Ep. 172 - Break the Bundle: Why Merchants Are Building Their Own Payments Stack, with Evervault

Should you build your own payments stack?Merchants usually hear one of two answers. Use one big PSP for everything, or use an orchestrator with dozens of PSPs underneath.Shane Curran thinks more merchants should own it themselves.In this episode of The Payments Shed Podcast, Sarah Stapp is joined by Shane Curran, Founder and CEO at Evervault, to take the other side of the orchestration versus ownership debate.Shane explains why orchestrators struggle in smaller local markets, how cross-border fees can turn a few basis points into 2% or 3%, and why he would add PSPs one country at a time.They discuss:• What Evervault does, and the story behind the name• Winning Ireland's top science prize as a teenager, then leaving college after three days• Growing up in developer chat rooms, and how security caught his interest• Why card payments are where Evervault spends most of its time• The cost of a card data breach• Where orchestration platforms fall short on flexibility and control• Why orchestrators end up looking like PSPs• How Tebex brought its payment performance in Brazil back in line• Why global merchants want more control over their infrastructure• Regulation, sovereignty and domestic processing• Cross-border fees versus domestic interchange• Picking a primary PSP, then working through markets one by one• The infrastructure decision Shane would put on the Shelf of ShameShane on why the orchestration model is hard to sustain:"In the long run, it's just really hard to build an orchestration platform because you're basically building a PSP without the money movement."His advice is to build in-house from day one, because many companies end up making that move eventually.🎧 Watch the full episode of The Payments Shed Podcast to hear the complete conversation with Shane Curran, Founder and CEO at Evervault, hosted by Sarah Stapp. *** The Payments Shed Podcast is sponsored by Cyclops. Cyclops helps payments companies offer crypto acceptance, stablecoin settlement and payouts through one unified infrastructure platform. Find out more: https://cyclops.finance/ The Payments Shed Podcast is sponsored by Salesloft. Salesloft uses agentic AI to turn buyer, conversation, deal and forecast data into clear actions that help revenue teams sell smarter. Find out more: https://www.salesloft.com The Payments Shed Podcast is sponsored by Mastercard Open Finance. Mastercard Open Finance enables businesses to use consumer-permissioned financial data to create more connected and personalised financial experiences. Find out more: https://www.mastercard.com/global/en/business/open-finance.html The Payments Shed Podcast is partnered with PCN. PCN is a global boutique recruitment agency connecting leading talent and businesses across fintech, cybersecurity, SaaS, e-commerce and Salesforce. Find out more: https://teampcn.com/ Disclaimer: Views expressed are those of The Payments Shed Podcast hosts and guests, not their respective employers. Nothing discussed constitutes investment, legal, tax or financial advice.