Visa webinar key takeaways – Embedded payments

Irina Ionescu, Senior Editor at The Paypers, uncovers the key takeaways from the latest webinar featuring Visa, discussing about how embedded payment solutions can transform the B2B digital landscape in Europe and, particularly, in France.

The Paypers recently hosted an insightful webinar featuring Visa executives, tackling the latest market trends and regulatory shifts impacting French SMEs and how embedded payment solutions can transform the B2B digital landscape in Europe.

The webinar featured Florence Melique, Group Senior Vice-President and Regional Managing Director at Visa, Jill Selff, Vice-President, Commercial SMB Sales Executive at Visa, Adolfo Laurenti, Business and Economic Insights Senior Director at Visa, and Jordane Giuly, Co-Founder and CEO at Defacto, together with The Paypers’ Publisher and Managing Director, Melisande Mual. Webinar attendees learned how to accelerate business growth and streamline payment experiences, as well as how leading software vendors, ERP platforms, fintechs, and issuers can drive innovations for SMEs. The discussion also included real-world use cases and actionable insights from industry experts, providing attendees with the opportunity to connect, learn, and lead the future of payments. Below we have summarised the key takeaways from this exclusive dialogue.

Economic pressures meet digital innovation

The European SME landscape is currently undergoing an important shift. SMEs represent a staggering 99% of all European companies and generate nearly 50% of the total turnover while facing economic pressures. However, a new solution is emerging from the convergence of software and financial services. Embedded payments or the integration of payment capabilities directly into business platforms can transform how SMEs businesses operate, providing a lifeline in an increasingly complex economic environment.

Adolfo Laurenti points that trade uncertainty has reached its highest levels in over two decades, with Europe’s heavy dependence on global trade, making the region particularly vulnerable. Labour costs have surged 30% pre-pandemic levels in continental Europe, outpacing the 17% increase seen in the United States. Similarly, Europe’s dependence on global trade is more than double that of the US and China. Combined, these pressures squeeze profit margins when access to working capital remains constrained.

EUR 3.2 trillion in intercompany outstanding exists across the euro zone, created by payment delays that sometimes reach 60-90 days between businesses. However, traditional banking solutions address less than 50% of this working capital gap, leaving businesses to resort to long-term resources to satisfy short-term needs, which ultimately stalls growth and investment. 

Embedded payments fighting fragmentation and allowing integration

Jill Selff notes that 55% of European SMEs joggle two or more platforms apart from their existing banking relations, creating what Jordane Giuly describes as a nightmare of multiple ‘systems of record’ or ERPs for business data on one side and banks for financial data on the other side. Bridging the gap is an expensive manual reconciliation, which ultimately negative impacts profit margins.

Embedded payments eliminate this fragmentation by creating a single, unified system where business and financial data converge. When an SME processes an invoice through their accounting platform with embedded payment capabilities, the transaction is automatically reconciled and working capital can be accessed instantly through virtual cards or embedded lending solutions. Simultaneously, fraud protection is enhanced through exact matching. Florence Melique illustrates this transformation by mentioning that, while half of Visa’s ecommerce transactions required manual card entries in 2019, this dropped to just 16% by 2025, with top merchants seeing single-digit percentages. The same forces driving consumers’ payment revolution – tokenization, automation, and invisible payments – are now reshaping the B2B transactions landscape.

Technology and regulatory catalysts

This transformation is enabled through regulations and AI-powered automation. European regulations such as Open Banking or e-invoicing provide unprecedented access to financial data, allowing new players to serve SMEs at scale. Similarly, AI-powered automation significantly reduces operational costs. Jordane Giuly revealed that Defacto’s cost per loan is now 10% of traditional banking costs, making it economically viable to serve smaller businesses with sophisticated financial products. As Giuly explains, the marginal costs of producing software are close toward zero thanks to AI, which forces software providers to look beyond traditional SaaS revenues. Embedded payments and credit allow for a new monetisation stream while delivering genuine value to customers.

The race for the SME operating system

The European market sits at a road convergence; accounting platforms like Pennylane are embedding payment capabilities, while neobanks like Qonto are acquiring accounting software. At the same time, traditional banks are pursuing non-banking strategies, and everyone is racing to become a financial operating system for SMEs, according to Giuly.

However, this race isn’t just about adding features – it’s about fundamentally rethinking how businesses work. Virtual cards embedded in platforms allow SMEs to leverage existing credit lines for supplier payments without paying for new cards, with automatic reconciliation and fraud protection through exact invoice matching. Contextual lending means businesses can now access working capital when needed, directly within their workflow. 

Conclusion

While 83% of global small businesses want financial services embedded in their daily software, less than 10% currently have access to these experiences, according to Visa experts. Thus, the race to embed payments represents more than a technological upgrade – it is a fundamental rethinking of how European SMEs operate in an increasingly digital economy. As traditional  differences between software and financial services disappear, the winners will be those who move quickly to create integrated experiences to solve real business problems.

For SMEs struggling with fragmented systems, manual processes, and limited access to working capital, embedded payments provide a path to efficiency and growth.

Looking for real solutions to your business problems and how embedded payments can help you generate new revenue streams? Watch the full webinar featuring experts from Visa and Defacto on demand here. 

 

About the author

Irina is a Senior Editor at The Paypers, primarily specialising in online payments and fraud prevention. She has a Ph.D. in Economics and a strong economic academic background, with interests in fraud prevention, chargebacks, fintech, ecommerce, and online payments. Reach out to her via LinkedIn or email at irina@thepaypers.com.

 

 

About Visa

Visa is a trusted network and world leader in digital payments, working to remove barriers and connect more people to the global economy. Our purpose is to uplift everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid. We connect businesses, banks, and governments in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.