Education technology platforms, for example, manage enrollment, tuition schedules and financial aid. Healthcare systems coordinate scheduling, billing codes and insurance workflows. Field-service platforms help contractors dispatch crews, track jobs, and manage customers.
But findings in the October 2025 Payment Processing Tracker® Series, a PYMNTS Intelligence report in collaboration with Finix, reveal that across these three industries, one element has remained stubbornly outdated: payments.
Despite advances in cloud computing and mobile tools, payment flows in many vertical markets still rely on fragmented systems, manual reconciliation, and back-office processes designed decades ago.
Tuition payments may sit in separate portals from enrollment systems. Healthcare billing often involves paper statements, phone calls, and delayed claims. Field-service professionals frequently invoice after the fact and wait weeks, sometimes months, to get paid.
This separation may have made more sense when payments were largely checks, cash, or batch card processing. Against the backdrop of today’s mobile-first economy, the back-office model of payments is becoming increasingly misaligned with how people work and pay.
Advertisement: Scroll to Continue
Vertical software platforms that prioritize mobile use, simplify payment flows, and integrate billing directly into core interactions may not only improve operational efficiency but could ultimately redefine what users expect from industry-specific software.
Low Code Embedded Payments Become an Advantage, Not a Checkbox
As vertical software markets mature, differentiation becomes harder. Features converge. Pricing compresses. Customer acquisition costs rise. Payments can offer a new axis of competition.
Low-code embedded payment solutions aim to flip the script for vertical platforms. Instead of requiring vertical platforms to build payment systems from scratch or stitch together multiple vendors, low-code tools provide modular components that can be integrated directly into existing software with minimal engineering effort.
Most importantly, they allow payments to move from a supporting role to a product feature.
This matters because most vertical SaaS companies do not want to become payments experts. They want flexibility, speed, and control without assuming regulatory or technical burdens.
For vertical industries long constrained by legacy systems and manual processes, this shift can be particularly powerful. Education, healthcare, and field services all benefit when payments are timely, transparent, and aligned with real-world workflows.
Read the report: Vertical-First Payments: How Low-Code Wins in Education, Healthcare and Field Services
The Front-End Future of Integrated Payments for Vertical Platforms
Few industries illustrate the power of front-end payments more clearly than field services. Contractors and service professionals operate in dynamic environments, often on-site, with pricing that can change based on conditions.
Low-code payment tools enable field-service platforms to offer features like digital invoices, card-on-file, and real-time payment confirmation without heavy development work. These capabilities improve cash flow and reduce administrative overhead for small businesses that can least afford delays.
Elsewhere, embedding payments directly into healthcare platforms allows billing to align more closely with care delivery. Estimates, copays and balances can be presented clearly and early. Patients can pay digitally, and often from the same portal they use to schedule appointments or view results.
For education technology providers, payments become a retention and differentiation tool. Schools are more likely to adopt platforms that reduce administrative workload and improve on-time payments without requiring separate systems.
Mobile-optimized payment flows are especially impactful. Students increasingly expect to manage finances on their phones. Platforms that enable self-service payments, automated reminders, and flexible payment plans not only improve cash flow for institutions but can help improve the student experience.
And as low-code embedded solutions continue to mature, the question for vertical platforms is no longer whether to rethink payments, but how quickly they can turn them into an advantage.
