NMI CEO Steve Pinado is tying the company’s recent acquisitions of Dwolla and Fee Navigator to a broader bet on payments intelligence. As merchants weigh cards, account-to-account transfers, digital wallets, real-time payments, and installment options, NMI is building tools to help businesses choose the best payment path for each transaction.
The recent deals support that strategy from different sides of the payments stack. Dwolla expands NMI’s account-to-account and money movement capabilities, while Fee Navigator adds pricing and business intelligence tools. Together, the acquisitions give NMI more ways to help merchants, independent sales organizations, and software providers manage payment choice, cost, settlement needs, and transaction performance.
Pinado told PYMNTS that consumers increasingly choose payment methods based on circumstance rather than habit. Businesses are making similar calculations, weighing factors such as speed, cost, settlement requirements, and customer preference before deciding how money should move.
That shift is pushing payment providers beyond basic transaction processing. Pinado said NMI sits on a large amount of settlement and transaction data, creating opportunities to use AI to improve portfolio performance, merchant performance, pricing, and risk.
The trend is also changing how NMI evaluates acquisitions. Pinado said the company is setting a higher bar for potential deals, with new capabilities needing to fit into a broader strategy rather than simply adding functionality.
“Strategy before M&A,” Pinado said. “Don’t stretch, don’t go beyond, don’t fall in love with an idea.”