Hi from Berlin,
welcome to the second week of our themed newsletter editions. Today we focus exclusively on Embedded Payments, and next week on Embedded Banking.
That means by the end of July I will have a first good reality test of how the themed editions work. During August I will take a break from the normal newsletter editions, since I expect only a very few relevant announcements. You will still hear from me though, with a different kind of recap looking back at embedded finance across the first half of 2026.
As last week, please use the thumbs up and down buttons at the end of this email to share your feedback on the new format.
Now let's dive in!
Building something in embedded finance? Whether you are a brand comparing providers, an enabler working through your go-to-market strategy, or a team trying to fill a crucial (fintech) role, my office hours are a free call to talk it through. I share my honest read and, where it helps, intros to my network.
News
The biggest stories of the month, smaller news in brief, and updates on stories I covered earlier.
Unipaas keeps signing UK childcare and education platforms: Since our eyworks story last month, MagicBooking, Kids Club HQ and SchoolBusTracker have all announced embedded payments with Unipaas, joining Connect Childcare, eyworks and Tapestry in the same corner of the market. MagicBooking, which says it serves over 2,000 schools and clubs, was even migrated off its previous payment processor, cards and all. For the childcare platforms, the anchor remains Tax-Free Childcare reconciliation; SchoolBusTracker extends the same play to school transport, and this week, funeral software provider Seker Tech became the first to sign outside education entirely. The accounting-to-early-years playbook we described appears to be turning into a vertical-by-vertical roll-up. (Read my eyworks story)
Stripe and Advent bid more than $53bn for PayPal: The $60.50-per-share offer, a 28% premium backed by roughly $50bn in committed financing, would give Stripe and the private equity firm equal stakes. PayPal's board reportedly views the bid as inadequate, seeing it as undervaluing the company and carrying regulatory and financing risks, which Reuters reads as the opening of negotiations rather than a rejection. For embedded finance, the relevant question sits one layer down: Stripe is one of the biggest enablers in the market, and PayPal owns Braintree and Hyperwallet, so a combination would concentrate a meaningful share of the infrastructure. (Reuters)
Modulr strengthens its European leadership as it pushes for growth in the region: Founding member Jakub Zmuda becomes Managing Director for Europe and Chair of the Management Board of Modulr Finance B.V., while payments veteran Mark Buitenhek, formerly of ING and boards including the European Payments Council and SWIFT, joins as Independent Chair of the Supervisory Board. The embedded payments provider says it reached profitability last year and launched in the US earlier this year, with Europe now the stated growth focus. (Finextra)
Visa launches a travel platform, moving in the opposite direction to embedded finance: Visa Destinations is a mobile-first platform exclusive to Visa cardholders, live in ten locations including Paris, London and Milan, offering curated experiences, city guides and premium perks with partners such as Santander, Star Alliance and Trip.com Group. While brands keep embedding payments into their products, here a payments network is embedding travel and commerce around its cards. (Finextra)
Wix and Elavon bundle websites and payments for US small businesses: The partnership adds Wix's website creation tools to Elavon Business Solutions, the small-business platform of the U.S. Bank-owned acquirer, with tiered packages ranging from digital presence to scaling. So yes, this is the payments provider distributing software, not a software platform embedding payments, but still an interesting partnership. (PYMNTS)
From EFR
Insights, events, and conversations from Embedded Finance Review.
Why German plumbers happily pay 1% to stop chasing invoices: With embedded payments as this edition's theme, one episode worth revisiting is my conversation with Marcel Mansfeld, co-founder and CPO (now CEO) of ToolTime. The company provides software for German craft businesses with one to ten employees and launched ToolTime Pay with Adyen, starting with cards only before pivoting when card payments reached barely 1 to 2% of volume. We covered why bank transfers dominate the craft industry, what ToolTime actually sells with its 1% fee capped at €10 (automated reconciliation and dunning, not payment acceptance), and why Marcel remains sceptical that open banking can match the user experience of an embedded account. Listen to the episode
The US role model for vertical SaaS payments: Before Europe's vertical software platforms started embedding payments niche by niche, ServiceTitan showed where the model leads. Its IPO filing laid out a fintech stack spanning payment acceptance and consumer financing, with ServiceTitan reporting that businesses offering financing see a 12% higher close rate and 13% higher ticket size. Worth revisiting as the European equivalents take shape. Read the full story
Builder
One person building in this space, and their take on it.
Dr. Mikko Riikkinen, Wolt: For nearly two decades, Mikko has worked at the intersection of fintech strategy, infrastructure, and product. He has helped traditional banks get digital and scale payment and embedded finance providers across Europe before moving to the platform side as Head of Financial Services at Wolt, where he leads the company’s financial service offering and strategic partnerships. Alongside his industry work, he holds a doctorate from Tampere University, where he researched how value is created in financial services ecosystems. Having experienced embedded finance as a researcher, service provider, and platform operator, he was an obvious choice to share his perspective on where the industry stands today and where it’s heading next:
"The biggest misconception in embedded finance is that success comes from adding another financial product. In reality, value is captured by whoever makes finance most relevant to the customer’s primary journey. Financial services create the greatest value when they strengthen the underlying business and not when they compete for attention."
"Building embedded finance is rarely a technology challenge. The APIs already exist. The difficult part is redesigning processes, incentives and organisational boundaries so that financial services become a natural part of the customer experience rather than a separate business line."
You can find Mikko on LinkedIn.
That's it for this edition. If you enjoy my newsletter, podcast, or events, the best way to support me is to share them with others in your network. Feedback is always welcome, too.
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Best wishes from Berlin,
Lars Markull (LinkedIn)
