Ayush’s Substack

🚧 Why Onboarding Friction Kills Merchant Growth

Ayush — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 19:29:10 GMT

Every payment company talks about “merchant acquisition.”
Almost none talk about the part that actually decides conversion - onboarding.

Let’s break this down without overthinking it.

1. The first drop-off: Documents

Most small merchants already don’t know the difference between TRN, MoA, license activities, or why a simple online business needs so many papers.

If they can’t understand why something is needed, they don’t submit it.

2. The long wait: Compliance back-and-forth

This is where most deals die.

Merchants get an email:

“Your document is blurry. Please re-upload.”

“We need additional info.”

“We are reviewing.”

No timelines | No clarity.

And after 2–3 loops, the intent is gone.

3. “What’s the status?”

Every PSP has this problem - the merchant submits everything but still has no idea: who’s reviewing | how long it’ll take | what’s pending |what’s approved

When the process is opaque, the merchant mentally checks out.

4. Integration friction

Even after approval, a lot of merchants drop off here.

Why? unclear API docs | missing examples | SDKs that don’t match real use cases | support that replies after 24 hours

It’s not that merchants don’t want to accept payments - they just don’t want to feel lost.

5. Risk rules that reject without explaining

If you block a category, say it.
If the merchant doesn’t qualify, explain it.

Silence = frustration.
Frustration = churn.

The reality

Most PSPs don’t lose merchants to competition.
They lose them to confusion, slow loops, and zero visibility.
Fix onboarding, and you’ll see growth jump without touching pricing, marketing, or sales.

🛍️ And for merchants in the UAE

If you’re facing:
- slow approvals
- unclear requirements
- inconsistent support
- or issues going live with your payment provider

There’s a simpler option.

➡️ Switch to Comera Pay

Fast onboarding, clean flow, predictable timelines.

Because accepting payments shouldn’t feel like opening a bank account in 1998.

And if you still face any issues, you know who to reach out to!

💱 Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) - What & How 🤔

Ayush — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 21:01:36 GMT

When you travel abroad and swipe your card, sometimes the POS asks if you’d like to pay in your home currency instead of the local one. That’s what’s called Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC).

Take an American tourist in Italy, buying shoes for €100.

The system might offer:

Pay €100, and let your bank handle the conversion later.

Or pay ~$120 right away, converted on the spot with DCC fees built in.

For the customer, the benefit is clarity — they immediately know how much they’ll be charged in their own currency.

For merchants and banks, DCC can mean additional revenue from the conversion spread.

What happens in the background is simple but clever.

1. The POS or online checkout detects that your card is foreign.

2. It then gives you the option to transact in your own currency.

3. If you accept, the transaction doesn’t just flow through the acquiring bank and card network like usual, it goes via a DCC provider, who handles the conversion and ensures your card is billed in your home currency.

For a merchant who wants to offer this, the setup isn’t with Mastercard or Visa directly. You’d typically go through your acquiring bank or payment processor, who can enable DCC on your terminals or e-commerce checkout.

With global travel and cross-border payments growing rapidly, tools like DCC are becoming increasingly relevant — even if customers still debate whether it’s better to accept or decline.

Image From: www.fintechwrapup.com

💡 Revenue vs Profit vs Free Cash Flow – Which One Really Matters?

Ayush — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 20:54:58 GMT

In One Line: Revenue is vanity | Profit can be misleading | Free cash flow doesn’t lie.

I came across an article that explained this brilliantly (link at the end), and it got me thinking about how we evaluate companies.

We often talk about MRR, ARR, ARPU… but Free Cash Flow (FCF) might be the most revealing metric of all.

Here’s the breakdown 👇

🔹 Revenue – Total money coming in. Big revenue is not a healthy business if costs are just as high.

🔹 Profit – What’s left after expenses. But profit can be influenced by accounting choices, revenue timing, and non-cash items.

🔹 Free Cash Flow – The Real MVP 💰 – Actual cash left after running and growing the business.

Why FCF matters:

✅ Harder to manipulate (cash is either there or it isn’t)

✅ Shows what’s available for dividends, buybacks, debt repayment, and reinvestment

✅ A growing FCF signals a stronger, more resilient company

And the examples make this clear 👇

📊 Apple: Consistently prints massive FCF — over $100B a year — funding buybacks, dividends, and innovation all at once.

🎬 Netflix vs Amazon: Netflix had profits but negative FCF for years due to content spend. Amazon’s thin profits hide strong cash generation thanks to AWS and efficient operations.

💡 How You Can Use FCF:

1. Track it over the years - consistent growth is a good sign
2. Compare FCF yield (FCF / Market Cap)
3. Be cautious if profit rises but FCF falls

Think of it like personal finance:

💵 Salary = Revenue

💳 Bills & EMI = Expenses

💰 Savings = Free Cash Flow

That’s why investors like Warren Buffett love businesses with strong FCF — it shows real strength and staying power.

Next time you look at a company, ask: What’s their Free Cash Flow telling me?

💡 How B2B Payments and Supply Chain Finance Are Quietly Powering Global Trade

Ayush — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 20:45:37 GMT

I was reading Sam Boboev‘s article on B2B payment methods - it’s a simple but insightful breakdown of how businesses move money between each other.

That got me thinking - B2B payments don’t stand alone.

They’re actually the foundation of something bigger: Supply Chain Finance (SCF).

So, I went deeper 👇

1. What are B2B Payments?

When one business pays another for goods or services - that’s a B2B payment.

Unlike consumer payments, these involve larger sums, longer terms, and more friction (invoicing, approvals, FX, reconciliation).

From traditional bank transfers and checks to virtual cards and fintech platforms, B2B payments are going digital, traceable and faster than ever.

2. Why B2B Payments Matter

Efficient B2B payments improve liquidity, reduce risk, and keep the entire supply chain moving.

When payments get delayed, suppliers suffer, production slows, and working capital gets locked up.

In other words, cash flow is the oxygen of B2B relationships.

And that’s where Supply Chain Finance steps in.

3. The Bridge: Supply Chain Finance (SCF)

SCF helps suppliers get paid faster without forcing buyers to pay earlier.

How?

A financing partner (typically a bank or fintech) steps in, pays the supplier early, and collects the amount later from the buyer.

It’s a win-win:

Buyers preserve their cash and optimise working capital

Suppliers get immediate liquidity and stay stable

4. How SCF Complements B2B Payments

Think of B2B payments as the rails, and SCF as the train carrying value across those rails.

Without digital, secure, and reliable payment systems, SCF programs can’t operate effectively.

Now, modern platforms are embedding financing within payment flows -Suppliers can opt for early payment → financing happens automatically.

That’s embedded SCF, and it’s where the future lies.

5. The Future: Real-Time and Data-Driven

Over the next 5 years, expect:

- Real-time payments + AI-driven credit models to assess risk instantly
- Fintech and bank partnerships powering embedded finance within ERPs
- Cross-border SCF solutions that eliminate FX friction

Together, B2B + SCF are creating an ecosystem where cash moves smarter, not just faster.

💭 If you’re building or working in payments, it’s worth understanding this bridge between how money moves and how liquidity flows.

That’s where real innovation (and value creation) happens.