OatFi

OatFi is a startup helping B2B platforms offer built-in access to credit — a concept known as embedded credit— to close the cash flow gaps between buyers and sellers. This week marks the beginning of Fintech Frontier, a project I started to explore early-stage fintech startups that are quietly reshaping how everyday people interact with money — not just in banking apps, but deep inside the systems that keep businesses running. I chose to begin this journey with OatFi because I’ve always been fascinated by how B2B processes — often slow, opaque, and rigid — can be redesigned to work better for the businesses and people who rely on them. OatFi tackles one of the most overlooked pain points in that world: the timing mismatch between when buyers want to pay and when sellers need to get paid. Is OatFi solving a real cash flow problem — or just adding another layer of fintech complexity to B2B platforms? — Would love to know your thoughts in the comments! Follow along as I unpack a new fintech product every week. #FintechFrontier #Fintech #Startups #B2B #EmbeddedFinance #CreditInfrastructure #OatFi #RotmanCommerce #UofT

🚀 Hot take: The biggest opportunity in B2B payments isn’t payments at all — it’s credit. Investors get this wrong.   - Tell an investor, I'm building a B2B payments company...😍 - Tell the same investor, I'm building a B2B lending company...🤮 Investors come in using the consumer‑payments playbook and try to monetize the rail. That thinking breaks in B2B. ------------------ Why monetizing the rail (often) falls flat in B2B ------------------ - Fragmented rails: ACH, FedWire, SWIFT, checks, RTP, FedNow… no single “toll booth” to tax. - Price‑sensitive payers: A 2‑3 % fee that works for cards is a non‑starter for manufacturers, distributors, or hospitals moving millions. - Workflow > swipe: B2B payments are wrapped in approvals, invoices, POs, reconciliations — a far cry from tapping a phone at checkout. - Software squeeze: Yes, you can charge SaaS fees for workflow automation, but subscription ARPU caps out long before true payments scale kicks in. ------------------ The credit‑first lens ------------------ - Every B2B payment = a credit instrument. Net‑30/60 terms are effectively short‑term loans hiding in plain sight. - Demand is huge: Buyers crave more time; suppliers crave faster cash. Solve that mismatch and you unlock real margin. - Rail‑agnostic monetization: Whether funds move by wire, RTP, or courier pigeon, you can still finance the gap — the rail becomes a commodity. - Risk data advantage: Sit inside the workflow and you see invoices, delivery receipts, and performance history — the inputs underwriting has always wanted. - Vertical SaaS tailwind: Niche platforms (construction, freight, dental, you name it) already control workflows and need embedded credit partners. Plug in and scale. - Better unit economics: Revenue comes from providing working‑capital relief, not from tacking on a toll to the actual money movement. Build your risk, underwriting and capital markets engine well and you can clear 100s of bps. The "lending" done well looks more like a take rate payments business. Once investors realize that final point, they'll fall in love w/ "credit". ------------------ Bottom line ------------------ In B2B, the payment itself is table stakes. The real prize that most people (especial investors) ignore...financing the transaction. There are $35 trillion in B2B payments in the US which is 3x higher than the ~$10 trillion in annual card spend. many many trillions of that are begging for an intelligent credit layer above the payment rail.