These days, software is no longer just a tool—it’s the backbone of how modern businesses operate. From healthcare to construction to finance, every industry is powered by digital solutions tailored to their unique needs.
At the heart of this transformation is a growing ecosystem of Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) building applications that plug into broader platforms and solve specialized problems.
As these ecosystems evolve, ISV partnerships have become essential for companies looking to scale, reach new markets, and offer integrated ISV solutions. Whether you’re building an app for a niche market or extending the functionality of a major platform, understanding what it means to be an ISV partner—and how to become one—can unlock major growth opportunities.
TL;DR
- An ISV partner collaborates with large platforms (e.g., AWS, Microsoft, Salesforce) to integrate, co-market, and grow together.
- Partner programs typically include technical integration, co-selling opportunities, and revenue-sharing models.
- In the payments industry, choosing the right ISV partner is critical; look for robust APIs, hardware support, strong onboarding, and fair revenue-sharing models.
What is an ISV (Independent Software Vendor)?
An Independent Software Vendor (ISV) is a company that develops and sells software products that run on one or more platforms or devices. Unlike in-house developers that build tools for internal use, ISVs create software intended for external customers.
How ISVs Differ from General Software Developers
While both build applications, ISVs operate as businesses—selling, licensing, and supporting their software. They often focus on vertical markets or specific use cases, whereas general software developers may work on a broader range of technical projects, including websites, custom apps, or internal tools.
What is an ISV Partner?
An ISV partner is a software vendor that formally collaborates with a larger technology provider. Think: cloud platforms and operating systems like Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), the Salesforce ecosystem, or a payment platform.
ISVs often:
- Integrate their applications with the partner’s APIs or infrastructure
- Co-market their partner solutions through marketplaces or joint campaigns
- Participate in training or certification programs
- Co-sell through the partner’s sales channels
Types of ISV Partner Programs
ISVs typically build software that connects with a larger platform, and such programs provide structured ways to integrate, market, and grow together. Here’s what that could look like:
- Integration partnerships – Building seamless, value-added integrations that enhance the user experience.
- Reseller or referral partnerships – Sharing the value and rewards. Software vendors recommend a platform to their customers (or vice versa), and earn revenue for each successful referral or sale.
- Technology alliances – Collaborating on big ideas and driving big impact. These partnerships are all about innovation—co-developing features, expanding use cases, and aligning roadmaps to create powerful, connected solutions.
How ISV Partnerships Work
Technical integration and API use
At the core of most ISV relationships is a technical integration—your product uses the partner’s APIs, SDKs, or infrastructure. This could mean building an app that runs on Azure, integrating payments through Stax Connect, or creating an add-on for Oracle’s software suite.
Co-marketing and joint go-to-market efforts
ISV partners often benefit from co-branded marketing, being featured in partner marketplaces, or participating in events and webinars. These joint efforts help ISVs build credibility and reach a wider audience.
Revenue-sharing or referral agreements
In some cases, ISVs and partners share revenue when customers buy the integrated solution, or ISVs earn a referral fee when they bring new users to the platform.
Benefits of Becoming an ISV Partner
Enhanced credibility and trust
When you’re part of a platform’s official partner ecosystem, it sends a clear signal: you’re vetted, reliable, and built to work. That stamp of approval means something—especially to users who rely on trusted integrations to run their businesses. Whether you’re featured in a marketplace, highlighted in content, or introduced through the partner’s sales team, your affiliation lends you instant authority.
Technical support and resources
You’re not doing it alone. ISV partners often get access to exclusive technical documentation, sandbox environments, solution architects, and dedicated partner support teams. From API guidance to launch checklists, the platform’s resources are designed to help you build better and faster. And when things change—new updates, evolving features, or security protocols—you’ll be first in the know.
Co-selling and co-branding opportunities
As an ISV partner, you can collaborate on go-to-market campaigns, get featured in joint content, or even join the platform’s sales team on calls. These co-selling and co-branding opportunities help amplify your message and put your product in front of higher-intent buyers.
How to Become an ISV Partner
Ready to become an ISV partner? While ISV partnership programs can vary, joining one typically involves the following steps.
Evaluate your alignment with the platform’s ecosystem and user base
Before you apply, make sure the partnership is a strategic fit. Does your product solve a real need for the platform’s users? Is there a natural overlap in customer profiles? Understanding where your offering fits and how it complements the platform helps ensure long-term success.
Don’t forget that great ISV partnership isn’t just about integration; it’s about delivering value together. So, take the time to research the platform’s marketplace, explore similar apps, and get clear on how your solution stands out.
Apply to the relevant partner program (each company has its own portal)
Most ISV programs have a partner portal where you can submit an application, share product details, and outline your go-to-market plans. Keep it crisp, clear, and customer-focused. What does your app do? Who is it for? Why does it matter? The stronger your positioning, the easier it is for the platform to understand how you fit into their ecosystem.
Complete technical onboarding (integration, testing, documentation)
You’ll need to integrate your product with the platform’s APIs, test for performance and reliability, and prepare documentation that supports users and developers. Most platforms offer resources to guide you through this—like sandbox environments, developer forums, and code samples. Your goal here is to make the integration seamless, intuitive, and stable.
Pass any necessary certifications or security reviews
Depending on the platform, you may need to complete a security review or meet certain certification standards—especially if your app handles sensitive data or processes payments.
Pro tip: plan ahead. These reviews can take time, so build them into your development and launch timeline.
Begin co-selling
You’ve done the work—now it’s time to go live. Once approved, your app will be listed in the platform’s marketplace or made available to the partner’s sales teams. From here, you can participate in co-marketing opportunities, explore co-selling programs, and start reaching new customers through the partner’s ecosystem. Make sure your product page is polished, your messaging is clear, and your team is ready to support new leads.
A Closer Look at ISV Partnerships in the Payments Industry
ISV partnerships exist in multiple verticals and industries, but one of the most dynamic and fast-growing are ISV partnerships in the payments sector.
An increasing number of SaaS companies are looking to integrate payments into their offerings to build more functional software solutions by partnering with a plug-and-play payments solution provider. However, with countless players in the market—each with unique features and offerings—choosing the right ISV payments partner can be tricky.
Let’s take a look at the factors that ISVs need to consider when choosing a payments partner. We’ll also discuss the reasons why integrated payment solutions may be beneficial for your business and the various partnership models you can choose from.
What to Look for in an ISV Payments Partner
1. Payment methods supported
If you want to simplify payments for your software users, you’ll need to consider all the different payment methods that consumers may want to use. As the popularity of digital payments continues to skyrocket, conventional payment methods like credit cards are still very much in use.
Because of this, your solution will need to support a wide range of payment methods including debit and credit cards, contactless payments, digital wallets, and even wearables.
It’s essential that your ISV payments partner can facilitate a variety of different payment methods, and that they offer tokenization for storing payment info securely. Also, check if your ISV payments partner can provide the necessary terminals/readers that your users will need to process these payments.
For example, Stax Connect not only supports a variety of payment methods including EMV, contactless, mobile wallets, etc., but we also provide the necessary hardware that sub-merchants may need to accept them.
Even if you want to offer only a few payment methods at the moment, it’s best to plan for the future and opt for a partner that can accommodate your changing needs as you scale. You may find yourself having to switch to a different partner down the line if they support only a handful of payment options, to begin with.
2. Applicable features needed for your SaaS platform and merchants
Your choice of an ISV payments partner must also depend on the features and value-added services they offer. These may range from fraud prevention to robust reporting, analytics, marketing, and customer engagement capabilities.
Of course, the features that make the most sense for your business will depend on the type of users you cater to and the needs of their customers.
In addition, a payments partner like Stax Connect that takes on the risk of accepting payments on your (and your customers’) behalf would be a big plus. So when you choose a partner, think about the features that are an absolute must for your business and the ones that may be nice to have, and make your decision accordingly.
3. ISV payments technology/platform
In the age of omnichannel commerce, businesses need payment solutions that go beyond the typical brick-and-mortar point of sale. They expect solutions that can be connected on the go and accessed from multiple devices. So, look for an ISV payments partner that simplifies payments by blending in-store and online payment processing on a single integrated platform.
Also, consider what kind of integration support, APIs and SDKs, developer tools, and documentation your payments partner may provide. At the end of the day, you need a partner that minimizes your developmental efforts and gets you up and running quickly.
4. Software integrations
As discussed above, your payments partner needs to provide robust, flexible, and easy-to-follow APIs that facilitate quick and seamless payment integration—regardless of the integration method you use. As an ISV, you need to know how your software may connect with your partner’s platform and the kind of tools and support they will provide to help you enhance your offering.
Also, consider the kind of technical support that may be available. Will they take the time to understand your technical requirements? And will they walk your team through various features or ways to use their APIs to enhance your software’s functionality? All these are important considerations that can significantly impact your time-to-market and your team’s readiness to support new integrations.
5. Relationship with a sponsor bank
At a high level, the role of a sponsor bank is to ensure that the funds paid by end customers make it through to the sub-merchant and ACH payments make it through to the processor. They are also responsible for paying a share of the interchange fees to issuing banks and card companies (like Visa or Mastercard).
All this to say, a sponsor bank forms an integral part of a payments ecosystem, and it’s crucial to build a relationship with one if you want to facilitate payments. Unfortunately, this is typically a tedious, time-consuming, and costly affair.
So, it would be well worth your while to look for an ISV payments partner that has an existing relationship with a leading sponsor bank that you can leverage. This will not only help you cut costs significantly but also reduce your time-to-market.
6. Fee structure/revenue share model
When you process transactions through an integrated payment solution, you typically receive a share of the revenue thus generated. However, this can often get quite complicated. You and your payments partner must mutually agree on a revenue share percentage (or a split) which may depend on factors such as your processing volumes, pricing model, or the number of merchants.
Many payment partners may boast high residual splits but may not be quite transparent in their dealings. Look for a partner who agrees to clearly outline all the finer details in your residual statement. You can even ask for sample residual statements to be sure.
7. Underwriting process/approval times
To maximize customer retention and loyalty, your sub-merchant onboarding process needs to be as quick and frictionless as possible. Find a payments partner that makes it easy to manage your merchant portfolio—from onboarding to risk management. With the right support, enrollment can be a breeze, so make sure to check what kind of capabilities your partner offers.
For example, Stax Connect’s pre-built enrollment platform can help you monitor your enrollment pipeline and get access to in-depth underwriting statistics, deposit reporting, and user onboarding tracking.
Plus, our managed underwriting process saves you the cost of hiring underwriting analysts or investing in costly tools and enables your users to start processing payments in as little as 20 minutes of acceptance. This can translate to more loyal customers who are likely to stay with you longer and even recommend you to others.
8. Partner support offerings
ISVs consider customer service an important factor when choosing a payments partner. To be truly successful, ISVs must work with a partner that offers robust support every step of the way—from technical support to go-to-market support and everything in between. So make sure to ask about the support structure that your payments partner offers.
For example, here at Stax, not only do we support our partners, but we also offer user support at a variety of levels based on the needs of the customer so that your users can benefit from talking to a team of payment experts.
Choosing An ISV Payments Partner
As an ISV looking to facilitate payments for your users, you shouldn’t settle for just another payments provider as your partner. You need a dedicated partner that can help take your software to the next level.
We are dedicated to your growth and success, and care deeply about helping you build a better, more value-driven product for your customers. Our sales and marketing enablement support ensures that ISVs get access to customized marketing plans that truly maximize the value of their platform to best serve end-users.
Plus, with our custom revenue-share opportunity, each partner can monetize their payment volume instantly, thus growing enterprise value. You can set your own pricing structure and model with respect to the payment features you offer while having access to direct interchange rates.
This enables you to create even more value for yourself and your customers while maximizing the revenue opportunity that comes with owning the payments experience.
FAQs about ISV Partner
Q: What is an ISV Partner?
An ISV partner is a software company or application provider that enters into a partnership with an ISV (Independent Software Vendor) company to offer additional services or technology that enhances the platform’s robustness and functionality.
Q: How can ISV Partnerships enhance business processes?
ISVs play a crucial role in driving platform growth and refining business processes for clients. With deep knowledge of software value and optimal solution recommendations, they significantly contribute to business efficiency.
Q: What are the benefits of participating in ISV partner programs?
ISV partner programs provide substantial growth opportunities for software vendors. They can expect a constant income stream through incentive programs and are given superior support services.
Q: How does Stax contribute to the ISV partnership program?
Stax provides ISV partnerships with various benefits, such as establishing robust revenue-sharing opportunities, providing evolution opportunities, and understanding mrkt opportunities. They also assist in fulfilling the needs of clients and partners within the business ecosystem.
Q: Can an ISV partnership increase profit opportunities?
Yes. ISV partnerships offer increased profit opportunities through revenue sharing and incentive programs. Stax, for instance, develops large-scale, tailor-made revenue-sharing programs to meet the needs of each partner and enterprise.
Q: What is Stax Connect API, and how does it enhance ISV technology?
Stax Connect API is an all-in-one application programming interface that enables sub-merchants to accept both card-present and card-not-present transactions. This API allows ISVs to introduce their own payment platform, including web services, applications, and multiple payment solutions.
Q: How does Stax ensure a quality customer experience and support?
Stax maintains a human-oriented approach to providing customer service to all its members, focusing on personalized support. This includes offering dedicated account managers, and ensuring real-time availability through phone, email, and live chat.
Q: How does the Stax ISV partner program work?
The Stax ISV partner program begins with a dedication to success from day one. The program includes a dedicated partner manager for smooth onboarding and success tracking, integration with expert developers for seamless platform incorporation, marketing support for lead generation and revenue increment, and specialized payment consultants for transforming partner-generated leads into merchants.
Q: What are the opportunities provided by an ISV partnership?
With an ISV partnership, companies can enhance their own platforms or applications by providing their merchant customers with a comprehensive experience that adds immeasurable value.
Q: How does Stax Connect help ISV partnerships grow with payments?
Stax Connect facilitates ISV partnerships by offering an easy-to-integrate API and innovative technology in existing platforms or applications. Its award-winning support and dedicated success teams provide the tools necessary for success to both partners and customers.
