments, the firm Payments) charge $500K-$3M for practice modernisation. Specialist payments consultancies (Mercator, the firm Payments, the firm Payments, the firm Payments) charge $200K-$1M. $199 buys the focused playbook plus the implementation document for your specific partner portfolio.

FAQ

Will this replace hiring a payments-practice consultant?

Partially. It teaches the modern practice. You may still want specialist input for advanced cross-border embedded finance.

What if my portfolio is primarily restaurant/retail (not B2B SaaS)?

Module 3 covers restaurant/retail-anchored patterns.

Does this cover BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) integration specifically?

Module 4 covers BNPL-anchored embedded finance.

What about cross-border into LatAm + APAC + India?

Module 4 covers cross-border embedded finance.

What is in the implementation playbook for me specifically?

ISV partner strategy tailored to your specific partner mix; vertical SaaS strategy matched to your portfolio verticals; a 10-week build plan.

30-day money-back guarantee. If after a week of working through the materials this is not what you needed, reply to the receipt email and a full refund is processed. No questions, no forms.

Within 24 hours your account in the learning environment is provisioned and the tailored implementation playbook is delivered alongside it.