You’re the steamroller, or the road. Eat or be eaten. It’s not personal, it’s just business.
These cold-blooded chestnuts from the “Glengarry Glen Ross” business playbook reflect a zero-sum game of winners and losers. Partnering, however, can offer a better option. It’s all about growth, and more aligned with the realities of modernizing B2B payments.
This ‘co-opetition’ isn’t a new strategy, but it’s always audacious. It’s less about crushing competitors and more about finding unexpected allies among them. Lines between adversary and collaborator are blurring. Companies recognizing this are rewriting the rules.
Why now? Because the market is moving too fast for any one player to do it all, and well. The complexity of today’s payment ecosystem demands agility, creativity, and, above all, a willingness to rethink what it means to win. MasterCard and Visa figured this out long ago.
More forward-thinking organizations are realizing that sometimes, the best way to get ahead is to join forces (even with those you’ve been competing against for years). It’s not about surrendering your competitive edge. It’s about knowing exactly what makes your business unique, and then leveraging that strength in ways that amplify the benefits.
Smart business leaders are now asking: Where can we partner to accelerate growth, but without harming our competitiveness? How do we build alliances that make the pie bigger for everyone, instead of fighting over the same old slice?
According to Gunita Bindra, VP of Partner Strategy for Paymode at Bottomline, the buddy system of co-opetition answers these questions, holding major promise for B2B payments.
Rethinking Rivalry: The Case for Co-opetition
Forget the old winner-take-all mentality. In the payments space, clinging to the idea that “if they lose, I win” is a recipe for stagnation. “Real progress comes when you recognize that success is bigger than winning or losing. It’s about creating value that lifts the entire ecosystem,” Bindra said.
The real opportunity lies in identifying areas where collaboration can drive the entire market forward for all parties. Co-opetition isn’t about cozying up to every competitor. It’s about drawing clear boundaries around your core strengths (what Bindra calls your “secret sauce”) and then seeking out partnerships in suitable, adjacent areas.
For example, a company may fiercely protect its proprietary payments technology, yet team up with an invoice automation provider to deliver a more comprehensive solution. The result? Both sides get stronger, and customers reap the benefits. Trust is crucial.
“As long as you share the sauce and not the secret, as long as you keep your distinct competency to yourself, you can be open-minded to partnering in other areas of your business to accelerate time to market and accelerate growth,” she said.
By collaborating where it makes sense, organizations can extend their reach, tap into new capabilities, and create value that would be impossible to achieve alone. The automotive and tech industries offer powerful examples (think Microsoft Office on Apple devices). These aren’t just one-off deals; they’re proof that even the fiercest competitors can find common ground when the incentives are right.
“You’re bringing the best in class together. You are raising the bar in the market,” Bindra said. In payments, the same logic applies to strategic alliances that set new standards and unlock growth that hasn’t been imagined before in many cases.
The Moat and the Map: What is Your Distinct Competency?
Before any business can play the co-opetition game, it needs to know exactly what it’s got to bargain with. Too many organizations “still don’t know why they even exist in the business,” Bindra said. “You need to know what truly distinct competency you offer.”
The acid test for distinct competency: if a rival can replicate your advantage by throwing money at the problem, it’s not a real differentiator. True distinctiveness is hard-won. It’s the result of years of innovation, execution, and market insight.
Bindra pointed to Bottomline’s Premium ACH option as a case in point: “Absolutely no one has the scale that we have and the growth that we have, and it’s because time is also important. We were the first ones in the market to think about Premium ACH, and that was years ago. No one can buy those years.” At least, not without partnering.
Once a company has mapped out its moat, it can approach co-opetition from a position of strength. Timing matters in this. “Once you have decent market share, once you’re confident in your market positioning, that’s when you look at boldly partnering with someone you perceive as a competitor,” she said.
Early-stage businesses should focus on building their foundation; established players can afford to think bigger. The best partnerships often start with complementary technologies. Apple and Microsoft didn’t join forces on day one. It took years of building, learning, and refining before both sides saw value in working together. “Low ego, high impact,” Bindra calls it, capturing the mindset required to make these alliances work.
It’s not about corporate pride at that point. It’s about results.
Risk, Reward, and the ‘Secret Sauce’
Of course, co-opetition isn’t without pitfalls. Sharing capabilities with a competitor can open the door to new pressures, from lost clients to blurred lines of ownership.
“There are risks,” Bindra said, like various kinds of chicanery around client acquisition once systems access is granted under co-opetition agreements. But she points out that such challenges can be managed. The key? Clever contracts and clear rules of engagement.
Competitive guardrails can be codified “in the way you negotiate a contract, in the way you write a contract, in the way you allow others to give access to the market. We are very creative in how we’re writing these contracts” with co-opetition partners, she said.
By setting terms up front, companies can protect their interests while still reaping the rewards of collaboration. And those rewards can be substantial. “Both parties are benefiting,” she said, pointing again to legendary co-opetition deals like Microsoft and Apple. When done right, co-opetition unlocks new revenue streams, expands market reach, and delivers value that far exceeds what any one player could achieve alone.
The payments industry is already seeing the impact. The earlier Visa and MasterCard mention is just one example of competitors working together for mutual gain, proving that even the most entrenched rivals can find common cause.
As Bindra sees it, this is just the beginning. The future belongs to those who can balance competition with collaboration, risk with reward, and vision with execution.
“Co-opetition isn’t a buzzword,” she said. “It’s a blueprint for growth in the modern payments landscape. Companies that master it will shape the industry for years to come.”