North and Payments Dive Collaborate on 2026 Playbook

Fintech experts examine the overlooked costs of fragmented payment systems

North, a U.S.-based leader in fintech and payment solutions, and Payments Dive, a premier source for payments industry news, have teamed to produce a comprehensive playbook: “The Hidden Cost of Fragmented Payment Systems.”

The partnership is part of North’s ongoing commitment to providing cutting-edge payments technology, as well as of-the-moment thought leadership for businesses.

The playbook, authored by Sylvie Tremblay of Payments Dive, delves into a common business practice: Spreading services across multiple payment providers. Many businesses see this tactic as an optimal way to achieve cost efficiency, taking an a la carte approach to providers’ menu of services.

But as Tremblay and North’s experts posit, the benefits of this practice can be misleading — and it is often more costly and time-consuming than a unified, streamlined payment system.

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North’s best minds offer their insights

Payments Dive called on two of North’s leading subject matter experts to contribute to the playbook. Bryan Long is North’s Senior Director of Product Management, overseeing the company’s innovative North Developer platform; Nate Serianni serves as North’s Vice President of Enterprise Sales.

Long and Serianni state in the playbook that, with few exceptions, most businesses benefit from a unified approach to their payment processing.

“No business sets out to pursue a fragmented strategy,” Serianni notes, “but that’s often exactly what ends up happening as companies incrementally add new solutions to their tech stack to address specific pain points.” And, as Long points out, “when you’re adopting a number of point solutions, you often don’t have the capability to truly tailor each one to your needs, so you’re just paying for the functionality you use. The end result is redundancy across your payment strategy.”

The playbook also delves into the challenges of maintaining compliance across multiple vendors as well as the complexities of engaging with numerous integrations. The piece concludes with advice to help merchants and businesses evaluate their environments and make the best, most-informed decisions regarding their payment solutions.