The Executive Interview Series provides readers with exclusive insights from movers and shakers in the payments industry. The payments industry is under continuous transformation. This series offers diverse perspectives on everything from strategy to payments technology and the industry’s future.
In this interview between Paulette Rowe, CEO of Stax, and TSG’s Morgan Murphy, Paulette discusses the value of owning proprietary tech and strategies for driving growth in the ISV and SaaS markets. Rowe shares insights from her experiences at global institutions like Meta and Barclays, emphasizes the human side of innovation and mentorship, and outlines Stax’s commitment to diversity, operational transparency, and long-term value creation.
Bio: As the CEO of Stax, Paulette Rowe is focused on leading Stax through its transformation to an end-to-end processor while delivering on Stax’s value proposition for its customers and driving profitable revenue. Previously CEO of Paysafe’s Integrated and E-commerce Solutions division, Paulette is a seasoned global executive with strategic leadership experience across banking, payments, and fintech. Known for growing and transforming businesses, driving market growth, and building winning cultures with strong customer alignment, she has held senior leadership positions with organizations such as Barclays, Meta, Royal Bank of Scotland/NatWest, and GE Capital. Widely recognized as a prominent figure in financial circles, Paulette has earned multiple accolades as one of the “Most Influential Women in Payments,” among other honors. She also earned an MBA from INSEAD and an engineering graduate degree from the University of Birmingham.
Q. Morgan M.
Paulette, you’ve had an impressive journey leading global fintech and banking teams. What drew you to Stax, and what excites you most about its current trajectory?
A. Paulette R.
When I was first approached about Stax, what excited me was the company’s reputation as a successful disruptor offering beautifully designed front-end tools and a differentiated offering including subscription billing and compliant surcharging. The Stax Pack culture and the people were legendary too.
Stax had already seen significant success with embedded payments. As the new CEO, I have accelerated our investments in our ISV proposition including evolving Stax into an end-to-end processor, powered by Stax-owned technology. Alongside strengthening our team and improving our internal processes, we have continued to make targeted, strategic acquisitions as evidenced by our acquisitions of APPS in 2023 and BlockChyp in 2024. This trajectory, paired with our ability to deliver vertical alignment for our ISV partners, makes us a modern and agile alternative in a space still dominated by legacy supertankers.
Q. Morgan M.
As someone who has transformed businesses across multiple sectors, how does your leadership approach evolve when entering a high-growth, fast-paced company like Stax?
A. Paulette R.
The experiences I have had working in both large corporations and start-ups, creating the conditions to deliver high growth at scale, have been a core part of my leadership journey. I learnt so much working post-MBA at the financial services arm of GE which at the time was expanding rapidly internationally. There, I was introduced to their 4Es of leadership— energy, energize, execution, and edge – which I still use today but along with a 5th – empathy. Building a sustainable, high-growth business starts with establishing a mission and vision that guides every decision and aligns the entire organization behind a clear purpose.
Clear, consistent, and two-way communication is the linchpin. At Stax, we lean into this through weekly all hands, quarterly town halls and open Q&A, implementing these initiatives to increase transparency has driven measurable impact. For example, trust in the executive leadership team has risen by 28 points and the overall employee NPS is up 22 points. Trust and alignment are critical when you’re moving fast – ensuring everyone is focused on the right milestones, removing distractions, and building teams that can scale with us. High growth leaders ensure the organization is designed for what’s next—and that includes structure, talent, and culture.
Q. Morgan M.
You have been recognized as one of the “Most Influential Women in Payments.” What does that recognition mean to you — and how do you approach mentorship and inclusion in leadership?
A. Paulette R.
It’s always humbling to receive recognition from peers and industry groups, but for me, these awards are about inspiring the next generation to keep pushing ahead on their own career path.
Being able to see that there are many women forging exciting careers in our industry, and having the opportunity to learn from their stories, is incredibly important. I’m especially proud to lead a company where women are not only represented across all levels and functions but also occupy key roles, including within our executive team. The fact that Stax has had two female CEOs of color is probably unique in the fintech space but it demonstrates how much things are changing. One of Stax’ core values is “unified in our diversity” and we are proud to have achieved the Human Resource Standards Institute Certification recognizing our commitment to mentorship, access, and creating leadership opportunities for all.
Q. Morgan M.
With experience at Meta, Barclays, and Paysafe, you’ve seen how global tech and financial institutions scale. What lessons from your past roles are proving most relevant at Stax?
A. Paulette R.
Each of those experiences shaped how I think about scaling technology and delivering value. At Barclays, we took the bold, but necessary decision to migrate 100,000 merchants from our 30-year-old legacy tech to a new platform. 7 plus years later, many of the large players that I compete against today still rely on outdated, fragmented technology. It’s hard to be agile in the payments space while running on third-party legacy rails, which is why we committed to owning our own stack, end-to-end. The other lesson from working in large companies – avoiding unnecessary complexity was always a challenge. Making what is complex elsewhere, simple and intuitive for our customers is a commitment that drives our approach at Stax.
At Meta, the challenge was more about finding partners who could match Meta’s speed and need for flexibility. I had the chance to work with a huge array of payment providers, which gave me a privileged view of the market. Those conversations reinforced the importance of finding one trusted platform to manage operations and payments. That’s exactly what we’re building at Stax: a modern, all-in-one solution designed to help our partners and merchants grow.
Q. Morgan M.
Embedded payments have become a key driver of fintech growth. How does Stax differentiate itself in this space, and what’s your vision for where the embedded payments model is heading?
A. Paulette R.
While many in our industry rely on the super-tankers for their core processing, later this year we will complete our journey to become a full-stack processor giving our ISV partners unmatched flexibility and control. ISVs also have access to our Stax Connect solution, giving them the option to white-label none, some or every aspect of the payment service as they choose. As an example, healthcare ISVs really appreciate that our solution allows them to customize even small details, for example replacing the use of “customer” with “patient”.
We also offer a range of integration options—from single API to hosted gateways—making Stax accessible whether you have a large dev team or none at all.
Our Stax Connect Plus program takes our support a step further, offering not just payments integration but go-to-market sales and customer support, increasing attachment rates and accelerating their revenue growth. One Stax Connect Plus customer saw a 36% increase in onboarded MIDs, a 25% increase in active processing MIDs, and a 93% jump in revenue from onboarded merchants.
With such a range of solutions, Stax is a great choice for the 40% of platforms that have reportedly yet to take advantage of embedded payments as well as established ISVs.
Q. Morgan M.
How do you define Stax’s value proposition today, especially in such a crowded payments and fintech landscape?
A. Paulette R.
Stax is a modern, full-service payments technology company offering a secure, scalable platform tailored to businesses, SaaS platforms, and ISVs. Our value lies in integration: subscription billing, surcharging, and multi-channel capabilities, all within one unified experience. We’ve carved out strengths in key verticals—including specialized healthcare, professional services, and field services —where complexity demands both compliance and customization. At the core, we’re making payments simpler and more profitable for our clients, while offering the flexibility and support they need to grow. At Stax we are able to support partners wherever they are on their payments journey.
Q. Morgan M.
Stax serves a diverse base of SMBs, SaaS platforms, and ISVs. Which segment do you personally find most exciting or ripe for transformation right now — and why?
A. Paulette R.
The ISV space is where we’re seeing the most exciting transformation right now, particularly in how software providers are evolving their role in embedded finance. Over 60% of SMBs now use vertical-specific software to manage their business. That creates a huge opportunity—but also potential misconception. It has become popular for payment companies to push Payfac solutions, however the reality is most ISVs do not need to be a full Payfac, and fewer still are equipped—financially or operationally—to absorb the associated risks. What excites me is how we’re directly helping our partners unlock payments revenue without taking on undue complexity or risk. That should be the ultimate ROI measure. Through tools like Stax Connect Plus and our expertise in direct-to-SMB sales, we help ISVs drive payment attachment, improve customer outcomes, and increase their revenue—all without overextending their infrastructure or capital.
Q. Morgan M.
What’s the biggest myth or misunderstanding you often hear about the fintech space, especially when it comes to innovation or disruption?
A. Paulette R.
The biggest myth? That it’s only about technology. Yes, APIs and time to integrate matter—but success in this space isn’t just about software and connectivity, it’s about people. Many businesses want and need to be able to communicate with the team behind the technology and get answers quickly. Our ISVs still want to talk to someone about payments, growth strategies, or how to optimize their campaigns. It’s important that they have access to support that goes beyond the technical integration to experienced payments leaders. The key to successful partnerships remains, even in the fintech space, people as well as technology.
Q. Morgan M.
Finally, if there’s one thing you want partners, investors, or customers to understand about where Stax is headed, what would it be?
A. Paulette R.
Stax is entering an exciting new chapter. We have evolved from a payments reseller into a fully-integrated payments technology company backed by our own, modern, software and cloud-based tech stack. We’ve invested thoughtfully in our people, process, and platform and our strategic acquisitions have helped us build robust and repeatable migration and integration playbooks. As we continue to scale and drive profitable growth, we are proving that agility and customer focus do not have to be a casualty. We are building a company designed to support sustainable, value creation for our customers and investors and provide an exciting place to work for our Stax Pack colleagues.
We meet our partners where they are on their journey – and then help them go further. Together, we’re building something really special.