Fintech Finance x Aevi: Build vs buy, and why timing is everything

At Money20/20 Europe, our CEO Mike Camerling shared why the in-person payments space is evolving faster than ever. He explored the challenges businesses face when navigating legacy systems, the urgency behind build vs. buy decisions, and how Aevi’s cloud-native platform helps simplify complexity by enabling companies to focus on creating powerful, customer-first payment propositions.

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I'm Mike Camerling, CEO of Aevi. We are the only in-person payments orchestration platform.

Why do so many businesses struggle with the build vs buy decision in in-person payments today?

Timing-wise, it's the right moment because everything is moving faster. In-person payments have historically lagged behind e-commerce, but that gap is closing quickly. Innovation is accelerating and legacy systems are becoming a real limitation.

This raises a big question: what now? Should businesses build their own solution or buy one? The main dilemma is control. Building gives you flexibility and ownership, but it also comes with risk. It's expensive, complex, and time-consuming. But doing nothing is no longer an option.

What do companies often underestimate when they choose to build their own in-person payment solution?

What many underestimate is the overall complexity. The technology is difficult, especially at a local level. If you want to operate across borders, it becomes even more complicated. Then there is compliance and certification to deal with, and that’s just for a single vendor solution.

Now imagine trying to integrate multiple vendors and create one unified view across your business. The complexity increases dramatically.

What's the advantage of partnering with Aevi versus going all-in on an in-house or vendor-based setup?

We've already done the hard work. That’s why companies should go with Aevi. We've built the integrations, handled many of the certifications, and understand all the details. That means you can leave the heavy lifting to us.

You can focus on building the right partnerships and propositions for your customers, instead of being caught up in the technology.

In a fragmented market, how do you help partners unify their in-person payment stack across geographies and providers?

We bring everything together behind a simple set of APIs, a single platform, and one reporting engine. It doesn't matter which country you're in or which device you're using. Wherever you go, when you interact with the Aevi platform, it works the same way. That consistency means your merchants and customers have the same experience, while we handle all the fragmentation in the background.

For companies attending Money20/20 and rethinking their in-person payments, what's your message to them? Why now, and why Aevi?

The message is simple: start now. Everything is happening now. Online has been fast for years, and in-person payments are finally catching up. Whether it’s classic terminals becoming smart, the rise of SoftPOS, or account-to-account payments, your customers expect you to be ready. At the very least, they expect you to be exploring these options and guiding them through.

If you don’t start now and stay stuck with outdated systems, you will fall even further behind.

How is Aevi helping businesses future-proof their in-person payment strategies?

One of the biggest advantages of Aevi is that we stay neutral. We’re device agnostic and have no intention of competing with our customers. You get a trusted, independent partner who ensures that every new innovation on the market is available to you when you need it. That frees you up to focus on your core business.

What's on the agenda for Aevi over the next twelve months?

Right now, there is a lot of movement. Companies are expanding from the US into Europe and rolling out multi-country solutions. We continue to connect new technologies. Our SoftPOS solution is about to launch, which is really exciting, especially when combined with smart devices.

We are committed to staying agnostic and giving our customers the freedom to build the best possible solutions for theirs.

sarah.koch@aevi.com