Embedded Finance Solutions: Top Providers and Comparison Guide

Key takeaways

• Embedded finance is a revenue multiplier as integrating financial tools can double customer lifetime value (LTV) and reduce churn by as much as 64%.¹

• Many successful platforms are moving away from standalone apps toward financial utility woven directly into daily workflows.

• Partnering with an embedded finance provider, like Airwallex, that holds 70+ licenses globally allows you to offer local payment experiences in 200+ countries without the regulatory heavy lifting.

Increasingly, the non-finance apps we use everyday are offering access to financial products which traditionally were only offered by banks. Whether these products are banking services, credit, or the ability to send payments, more consumers and businesses benefit from easier, integrated financial access. For high-growth platforms, embedded finance is an opportunity to better serve their users and customers. 

When a gig worker needs gas money before their next job, or a small business owner needs a quick line of credit at checkout, the solution is there, without friction and detours.

“Invisible” experiences drive massive growth. Transaction values are expected to jump from $2.6 trillion to more than and $7 trillion by the end of 2026.² Platforms see it as a true revenue multiplier, with customer lifetime value doubling or more, and churn dropping by as much as 64%.³

Looking ahead to 2030, the opportunity only gets bigger. The B2B market alone is projected to reach and $15.6 trillion, powered by agentic finance where AI handles liquidity and working capital automatically, using real-time data to keep businesses moving.⁴

Why embedded finance is reshaping the global economy

From standalone banking apps to "invisible" finance.

The era of jumping between a banking app and a business dashboard is over. In 2026, the most successful financial services are invisible. Whether it’s an e-commerce platform offering instant merchant capital or a logistics app automating port fees, financial utility is now woven into the primary workflow.

How consumer expectations for "instant everything" are forcing non-fintechs to become financial hubs.

Modern users have zero patience for friction. If a platform can’t provide instant payouts, embedded insurance, or point-of-sale lending, users will migrate to a "financial hub" that can. This has forced non-fintech companies, from healthcare portals to construction software, to adopt embedded finance solutions to stay competitive.

Comparing embedded finance providers

Choosing your financial partner isn't just a back-office IT decision anymore; it’s a choice about who will co-author your customer’s experience and depends on your technical maturity and where your customers are located.  If the goal is an "invisible" flow, the provider you pick becomes the nervous system of your platform.

Comparing embedded finance providers: what is right for your scale?

• Airwallex: Leading the way in cross-border scaling and FX. They make international money transfers feel like local ones.

• Stripe: Tailored for developer-first environments where speed to market is the priority. Their APIs are designed to get complex "Treasury" or "Connect" features live and operational with minimal overhead.

• Adyen: Specializes in global unified commerce, specifically for businesses looking to bridge the gap between digital payment flows and physical, in-store experiences on a single platform.

• Wise: Focuses on transparent, low-cost international payouts. They serve as a direct alternative to traditional bank markups by providing mid-market exchange rates and clear fee structures.

Top embedded finance providers in the US

Airwallex

Airwallex provides you with the global infrastructure to build embedded financial products with reduced complexity. You can offer multi-currency accounts, FX, card issuing, and treasury services through a single set of APIs. Airwallex holds licenses in over 60 markets and supports payouts to more than 200 countries using local rails and SWIFT.

For platforms with international ambitions, Airwallex offers a scalable solution for collecting, holding, converting, and disbursing funds worldwide. You stay in control of the customer experience, while Airwallex handles the compliance, licensing, and operational heavy lifting. Businesses like TradeBridge and Meow use Airwallex to support global growth while maintaining simple financial workflows.

Airwallex’s embedded finance stack includes:

• Global Treasury: Let your customers collect, store, convert, and send funds worldwide, with access to over 160 payment methods and a payout network spanning more than 200 countries.

• Payments for Platforms: Programmatically create connected accounts, split funds, and embed local and international payment acceptance into your checkout experience.

• Banking-as-a-Service: Embed traditional banking products like accounts, cards, and lending into your platform without becoming a financial institution.

Stripe

Stripe is one of the most widely adopted platforms for embedded payments. It offers APIs for payment acceptance, card issuing, and banking features through products like Stripe Connect and Stripe Treasury. These tools are popular with US-based platforms that need quick integration and developer flexibility.

Stripe offers international coverage and supports multi-currency payments; however, businesses with complex treasury needs or specific entity-level control requirements may need to assess how flexible its architecture is across different markets.

Adyen

Adyen offers global payments and financial services under one roof. It supports online, in-person, and mobile payments, with options for card issuing, bank accounts, and cash advances through its banking license.

Adyen’s value lies in consolidating payments and financial operations for platforms operating across regions. Its focus remains on enterprise-level payment acceptance, but its fund-holding and payout capabilities may be more limited compared to providers offering broader treasury solutions.

Wise

Wise focuses on fast and cost-effective cross-border transfers. Its platform moves money to over 160 countries in 40 currencies, and most payments arrive within 24 hours. Wise Platform enables businesses to plug into this infrastructure and offer global payouts within their own apps.

Wise is a good fit if you want to offer international transfers without building out your own treasury function. While it also offers global accounts and card issuing, these features are more limited compared to providers with a broader embedded finance stack.

Nium

Nium helps platforms offer global payments, accounts, and card issuing without building infrastructure from scratch. It supports use cases ranging from embedded wallets and mass payouts to business cards and compliance tooling.

Nium’s platform is particularly geared toward financial institutions, marketplaces, and enterprise platforms expanding into new regions. For businesses that require access to financial services across multiple countries, it offers a modular approach; however, integration complexity and regional availability may vary.

What are embedded finance solutions?

Embedded finance solutions are financial tools, like bank accounts, loans, and payment processing, integrated directly into non-financial products. The "solution" is the product category that allows a brand to keep customers in their ecosystem instead of sending them to a third-party bank.

Types of embedded finance solutions

• Embedded payments: Beyond the "Buy" button. This includes automated split payments and instant seller settlements.

• Embedded lending: Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), working capital, and merchant financing based on real-time platform data.

• Embedded banking & cards: Issuing branded virtual cards and business accounts so users can manage cash where they earn it.

• Embedded insurance: Protection offered at the point of sale, like flight delay coverage or equipment protection.

Embedded finance examples

To understand how embedded finance works in practice, it is helpful to see how companies are already using it to solve real-world problems. From early-stage fintechs to global platforms, these examples demonstrate how embedded financial services are enabling businesses to grow faster, reduce costs, and enhance customer experiences.

TradeBridge

TradeBridge provides multi-currency funding to businesses across various sectors, including eCommerce, healthcare, and professional services. To scale globally, the team needed a way to deliver funds, collect repayments, and manage multiple currencies without relying on traditional banks.

By integrating Airwallex APIs, TradeBridge built digital wallets for each customer. These wallets make it easy to hold and convert currencies, collect repayments directly from platforms like Amazon and PayPal, and send funds in the client’s preferred currency. It also provided the team with real-time visibility into receivables, enabling them to adjust funding limits based on live trading data.

As a result, TradeBridge streamlined its entire funding process, unlocking the flexibility needed to grow across Europe, Asia, and the US.

Thinkst

Thinkst builds security tools for enterprises, including its flagship product, Canarytokens. These small pieces of data are planted across systems to detect breaches early. Thinkst recently launched a credit card token designed to trigger instant alerts if a malicious actor tries to test or misuse card data.

Airwallex provides the infrastructure behind this innovation. With the help of Airwallex’s platform APIs and scalable BIN coverage, Thinkst can issue thousands of virtual cards and monitor activity in real-time. This protects their customers proactively against fraud, especially when operating across multiple geographies and payment systems.

These embedded security features provide early warnings and faster response times for companies entering new markets. They also integrate seamlessly into existing systems without introducing extra complexity.

Meow

Meow is a US-based neobank designed to help businesses maximize the value of their cash. Its platform offers high-yield checking accounts, access to US Treasury Bills, and powerful tools for managing multiple accounts.

When Meow wanted to launch a new card product, it partnered with Airwallex to expedite the process. Using Airwallex Issuing and Embedded Finance APIs, Meow launched a branded business card that offers 1.5% cashback and up to 2% savings on FX fees for G7 currencies. With no transaction fees and fast global payout capabilities, Meow’s customers can manage expenses with more flexibility and better returns.

Thanks to Airwallex’s infrastructure, Meow brought the new product to market in half the time it expected and is now well-positioned to expand its offering as customer demand grows.

Amazon

Amazon has quietly built one of the most sophisticated embedded finance ecosystems in the world. From Amazon Pay at checkout to Amazon Lending and its co-branded credit cards, financial services are deeply integrated into the customer and seller experience.

For buyers, Amazon Pay makes checkout easier and helps increase conversion. For sellers, embedded lending products offer access to working capital based on live sales data. The Prime Visa card offers cashback and keeps shoppers within the Amazon ecosystem. These services support growth across both sides of the marketplace.

Uber

Uber has embedded financial tools into its driver and rider experience to support operational efficiency and retention. Drivers can use Instant Pay to access their earnings immediately and manage day-to-day spending with an Uber debit card. They can also access micro-insurance products tailored to their needs.

By offering these services within the app, Uber provides drivers with faster access to their earnings, increased financial control, and added peace of mind. These features improve the overall driver experience and help Uber stay competitive in the gig economy.

Benefits of embedded finance

Embedded finance transforms your platform into a financial ecosystem, driving high-margin revenue through transaction fees and interest. By integrating tools at the point of need, you eliminate friction, maximize customer retention, and gain a massive data advantage over traditional banks.

Strategic benefits: retention & stickiness

• Reduced churn: When users rely on your platform for both operations (SaaS) and their money (banking), the switching cost becomes massive. Platforms like Square and Shopify report that users who use 4+ products are 8–15x more likely to stay.

• Customer lifetime value (LTV) Lift: By adding financial services, platforms typically see a 2x to 5x increase in LTV.⁵ You are moving from a flat subscription fee to a model where you earn every time the customer spends or receives money.

• Competitive differentiation: In crowded markets, "software-only" becomes a commodity. Offering native banking or instant payouts makes your platform an indispensable "all-in-one" hub that competitors can't easily replicate.

Financial benefits: new revenue streams

• Interchange revenue: You earn a percentage of the transaction fee every time a user swipes a branded card you've issued.

• Lending margins: By offering Merchant Cash Advances or BNPL, you earn interest and origination fees. Because you see the user's real-time sales data, you can often underwrite risk more accurately than a traditional bank.

• Float income: You can earn interest on the cash balances (the "float") that users keep in their digital wallets or business accounts on your platform.

Operational and experience benefits

• Increased conversion: Removing the "friction of the handoff" (sending a user to an external bank or payment site) prevents cart abandonment. Integrated financing can boost checkout conversion by 20% to 30%.

• Proprietary data insights: You gain a 360-degree view of your customer’s financial health. This data allows you to offer "Just-in-Time" products like a pre-approved loan the moment a merchant’s inventory drops below a certain level.

• Automated reconciliation: For B2B platforms, embedding payments directly into the invoicing workflow eliminates manual "accounting headaches," saving your users hours of work and making your software more valuable.

Drawbacks of embedded finance

The main hurdles of embedded finance are technical complexity and the regulatory burden of being the "face" of a financial service, even if you aren't the one holding the licenses.

Regulatory and compliance drawbacks

• Vicarious liability: You are often the primary point of contact for regulators. If your platform fails AML (Anti-Money Laundering) or KYC (Know Your Customer) checks, you face the fines directly.

• Sponsor bank dependency: If your partner bank faces a regulatory crackdown or "Cease and Desist" order, your financial features can be frozen instantly, regardless of your own performance.

• Jurisdictional fragmentation: Expanding globally requires navigating a patchwork of different lending and consumer protection laws (e.g., PSD3 in Europe vs. CFPB rules in the US).

Strategic and brand drawbacks

• Reputational contagion: If a customer has a bad experience with a frozen account or a disputed loan, they blame your brand, not the backend bank.

• Single point of failure: Relying on one BaaS provider creates massive concentration risk. If they suffer an outage or go bankrupt, your revenue stream disappears.

• Underestimated complexity: Approximately 81% of executives report significantly underestimating the technical and operational resources required to maintain these systems.

Financial and operational drawbacks

• Credit & default risk: If you offer lending (like BNPL), you are exposed to balance sheet losses if a significant number of users default during an economic downturn.

• Support overhead: Financial products generate high-friction support tickets. Your team must be trained to handle sensitive issues like fraud claims and fund recovery.

• Security stakes: Every financial API integration is a new attack vector. A data breach involving financial ledgers is far more damaging than a standard SaaS data leak.

Regulatory burden: being the "face" of the service.

• Compliance Responsibility: Even if you use a "Partner Bank" model, you are usually responsible for the first line of KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering). If a fraudulent actor uses your platform to launder money, the reputational (and often legal) blow lands on your brand first.

• Shifting Legal Landscapes: Regulations in 2026 are tightening around data privacy (SOC2/PCI-DSS) and AI-driven credit decisions. You must have dedicated staff to ensure your financial features stay compliant with both federal and state laws.

• Vendor Lock-in Risk: Because your product becomes so deeply integrated with your financial provider’s API, switching providers is a massive, multi-month undertaking. You are essentially "married" to your provider’s fee structure and roadmap.

Embedded finance vs. banking-as-a-service (BaaS)

The main difference between Embedded Finance and BaaS (Banking-as-a-Service) is who owns the customer relationship and where the financial service lives. Think of BaaS as the back-end infrastructure (the plumbing and licenses) and Embedded Finance as the front-end experience (the faucet the customer actually uses). While they are two sides of the same coin, they solve different problems for different players in the ecosystem:

How embedded finance creates new revenue streams

In 2026, the transition from "software company" to "fintech hub" is driven by a simple economic reality: financial services often carry higher margins and better retention than software subscriptions alone.

By integrating Embedded Finance Solutions, businesses are moving beyond SaaS fees and tapping into the and 7 trillion flow of global transactions. Here is exactly how these new revenue streams work.

Monetizing interchange fees

Every time a customer or merchant swipes a card issued by your platform, a small percentage of the transaction (the interchange fee) is paid by the merchant to the bank.

By partnering with an embedded finance company to issue branded cards like Shopify Balance or Stripe Issuing, you keep a portion of that interchange fee, usually between 1% and 1.5%.

Why it works: This is "passive" revenue. You earn money every time your users pay for gas, inventory, or lunch using the card you provided.

Net interest margin (NIM) sharing

When users keep cash balances in the virtual accounts you provide, that money doesn't just sit there. It earns interest.

Through a revenue-share agreement with a partner bank (BaaS), you can earn a "spread" on those deposits. In 2026's interest rate environment, even a small spread on millions of dollars in aggregate deposits can equal a significantly high-margin income.

Why it Works: It turns your platform into a deposit-gathering engine for banks, and they pay you for the volume.

Financing-as-a-feature (lending commissions)

You have better data on your users than any traditional bank. You know their daily sales, seasonal trends, and growth trajectory.

You can offer instant working capital or Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) at the point of need. You earn through origination fees, referral commissions, or by taking a percentage of the interest paid by the borrower.

Why it works: Because you can deduct repayments directly from the user's incoming sales (Revenue-Based Financing), the risk is lower, and the "attach rate" is higher.

Transaction and payout fees

Speed is a premium service in 2026. You can charge a flat fee or a small percentage for Instant Payouts. While standard ACH might be free, a gig worker or small business might gladly pay 1.5% to have their earnings land in their account in seconds rather than days.

Why it Works: It solves a liquidity problem for the user while creating a high-frequency, low-overhead revenue line for you.

Embedded insurance referrals

Protection is most valuable at the moment of purchase. By embedding insurance (e.g., shipping protection for e-commerce or liability insurance for contractors), you earn a commission on every policy sold.

Why it works: It adds a layer of trust to your ecosystem while monetizing a risk that the user was already going to insure elsewhere.

How this boosts your valuation (the "rule of 40")

In the 2026 market, investors prioritize the Rule of 40 (Growth Rate + Profit Margin). Embedded finance helps you hit this by:

• Reducing CAC: You acquire a customer for your software and "upsell" them to finance for and in additional marketing.

• Lowering churn: It is notoriously difficult for a business to switch platforms once their capital, payroll, and spending are all tied to your ecosystem.

Now, the traditional boundaries of the financial sector have dissolved. We no longer "go" to the bank; instead, the bank has come to us, quietly integrated into the SaaS platforms, marketplaces, and apps we use every day.

This shift is driven by Embedded Finance Solutions, a market that is no longer just a trend. It's the engine for business retention and revenue.

What to consider when choosing embedded finance solutions

Choosing an Embedded Finance Solution is a high-stakes decision that shifts your company’s role from a service provider to a financial fiduciary. Nowadays, the market is saturated with "plug-and-play" options, but a poor choice can lead to massive technical debt or regulatory fines.

Here is the step-by-step roadmap for evaluating and choosing the right partner.

Step 1: Define your "north star" use case

Before looking at APIs, identify the core problem you are solving. 

Are you trying to reduce checkout friction (Embedded Payments), provide capital to your merchants (Embedded Lending), or give gig workers instant access to earnings (Embedded Banking)?

Why it Matters: A provider like Stripe is excellent for general SaaS payments, but if you need high-volume, cross-border B2B disbursements, a specialist like Airwallex will save you millions in FX fees and integration headaches.

Step 2: Evaluate API maturity and "developer Velocity"

The quality of a provider's documentation is a direct proxy for the quality of their product. Your engineering team should test their Sandbox environment immediately. Look for robust SDKs, clear error codes, and "idempotency," which prevents accidental double-charging during a network glitch.

Why it matters: High-quality APIs mean a "Speed-to-Market" of weeks instead of months. If the documentation is vague, expect your launch date to slip.

Step 3: Audit compliance and risk "heavy lifting"

You need a partner that absorbs risk, rather than one that simply provides tools and leaves you to navigate legal complexities alone. It is essential to verify if a provider offers KYC/AML-as-a-Service, meaning they handle user identity verification and the ongoing monitoring of fraudulent transactions.

Airwallex is a provider that offers a comprehensive KYC/AML-as-a-Service model through its Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) and Embedded Finance solutions. By leveraging Airwallex’s global financial infrastructure, you can offload the heavy lifting of regulatory compliance to their specialized teams

Key certifications: Ensure they are PCI-DSS Level 1 compliant and have SOC2 Type II reports available for your security team to review.

Step 4: Analyze total cost of ownership (TCO)

Don't just look at the "per-transaction" fee. The hidden costs are what kill margins. Ask about:

• Implementation fees: One-time costs to get started.

• Monthly minimums: Penalties if your volume is lower than expected.

• Payout/withdrawal fees: Costs to move money out of the ecosystem.

• Revenue share: Does the provider take a flat fee, or do you share the "interchange" (the profit from card swipes)?

Why it matters: For high-volume businesses, a "buy-rate" model (where you pay a flat fee above the base cost) is usually more profitable than a simple percentage-based rev-share.

Step 5: Test for Global and "Multi-Rail" Scalability

Your business might be US-only today, but your financial stack shouldn't trap you there. Being limited to credit cards is a competitive disadvantage. Ensure your provider supports Multi-Rail payments, allowing you to route transactions through the most efficient path based on speed, cost, and geography.

• Real-time rails: Support for FedNow and RTP is essential for instant B2B settlements and 24/7 liquidity.

• Cost efficiency: High-volume transactions should be routed via ACH or Account-to-Account (A2A) transfers to bypass high interchange fees.

• Data integrity: Ensure the provider uses ISO 20022 messaging to attach rich data (like invoice numbers) to every payment for automated reconciliation.

Why it matters: Expanding to Europe, Asia, or Latin America shouldn't mean rebuilding your infrastructure from scratch. 

• Unified API: Choose a partner with a single API that connects to local rails worldwide, such as Pix in Brazil, SEPA Instant in Europe, or UPI in India.

• License footprint: Prioritize providers that hold their own local licenses. This reduces "middleman" fees and prevents service disruptions if a third-party bank faces regulatory issues.

• FX optimization: A global stack allows you to hold and settle in multiple currencies, avoiding the costs of forced currency conversions.

Regulatory and compliance considerations about embedded finance

In the world of embedded finance, regulatory scrutiny isn't just a hurdle. It’s the landscape. While "moving fast and breaking things" works for social media apps, breaking a banking regulation can lead to "cease" orders faster than you can say "Series A."

To navigate this, you need to choose an operational model that balances speed-to-market with long-term defensibility. Here is a refined look at your three primary paths:

1. Partner bank model: You leverage the license of a sponsor bank. This is the fastest way to launch, as the bank handles the regulatory heavy lifting.

2. Own license: Much slower and more expensive, but gives you 100% control over the user experience and higher margins.

3. Compliance-as-a-service: You use a middleware provider (like Alloy or Unit) that sits between you and the bank to automate the "paperwork" of finance.

Build the future of embedded finance, one API at a time

Embedded finance is transforming how platforms operate and the value they deliver to their users. When you integrate financial tools into your product, you turn accounts, wallets, FX, and issuing into something more than infrastructure. You create new ways to grow, deepen relationships, and stand out in a crowded market.

Platforms like Amazon, Uber, and Meow are already shaping the opportunity. They have demonstrated how powerful it can be when finance becomes an integral part of the experience, rather than an add-on. Now, it's your move. Whether you're supporting sellers, managing global payouts, or building financial services into your software, embedded finance gives you the foundation to do more.

With the right partner, you can launch quickly, stay compliant, and design an experience that works on your terms. What you build next is entirely yours.

Frequently asked questions about embedded finance

What is the most flexible business account for US-based tech or SaaS companies? 

The Airwallex Business Account offers multi-currency wallets, fast interbank-rate FX, API-driven embedded finance features, and zero account or maintenance fees for users on the Explore plan. These capabilities enable software platforms to manage payments, card issuance, foreign exchange, and global treasury operations through modular APIs, all under US licensing.

Can any business offer embedded finance? 

Technically yes, but you will need to work with a licensed provider. Most platforms partner with a BaaS provider or sponsor bank to manage compliance and handle the financial infrastructure behind the scenes. The goal is to embed finance where it naturally complements the existing user journey.

What’s the ROI of embedded finance?

Measuring the ROI of Embedded Finance Solutions goes beyond just adding a new line to your P&L. In 2026, it is treated as a "revenue multiplier" that increases the value of every existing customer you have.

The ROI is generally measured across three core pillars: Direct Revenue, Operational Efficiency, and Equity Value (LTV/Churn).

How does embedded finance improve customer retention?

Yes, embedded finance improves retention by weaving a "financial moat" around your platform, making your software essential to the user's daily operations rather than just a tool.

By integrating bank accounts, instant payouts, and credit directly into your workflow, you create high switching costs that can reduce churn by up to 64%, according to the 2025 PYMNTS intelligence report.⁶ This transformation shifts your role from a simple vendor to a strategic partner that provides the "financial oxygen" your customers need to grow.

Is embedded finance secure? 

Yes, provided you partner with established providers who maintain SOC2 Type II and PCI-DSS Level 1 certifications. These companies handle the heavy encryption and fraud monitoring so your primary focus remains on your core product.

How do your APIs handle data syncing with my existing CRM/ERP? 

Modern embedded finance APIs use real-time webhooks to push transaction data directly into systems like Salesforce, NetSuite, or HubSpot. This ensures your financial records and customer profiles stay perfectly synchronized without manual entry.

Sources

1. https://www.pymnts.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/PYMNTS-Embedded-Finance-Grows-Up-October-2025.pdf  

2. https://www.bain.com/insights/embedded-finance/ 

3. https://www.pymnts.com/study/embedded-finance-grows-up-online-marketplaces-customer-retention/  

4. https://www.galileo-ft.com/blog/embedded-b2b-finance-2026-next-frontier/  

5. https://a16z.com/every-company-will-be-a-fintech-company/ 

6. https://www.pymnts.com/study/embedded-finance-grows-up-online-marketplaces-customer-retention/