Embedded Finance Review Podcast, episode 31. Published 19 August 2025. Guest: Danuta Czapeczko, PragmaGO. Host: Lars Markull.
Lars Markull: Embedded finance is only really happening in the US or Western Europe, largely dominated by big tech. I hear these statements quite often, but I know they're not true. So I sought out an expert who could show us a completely different picture.
In this episode I speak with Danuta Czapeczko from PragmaGO, an embedded lending provider from Poland. Danuta has extensive experience building fintech and embedded finance products in Poland and the rest of the Central and Eastern Europe, or CEE, region. We speak about the maturity of embedded finance in this region, what non-financial companies are the role models, and how customer adoption, regulation and the presence of innovative incumbent banks are affecting embedded finance development.
Before we dive in, a quick note about what I'm doing at Embedded Finance Review. I publish weekly newsletters, a biweekly podcast, and host in-person and virtual industry events. You can find all of these on our website, embeddedfinancereview.com. In addition, I also work with non-financial brands, infrastructure providers, and banks in understanding, designing and launching their embedded finance products. If you're interested in working with me, visit my website and reach out. And now let's dive in.
Welcome
Lars Markull: Hi Danuta, welcome to the podcast. First of all, how are you doing today, and in what part of the world are you located right now?
Danuta Czapeczko: Hi Lars. Thank you for your invitation. I'm very well, thank you. I'm speaking to you from Poland, which is the headquarters of PragmaGO operations.
Lars Markull: And that's great timing. Today is Friday, we're recording it. I'm actually going on vacation on the weekend and we are actually driving to Poland, not to the south but to the north, to the Baltic Sea. So looking forward to some summer beach over there.
Danuta Czapeczko: I think you are lucky, because summer already arrived finally to Poland, so I think you will enjoy it.
Lars Markull: Yeah, so far it was more rain than sun, but I think now it's well timed on our end.
Danuta, today it's a bit of a learning session, so to say. Talking a lot about embedded finance in the Central and Eastern European region. Obviously you're based in Poland, but maybe before we dive into the whole embedded finance in the CEE region, maybe you can give us a bit of a personal background. How did you get into the fintech ecosystem? What is your exposure to fintech? What parts of fintech, of embedded finance, are you working on?
How Danuta got into fintech
Danuta Czapeczko: Thank you for this question. My path wasn't that direct, but my core interests have always been in sales, technology and customer experience. So working in finance, I could see for many years that many processes were clunky and inconvenient. Applying for a loan, making payments, even tracking your finances could be a real headache.
And so when PragmaGO, my company right now, considered its shift into fintech, I just signed up to lead this project. And I think it was one of the best of my professional decisions. It's been an amazing ride, for now it's like several years, like six, seven for now.
So I have found that embedded finance offers a powerful solution to these issues I was bothered about before. Removing friction and making financial tools more accessible, actually, for everybody, from consumers and also small businesses. So what truly excites me in embedded finance is the potential to create a more inclusive financial system. I think everybody has a need to have a mission, just to be engaged in what we are doing. So by embedding financial services into platforms that people already use, actually, we don't have to invite them, they are there, we can reach those who have been traditionally underserved by banks or other financial institutions. And I believe this is about empowering individuals and businesses.