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April 2026 • Issue 26:04:02

Does vendor lock-in have a future?

Another 65 percent said they would generate more revenue
without that constraint, while 67 percent reported that
platform lock-in limited their ability to adapt to changing
business and customer requirements.

Commenting on the findings, Reach CEO Sam Ranieri, stated
that all-in-one platforms can help retail and SaaS businesses
manage regulatory, payments and customer service
requirements, but may also inhibit growth. "Companies
often adopt all-in-one platforms for convenience, but what
looks simple at the outset can limit flexibility, increase
tech debt and reduce control as businesses expand into
international markets," he said in a statement.

Despite these concerns, most survey participants chose
By Dale S. Laszig to keep their existing technology platforms. Researchers
found 16 percent of respondents were satisfied with current
or years, the dominant narrative in merchant providers. Others pointed to practical barriers to switching,
acquiring centered on a simple promise: one including downtime risk or lost sales (38 percent), switching
platform, one provider, one seamless experi- costs (36 percent) and the time and internal resources
F ence. While not universally embraced, the model required to make changes (35 percent).
gained traction, as bundled solutions promised to reduce
complexity and accelerate growth. This approach helped Evolving business models
define integrated payments and fueled the rise of platforms
like Square and Lightspeed, where merchants willingly Experts interviewed for this article noted that regulatory,
paid a premium for technology that solved real business compliance and end-user demands are pushing merchants
problems. from single-platform models to multi-vendor relationships.

Today, that model is showing its limits. Businesses are Eugene Rutberg, managing partner at Ketra Group affirmed
placing a higher priority on adaptability, customization and that companies needing more than a checkbox approach to
control, according to recent research. Some merchants are
pushing back against relationships that restrict their ability
to innovate, access their own data or change providers.
What was once seen as convenience is increasingly viewed Contributed articles inside by:
as constraint.

In this article, The Green Sheet examines how vendor and Jaki Kackert .............................................................................................14
merchant relationships are evolving, and what that shift Ken Musante ..........................................................................................16
means for the future of payments.
Elie Y. Katz ...............................................................................................26
All-in-one not for all
Teresa Cameron ....................................................................................27
A March 2026 study from merchant-of-record provider
Reach, based on a survey of 1,000 retail and SaaS decision- Niamh Lewis ...........................................................................................30
makers in the United States and the United Kingdom, found David Moscatelli....................................................................................32
68 percent believed their companies would grow faster if
they were not tied to a single technology provider.
Continued on page 22