Beyond scale and verticalisation: Why payments leaders must think diagonally

GlobalData

Wed, March 25, 2026 astatine 11:27 AM CDT 5 min read

After 2 decades successful payments, I’ve watched standard go little and little of a competitory advantage. Don’t get maine wrong, networks are inactive the engine, but the aged playbook isn’t moving the mode it utilized to. Sustained and competitory maturation requires a caller framework, and I judge that 2026 volition beryllium the twelvemonth that diagonal reasoning becomes a strategical attack successful our industry.

Before we spell further, fto maine specify what I mean by horizontal, vertical and diagonal outgo systems. Horizontal platforms similar Stripe oregon Adyen process payments astatine standard crossed immoderate industry, moving wealth efficiently betwixt systems. The problem? They person nary thought what’s happening astir that transaction. Take healthcare organisations diligent payments. The wealth moves, but the horizontal level can’t grip immoderate exceptions, issues, oregon real-world complexity. All that worldly happens manually, which is wherefore healthcare wastes billions connected administrative inefficiencies.

Vertical solutions lick for that context. These platforms embed profoundly into industry-specific workflows, but they deed a partition erstwhile you request them to enactment crossed aggregate usage cases. A level optimised for paying security claims can’t grip probe payments. A operation outgo instrumentality can’t tally worker incentives. You lick 1 occupation deeply, but lone one. Diagonal reasoning combines some approaches: pairing the standard of horizontal platforms with the workflow extent of vertical ones. You get 1 strategy that works crossed industries and clients but adapts to the circumstantial operational world of each workflow.

Looking astatine the improvement of payments, the 2000s belonged to networks and processors competing connected scope and reliability portion the 2010s were astir API-first platforms that democratised access, past vertical payments that embedded concern into circumstantial industries.

This decade? It feels different. I deliberation 2026 is erstwhile organisations realise that neither horizontal nor vertical approaches unsocial really lick concern problems and commencement looking for thing better. The information backs this up.

McKinsey recovered that vertical-specific bundle present captures much than fractional of payments-adjacent walk among US tiny and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Embedded payments are connected way to turn much than 30% annually done 2034. What this displacement tells maine is that payments triumph erstwhile they really acceptable the workflow, not conscionable erstwhile they process transactions efficiently. But however galore companies are utilizing aggregate verticalised platforms to conscionable their concern needs.