On the TechTO stage ×1
First seen on a TechTO stage in 2026. Every TechTO talk is searchable — ask the archive about Jane ↗
In their words
It's pretty straightforward to vibe code some kind of workflow automation. It's not that easy to vibe code payment processing, let me tell you.
Did you know that 50% of North American small businesses obtain their payment acceptance capabilities right now from their software — not from a bank, not from a payment processor?
If I were to leave you with one thought: if you want to build software that is sticky and can't be replaced by a vibe-coded, sleek-looking tool, add financial services to it.
Around the web ×4
Quick answers
What does ChargeForward do?
Jane runs ChargeForward, advising non-financial software companies on how to embed and monetize payments, lending, banking, and insurance. She works with dozens of embedded finance vendors across every product type — roughly 50 in payments, about three in insurance — and says clients have grown revenue two to five times by adding financial services.
Which Canadian companies did she point to as embedded finance successes?
Shopify, where 75% of revenue now comes from financial services (mostly payments, plus newer products like capital); Clio, whose legal payments product is processing billions annually a few years after launch; JaneApp, with about 30% of revenue from payments; and FreshBooks, which is monetizing embedded payments in its accounting software.
When should a startup add embedded finance?
It depends on the product and customers, not company size. An operating system for laundromats should accept payments from day one, while a narrow workflow tool can add them as it nears the transaction — like her golf tee-time booking client did. SMBs and mid-market customers are usually a better fit than enterprises, which already have banking relationships.