SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome to Sense Chat, the podcast where payments meet personality. From tech trends to legal twists, compliance quirks to marketplace moves. Hiddies here to keep ISVs, PayPac, and marketplaces ahead of the curve. Get ready for insights, a few laughs, and the occasional compliance scare. Let's dive in and make payments make sense.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Merchant onboarding shouldn't feel like a hazing ritual with tax forms. But somehow for a lot of software platforms, nonprofits, churches, campaigns, and organizations trying to accept payments, that's exactly what it becomes. A PDF gets emailed, a docu sign gets forwarded, someone asks for a driver's license, someone else asks, wait, why do you need my social security number? Then the person actually trying to get the account live has to chase three other people who are technically beneficial owners, probably busy, possibly confused, and absolutely not excited to send sensitive personal info through whatever processes someone duct taped together in 2017. Very seamless, very modern, no notes. Today on SenseChat, we're talking about merchant onboarding, beneficial ownership, identity verification, PII, fraud prevention, card network monitoring pressure, and what happens when a platform finally replaces the clunky merchant application with a workflow that actually makes sense. I'm Kitty, and joining me today is Chris, our resident legal and compliance architecture brain, which means he's professionally trained to find the part of the onboarding flow everyone ignored and explained why it matters. Chris, welcome back.

SPEAKER_01 1:28

Thanks, Kitty. And yes, onboarding is one of those topics that looks like a user experience issue until you realize it is also a legal compliance, fraud, privacy, data security, contractual, and operational issue.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

Exactly. It's never just a form. It's always just a form right before someone discovers the form's collecting social security numbers, driver's licenses, ownership details, bank info, tax data, and enough sensitive info to make your privacy policy start sweating. Later in the episode, we're joined by Sean Ogden, co-founder of GiveTech, to talk about how GiveTech streamlined onboarding for their customers by replacing the old PDF and DocuSign shuffle with a cleaner, branded mobile first process. Before we bring Sean in, let's talk about why merchant onboarding is suddenly feeling less like paperwork and more like survival equipment. Because for a long time, onboarding was treated like a toll booth. Collect the application, check the boxes, approve the merchant, move on. But that world is getting a lot less forgiving. MasterCard's revised merchant monitoring program standards took effect January 1st, 2026, and the direction is pretty clear: stronger upfront compliance, more attention to transaction laundering, and more ongoing monitoring after the merchant goes live. And then last week, on May 19th, 2026, the White House released an executive order called Integrating Financial Technology, Innovation into Regulatory Frameworks. So, Chris, we now have two things happening at the same time. On one side, card networks and payment partners are pushing harder on merchant monitoring, risk, and evidence. On the other side, the federal government is saying fintech innovation needs better pathways into traditional financial services and payment systems. That sounds exciting. It also sounds like a very fancy way of saying, congratulations, more fintechs may get closer to the money movement, and they had better know what they're doing.

SPEAKER_01 3:09

That is exactly the tension. The White House order is pro-innovation in tone. It says the federal government should streamline regulatory processes, reduce unnecessary barriers to entry, and encourage collaboration between fintech firms, federally regulated financial institutions, and federal financial regulators. That matters for ISVs, PayFACs, embedded payments companies, marketplaces, and fintech platforms because it reflects a broader policy conversation. How do we let innovative companies participate more directly in financial services without weakening safety, soundness, consumer protection, market integrity, financial stability, or oversight? And that is where onboarding becomes very real.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

So this isn't innovation good rules bad. It's more like innovation is great, but if you want to play closer to the financial system, you inherit more grown-up responsibilities.

SPEAKER_01 4:01

Exactly, Kitty. The order specifically talks about integrating digital assets and innovative technology into traditional financial services and payment systems. It also directs federal financial regulators to review regulations, guidance, supervisory practices, and application processes that may impede fintech partnerships with federally regulated institutions. That is important, but it does not erase the need for controls. In fact, the more fintech firms, ISVs, and platforms become embedded in financial services, the more important it becomes to understand who they are onboarding, what activity they are enabling, how they protect sensitive data, and how they monitor risk after approval.

SPEAKER_00 4:41

And Chris actually wrote about this last Thursday in the SenseChat blog article called The White House FinTech EO More Flexibility, More Scrutiny. So if you want the deeper breakdown of what the executive order can mean for fintechs, banks, payment companies, and the platform sitting between them, go check out the article in SenseChat.com. The headline version for today is pretty simple. More flexibility can be great, but more flexibility usually comes with more scrutiny, more expectations, and more responsibility for the companies that want to operate closer to the financial system. Which brings us to GivTech, because GivTech had a very real version of this problem. Their customers needed to accept donations online and in person, but the old onboarding process created friction, awkward PII collection, delays, and risks. So they built the flow in a smarter way. Branded, mobile first, easier for the customer, and stronger behind the scenes. Let's bring in Sean Ogden, co-founder of GiveTech. Sean, welcome to Sunshot. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_03 5:31

Excited to be here.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

We're excited too, mostly because your story involves one of my favorite payments villains, the clunky merchant application. But before we let the merchant application enter the crime scene, give listeners the GiveTech story. What does GiftTech do? Who do they serve? And where does your platform really shine?

SPEAKER_03 5:45

GiveTech helps organizations accept digital donations and payments in ways that are simple for both the organization and the donor. We work with churches, nonprofits, political campaigns, and other organizations that need to make giving easy, especially in the moment when someone is ready to act. Give tech is built for both online and in-person giving. That might mean a donor giving from a website, scanning a QR code at an event, tapping through an NFC-enabled experience, or responding in the moment from their phone. For our customers, payments are not just a back office function. The payment experience is part of the fundraising experience. Someone wants to give, it has to work right then. It needs to be simple, trustworthy, and accessible.

SPEAKER_00 6:23

That's important because emotion drives giving, but friction definitely kills it. One of GiveTech's missions is to make giving so simple it can happen at a stoplight. And obviously, we're not telling people to manage their charitable giving while actively operating a motor vehicle, legal department, please breathe. But the point is powerful. Giving happens in moments. Someone hears a message, someone sees a cause, someone feels moved to help, someone scans a QR code at an event or taps a link from their phone. If that experience makes them stop, search, think too hard, type too much, or wonder whether the page is sketchy, that gift can disappear. So GiveTech isn't just moving money, you're helping organizations capture generosity at the moment it happens.

SPEAKER_03 6:59

Exactly. We want to remove friction from the donation experience and help organizations maximize giving, whether donors online, in the room, or responding from their phone.

SPEAKER_00 7:08

And that's the part people should understand before we get into onboarding. Give tech is helping organizations raise money in the real world. It's not just a payment button, it's online giving, in-person giving, QR codes, NFC, mobile first donor experience, and the intelligence around helping organizations engage supporters more effectively. But behind that clean giving experience is the part most donors never see. The organization still has to get approved to accept payments. So let's talk about that pain point. What was onboarding like before he changed the process?

SPEAKER_03 7:36

Like many payment onboarding workflows, it relied on forms, PDFs, docu-signs, a lot of back and forth. They might be a church administrator, campaign director, or someone response before getting the organization set up. They were not always the beneficial owner or the person who could provide all the personal details needed for underwriting. So they would have to go collect the information from the other people, driver's license images, social security numbers, dates of birth, ownership, or control information. And that created delays and awkward conversations.

SPEAKER_00 8:05

Nothing says great customer experience like asking someone to chase down a board member's social security number over text. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 8:11

It was uncomfortable for them. It slowed down the process. And from a sales perspective, it created a point where momentum could be stole. Someone wanted to sign up, they got excited, they understood the value, but then the merchant application became this separate hurdle for them.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

And that matters because you aren't selling onboarding. You're selling a platform that helps organizations raise more money. If the moment they say yes turns into cooled, now go collect sensitive info from four people. That isn't exactly a victory lap.

SPEAKER_01 8:36

And it is a common problem. The person with organizational authority to start the process is not always the person who should be collecting or handling everyone's personal information. That matters because sensitive data should not bounce around unnecessarily. The more people and channels that touch PI, the more risk you create.

SPEAKER_00 8:54

So, what does the new process actually look like? Walk us through the version that doesn't make everyone hate their inbox.

SPEAKER_03 8:59

The new workflow starts when the customer creates their GiveTech account. As part of the normal signup process, GiveTech collects the information we need to create the account and in parallel collects the details needed to trigger the underwriting workflow. From the customer's perspective, it is not this separate scary merchant application. They're signing up for GiveTech and the information needed for onboarding becomes a natural part of the process. Once we have the preliminary business information and the basic details for the individuals involved, we make an API call to our onboarding vendor. Then the vendor sends a welcome email directly to each beneficial owner, a required individual, but everything is branded as GiveTech. The customer does not feel like they've been thrown into some random third-party platform. Each person completes their own part of the process separately. They provide their personal information directly, go through identity validation, and complete the steps needed for KYC. Once everyone has completed their part, the application is assembled, the business details are validated, and the onboarding package moves forward.

SPEAKER_00 9:53

That branding piece is huge because from the customer's perspective, they aren't saying, wait, who's this other company and why are they asking for my social security number? They're still in the Giv Tech experience. The vendor is powering the workflow and the relationship and trust stays with GiveTech. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 10:07

That was important for us. We did not want the customers to feel like they had been passed off to another company. We wanted the process to feel like give tech from start to finish.

SPEAKER_01 10:14

And that's a very important trust point. When sensitive personal information is involved, context matters. If a beneficial owner suddenly receives an email from a company they do not recognize asking for personal information, that creates hesitation and potentially a legitimate security concern. Branding the process clearly for give tech helps preserve trust and reduces confusion. But behind the scenes, you still get the benefit of a structured onboarding workflow, identity verification, data collection, and validation.

SPEAKER_00 10:44

So for the user, it feels like give tech. For the compliance process, it behaves like a more controlled, structured onboarding system. That's the good kind of invisible infrastructure. Let's talk about the sales call. Because this is one of my favorite parts of the story. The customer says, Yeah, we're ready to sign up. And instead of the salesperson saying, amazing, please enjoy this PDF from the haunted forest, they can just move the customer into the signup flow. How does that work in practice?

SPEAKER_03 11:06

When a customer is ready, the sales team can walk them through creating their Give Tech account. As they create the account, we collect the information we need for Give Tech and the preliminary information needed for onboarding and underwriting. So it becomes a natural part of the process flow. The decision maker does not need to have any beneficial owners' personal information. They just need names, mobile numbers, and email addresses of the required individuals. Then each person receives their own branded email, completes their own part. That removes a lot of friction.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

That's such a different experience. The old version says, congrats, now become a private investigator. The new version says, Great, let's get your account started, and each person can securely complete their own sign up.

SPEAKER_01 11:43

And it reduces a really important risk. When a sales process depends on one person gathering sensitive information from multiple people, you create privacy risk, data security risk, and a trust problem. This workflow lets the platform collect what it needs to begin the process while allowing each individual to provide their own PII directly. That is cleaner for everyone.

SPEAKER_00 12:04

It also means the sales team gets to keep selling the actual value of Give Tech instead of becoming merchant app tech support.

SPEAKER_03 12:11

The sales team loves it because it removes the awkward handoff. It keeps a customer moving forward while also making the process easier to complete.

SPEAKER_00 12:17

You describe the customer experience as stupid simple, which is basically the highest complimented payments workflow can receive. What makes it feel that way?

SPEAKER_03 12:24

First, it's mobile first. People can complete it on their phone. Second, they're not confused about who's asking for the information. Third, it's step by step. Each person sees what they need to complete, not a giant merchant application with fields that may or may not apply to it. Fourth, each person only handles their own information. Finally, the process moves forward automatically once everyone has completed their part.

SPEAKER_00 12:43

So no printing, no scanning, no forwarding someone's driver's license around like it's a big sale flyer. No mystery portal with the logo nobody recognizes, just the right person on their phone completing the right step and a branded GiveTech flow.

SPEAKER_01 12:56

That is an example of compliance design improving the customer experience. People often assume compliance creates friction. Sometimes it does, but a bad process can create friction without actually improving control. A better design process can make onboarding easier and safer at the same time.

SPEAKER_00 13:12

That should be tattooed on the industry somewhere. A painful process isn't automatically a compliant process. Sometimes it's just painful. Now let's talk about that balance because the dream is giving should be so simple it can happen at a stoplight. But the nightmare version is fraud shouldn't be so simple. It can happen before compliance is coffee. Donation platforms are a very specific kind of attractive target. There is no physical product. A fraudster with a stolen identity and an active merchant account can use a donation platform as a way to run stolen credit cards under the cover of donations. Chris, why is this such a serious issue?

SPEAKER_01 13:42

Because feed and trust are both part of the product. For legitimate donors and legitimate organizations, you want the experience to feel easy. You do not want unnecessary friction blocking someone who is ready to get. But for fraudsters, that same ease can become an opportunity if the platform has weak onboarding, weak identity verification, or weak monitoring. A donation flow can look legitimate on the surface. A payment page can be created quickly. The story can sound plausible, and if the onboarding controls are weak, the platform may not understand who is really behind the account. That can expose the platform to card testing, stolen card transactions, chargebacks, reputational harms, sponsor bank scrutiny, processor scrutiny, and potentially law enforcement or regulatory attention depending on the activity.

SPEAKER_00 14:26

So the trick isn't make everything harder. The trick is make it easy for the right people and much harder for the wrong people.

SPEAKER_03 14:32

That balance is really important for us. The donor experience needs to be fast and simple. That is core to what GiveTech does. But the merchant onboarding side cannot just be fast for the sake of being fast. We want legitimate organizations to get live quickly. We want donors to have a frictionless giving experience. But we also need to make sure the organizations coming onto the platform are real, the people behind them are verified, and the process helps protect everyone involved. The new onboarding workflow helps us do that. It keeps the customer experience simple while adding stronger identity verification and fraud controls behind the scenes.

SPEAKER_00 15:04

Now that's the sweet spot. Less friction for good customers, more resistance for bad actors, which honestly should be the mission statement for half the payments industry. Sean, I want to zoom back out to GiveTech as a platform because this isn't just about the onboarding story. Onboarding matters because it gets organizations live. But once they are live, what does GiveTech help them do better? Where does the platform really shine?

SPEAKER_03 15:24

Give Tech shines in helping organizations turn intent into action. A lot of giving happens in the moment. Someone is at an event, someone hears a message, someone feels moved to support a cause. If the path to give is difficult, that moment can pass. We help organizations capture the moment through online and in-person donation tools. That can include QR codes, NFC, mobile giving experiences, and donor intelligence. That helps organizations engage supporters more effectively. The goal is to make giving easier and help organizations raise more.

SPEAKER_00 15:52

So the platform isn't just here's a payment link, good luck. It's helping organizations understand donor behavior, create smarter giving experiences, and reduce friction in the moments when support is most likely to happen. That stoplight simple idea is such a good product standard because it forces the platform to respect the donor's moment. But what I like about the story is that Gift Tech didn't confuse donor simplicity with operational looseness. That's the part I think ISV should hear. Onboarding is not administrative housekeeping, it is part of the product experience. If your product helps customers generate revenue, accept donations, book appointments, sell services, or even move money, then onboarding isn't some back office chore. It's the front door to value. And if that front door is clunky, customers feel it before they ever get to the good part. Sean, if someone's listening and wants to see this experience for themselves, where should they go?

SPEAKER_03 16:37

They can try the GiveTech sandbox at www.sandbox.gift.ai forward slash sign up.

SPEAKER_00 16:44

Perfect. So if you're listening and thinking, I want to see what stupid simple onboarding actually looks like, try it, click around, judge your own onboarding flow harshly afterwards. That part's optional, but definitely encouraged. One quick note on the vendor behind the onboarding workflow. On Sunshot, we aren't here to promote or crush vendors as part of these stories. That's not the point. The point is the pain point, the solution approach, and what other platforms can learn. So we aren't naming the onboarding vendor in this episode, but if someone is listening and thinking we need something like that, they can reach out to me or Sean at GiveTech and we can help point them in the right direction. Sean, does that sound fair?

SPEAKER_03 17:16

Absolutely. We're happy to share what we learned and help make an introduction where it would make sense.

SPEAKER_00 17:21

Great. Because again, the story isn't vendor good or vendor bad. The story is GiveTech had a real onboarding problem. They found a smarter workflow and they made the experience better for customers, sales, compliance, and fraud prevention. That's the kind of thing we want to talk more about on the show. What would you tell another ISV that knows onboarding is a problem, but they haven't fixed it yet?

SPEAKER_03 17:38

I would tell them not to underestimate the impact. Onboarding friction affects customers, sales, operations, and risk. If the process is hard, people delay. If it feels uncomfortable, people hesitate. If it is manual, things given us. Fixing the workflow can make the experience better for customers and easier for the internal team. It can help sales keep momentum, help the business collect better information, and help the platform manage risks more effectively.

SPEAKER_00 18:01

That's the part I love about the story. It's not innovation theater. It's not we added an AI to a button. It's a real operational problem that got meaningfully better because someone redesigned the workflow around how people actually behave. Give tech wants giving to be so simple it can happen in a stop late. But they also understood the side of that promise. If money can move quickly, trust and risk controls have to be built in the beginning. That's the lesson for other ISVs. Make the experience simple, don't make the controls stupid. Sean, thank you for joining us and for talking through the GiveTech story.

SPEAKER_01 18:31

Thanks for having me. Thanks, Sean. This was a great example of how better onboarding can support compliance, privacy, fraud prevention, sales, and customer experience all at the same time.

SPEAKER_00 18:41

And for everyone out there listening, this is exactly what SenseChat is here to do. We want to talk about the real payment problems, ISVs, PayPal's, marketplaces, fintech operators, compliance teams, and product teams are solving every day. Not the fake clean version, the useful version. If your company has solved a messy payment problem, onboarding, fraud, API integration, compliance, merchant risk, support, reconciliation, whatever keeps coming back wearing different hats, we want to hear from you. Go to www.senchat.com forward slash survey. You can also visit sunshot.com and click the get featured button. Tell us what broke, what changed, and what other platforms should learn before they discover the same problem the expensive way. And if you want more context on the White House exec order we mentioned at the top, check out Chris's SenseChat article, The White House FinTech EO. More flexibility, more scrutiny on SenseChat.com. Subscribe to SenseChat wherever you listen. We publish new podcast episodes every other Wednesday and new blog articles every Thursday. This has been SenseChat. Payments are not just a feature, they're where we trust risk, revenue, compliance, and customer experiences all collide. And if your platform wants money movement to feel simple enough for a stoplight, your controls better be strong enough for what happens after the light turns green.

SPEAKER_02 19:53

Thanks for tuning in to SenseChat. Got questions? Got ideas? Got payment problems keeping you up at night? We've got you covered. Head over to our website to take our quick survey. You might just land a guest spot on the pod. Don't forget to subscribe, share this episode with your favorite ISV, and follow us on all social for the latest trends, tips, and debates. We promise no boring slideshows. At SenseChat, we're here to make payments make sense and make it fun while we're at it. See you next time.