The new M&A logic of owning the workflow before AI does - Tearsheet

Fintech acquisitions show companies buying operational infrastructure beneath transactions, approvals, servicing, and money movement before AI systems automate more processes. Firms across different sectors are moving toward control of the infrastructure layer where AI-driven commerce will run. NMI’s acquisition of Dwolla expands embedded payments into direct account-to-account money movement across ACH and real-time networks. Dwolla’s API-based infrastructure enables businesses to move funds for payouts, supplier payments, lending flows, and other bank-based transactions without relying entirely on card networks. The future vision includes agentic payments and stablecoin-enabled settlement. Embedded finance is shifting from embedding checkout toward embedding transaction logic, increasing demand for control over onboarding, orchestration, payouts, reconciliation, and settlement.

"The recent wave of fintech deals suggests companies are buying the operational layers that sit underneath transactions, approvals, servicing, and money movement before AI systems begin running more of those processes themselves."

"NMI, which provides embedded payments infrastructure for software platforms, ISOs, and banks, recently acquired Dwolla, an account-to-account payments company specializing in ACH and real-time bank-transfer infrastructure. The deal expands NMI beyond payment acceptance and deeper into direct money movement."

"Dwolla's API-based infrastructure gives businesses direct access to account-to-account payment rails, enabling money movement across ACH and real-time networks for payouts, supplier payments, lending flows, and other bank-based transactions without relying entirely on card networks."

"NMI CEO Steve Pinado said the deal strengthens his firm's position in "the next generation of money movement," including agentic payments and stablecoin-enabled settlement. That suggests NMI sees a future in which payments increasingly occur through software systems acting on behalf of users and businesses."

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