> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.embeddedfinancereview.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Fintech meets healhtech | How virtual cards can improve back office processes - URL: https://www.embeddedfinancereview.com/fintech-meets-healhtech-how-virtual-cards-can-improve-back-office-processes/ - Published: 2024-09-09T08:26:05.000Z - Updated: 2025-11-16T21:16:18.000Z - Description: Holiday Extras partners with Checkout.com for virtual card solution, Xero extends Modulr partnership to launch payroll product, and is Froda eyeing non-financial brands? - Author: Lars Markull - Tags: Newsletter [Upgrade to Premium](https://embeddedfinancereview.beehiiv.com/upgrade?%5Fbhlid=8c9384a0b72d32694f4bdfcfc651e81267da21cf&ref=embeddedfinancereview.com) Hi {{first name|embedded finance friend}} It looks like summer is over in Berlin, where the temperature has dropped from 30 to around 20 degrees Celsius. I am not sure if it is because of global warming or me getting older, but somehow autumn is my preferred season of the year. Before getting into the news stories, there are three small things I wanted to highlight right at the beginning: 1) My fintech friend Joris Hensen is collaborating with professor Silke Finken on an embedded finance report, and they need your help! They have created a survey to understand the impact and role of embedded finance. If you have a minute, please help ([LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7237726948582445060/?%5Fbhlid=ae14e07cf48ca9eaf6ac01a64c9f7e82e126d516&ref=embeddedfinancereview.com)). 2) If you happen to be involved in embedded finance activities in Switzerland (or want to), you should have a look at the upcoming report and invite-only-event from our reader Dr. Manuel Thomet ([LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/manuelthomet%5Fembeddedfinance-baas-innovation-activity-7237420465953116160--dfD?%5Fbhlid=eaf679200a3212c3694651b44e99a2c9f15d0dc7&ref=embeddedfinancereview.com)). 3) Two weeks ago, I mentioned that Delivery Hero is reportedly working on their first lending product for restaurants. However, Delivery Hero has already been offering lending products since the start of this year through its Spanish brand Glovo, which they acquired in 2022 ([The Paypers](https://thepaypers.com/payments-general/glovo-partners-with-youlend--1266738?%5Fbhlid=9c956f07c2ec68410f64ec9f25240be1a1cb222e&ref=embeddedfinancereview.com)). Thanks Luuk for pointing this out. But now let’s dive into this edition 👇 --- *Advertisement:* ### 🦾Master AI & ChatGPT for FREE in just 3 hours 🤯 1 Million+ people have attended, and are RAVING about this AI Workshop. Don’t believe us? Attend it for free and see it for yourself. [Save your spot here. 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I am speaking with Niklas Radner, co-founder and CEO of German startup Nelly. Niklas and his team are fintech experts, and they founded Nelly to build a new financial service provider for medical practices in Germany and Europe. But instead of starting with a fintech product, they decided to launch a digital customer onboarding product. Why did they do that? And why does Niklas believe it was their advantage that none of the co-founders had a background in healthtech? Tune in and find out. You can find the episode on [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/3f9l8UgxP9rkUZz38T17lm?si=C-OzphFoTRmHOVtGvjMpqA&%5Fbhlid=8c56b3b7b571910a9862c4167700eaa4f1b89f2c&ref=embeddedfinancereview.com), [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fintech-meets-healthtech-how-nelly-is-building-a/id1748335340?i=1000668589638&%5Fbhlid=a5e2a70056bdc1784837f28967efe9619c95a29d&ref=embeddedfinancereview.com), and other podcasting platforms. --- ## Virtual cards improve back office processes for travel provider ![](https://www.embeddedfinancereview.com/content/images/media-beehiiv-com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down-format=auto-onerror=redirect-quality=80/uploads/asset/file/e126115e-c921-4298-b8a2-fc23be6e94c7/hex-t-1725871212.png) Holiday Extras is a travel platform, where customers can book travel add-ons such as parking spots at the departure airport, access to airport lounges, car rental at the destination, and a lot more. While travellers book directly on Holiday Extras portal, the company needs to ensure that the parking sport or car rental is actually reserved at the respective service provider. Typically, this required manual work from the staff at Holiday Extras, but now Holiday Extras has teamed up with Checkout.com ([Paypers](https://thepaypers.com/payments-general/checkoutcom-integrates-virtual-card-for-holiday-extras--1269984?%5Fbhlid=800db134dbb89530158ed515bfcac1ff7f201cb2&ref=embeddedfinancereview.com)). The payment provider offers a virtual card issuing service, which Holiday Extras leverages to immediately make a reservation for their customer. In addition to time savings, the usage of virtual cards also enables Holiday Extras to lower decline rates and improve security. The announcement of Holiday Extras is also a great example that embedded finance is not always something the customer experiences directly. As you can see in this example, the virtual cards are being created by a non-financial brand but not to provide them to their customers and offer them a better banking product. But instead, the non-financial brand is issuing virtual cards for their own benefits. The customer indirectly benefits from a better user experience, such as faster response times. Nevertheless, the customer does not know that a financial product was being created to achieve that. --- ## Xero launches payroll services ![](https://www.embeddedfinancereview.com/content/images/media-beehiiv-com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down-format=auto-onerror=redirect-quality=80/uploads/asset/file/9f5fba12-c947-48fd-bafc-bfd733f53275/2945240-t-1725872428.png) The accounting provider Xero increases their financial product offering in the UK with the launch of a payroll feature ([The Paypers](https://thepaypers.com/payments-general/modulr-expands-xero-integration-to-include-payroll-services--1269925?%5Fbhlid=77dc378db493bab726efcfb74c7aa5bca82c3925&ref=embeddedfinancereview.com)). The feature was built in cooperation with banking-as-a-service provider Modulr. The two companies have been partnering already since 2023, when Xero launched an accounts-payable feature for their customers. With this feature, companies could make batch transfers for their incoming invoices, and thus, reduce time. The payroll feature enables companies to process single or batch payroll payments. This allows them to decrease errors, reduce payroll processing times by up to 80%, approve payments via a mobile app, and consolidate multiple payments to a single recipient, potentially lowering transaction fees. For companies like Xero, adding a payroll feature can have a massive impact. It does not only increase stickiness and improve user experience, but it can also generate substantial revenue. Xero is likely in a good position to cover all types of embedded finance products, perhaps at some point even insurance and investment products for SMEs. Personally, I would be very surprised if they were not able to make a majority of their revenue from financial services in the next few years. --- ## Froda launches a new lending partnership; will non-financial brands follow? ![](https://www.embeddedfinancereview.com/content/images/media-beehiiv-com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down-format=auto-onerror=redirect-quality=80/uploads/asset/file/82d92996-07d9-4c8e-a516-41a6ca46928d/6568795944b809561028e638_froda_cs_thumbnail-t-1725874309.jpg) The lending provider Froda has teamed up with SME neobank Juni to offer financing products to Juni’s users. The two Swedish companies describe it as an ‘embedded finance’ partnership ([Froda](https://www.froda.se/en/press/press-releases/froda-and-juni-team-up-for-embedded-finance-expansion-3340209?%5Fbhlid=6b8c57231b7c61ebc25edc5553268f806f7d701b&ref=embeddedfinancereview.com)). And while I know a few more people who would agree with this statement, personally, I consider it only embedded finance when the frontend solution is a non-financial brand. Juni is obviously a fintech, so why did I still cover it? I have came across Froda the very first time earlier this year. While the company does have a direct offering for SMEs to apply for finances, it has created an internal team to focus on partnerships. So far, the company has partnered with fintech and fintech-y providers to embed their financing products. There are at least a handful of embedded lending providers with a strong track record working with non-financial brands. However, many of them focus on the UK or the big European countries. Froda appears to be one of the firsts to take this model to the Nordics. Surely, their competitors from the UK and central Europe are eyeing at the Nordics as well, so it will be interesting to see who can score more non-financial brands as customers. --- ## A tax bill and funding round for a British banking-as-a-service provider ![](https://www.embeddedfinancereview.com/content/images/media-beehiiv-com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down-format=auto-onerror=redirect-quality=80/uploads/asset/file/a4185186-7c2e-4f52-b1bc-17a5f57a05e1/the-bank-of-london-logo-t-1725884372.png) The UK company The Bank of London may sound like an official institution but is a British bank and infrastructure provider. It was launched in 2021 and is offering three types of services: clearing and settling for other banks, banking services for SMEs, and a banking-as-a-service solution. I have covered them in the past with new feature launches, but due to their young age and focus on fintech activities, I did not see them that often in an embedded finance context. In the past week, the bank has been in the news for different reasons, and the whole story sounds a bit bizarre ([Finextra](https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/44692/the-bank-of-london-scrambles-to-deal-with-unpaid-tax-bill?%5Fbhlid=2ef7cddcda084dcb8cc70a6e1ad133a8743b1a69&ref=embeddedfinancereview.com)). To break it down for you: 1. CEO resigns on September 3rd 2. UK government files a case for an unpaid tax bill on September 7th 3. £42 million funding announcement on September 8th 4. The bank announces that all taxes have been paid and that the disruption was caused by internal miscommunications on September 9th ([PYMNTS](https://www.pymnts.com/news/banking/2024/bank-of-london-catches-up-on-tax-payments-after-internal-miscommunication/?%5Fbhlid=aebc100ad5f84f6ff6c9858675f7f2673eabb2c3&ref=embeddedfinancereview.com)) Thanks to all these news stories, many more people will be familiar with The Bank of London, but that was probably not worth the price? Hopefully now that the tax story is settled, the bank can focus on putting the investment to good use, and perhaps we will see them in an embedded finance context in the near future. --- ## Insightful links - Deutsche Bank’s Dee Mitra (Global head of product for banking-as-a-service) discusses the potential of embedded finance for banks ([PYMNTS](http://The value proposition for embedded finance becomes clearer by the day. Businesses see integrated, personalized payments and lending connected directly to their digital platforms. Consumers see new payment options added to their digital experiences. Nonbank financial institutions can offer new services within existing products. Banks see an opportunity to bring the Banking-as-a-Service %28BaaS%29 model to both business and consumer segments. If there’s any element of that equation that could use a sharper focus, it’s banks. As Dee Mitra, global head of product for Banking-as-a-Service, context banking and embedded finance at Deutsche Bank, told PYMNTS, embedded finance allows connection to BaaS APIs and opens up the infrastructure of the banks, providing new opportunities. Banks are also making strategic partnerships and investment decisions for BaaS companies and FinTechs, as well as in-house builds related to embedded finance services. At a time when embedded finance is seen as a prime opportunity for nonbank financial services companies, Mitra said she sees the glass half full for banks with several arising opportunities “We already enjoy the customers’ trust, and we have been with them for a multitude of years,” she told PYMNTS. “We understand their pain points. We are used to them. They’re used to us. If you look at banking as such, it’s in the middle. Every business uses banking. It’s the center of everything.” Mitra outlined several use cases where APIs and BaaS are creating new opportunities, the most important of which center on cash visibility, cash flow forecasting and cash flow management. Here, APIs provide real-time information on account balances and transactions, offering clients a comprehensive view of their financial position. The rise of APIs has been a key enabler for embedded finance and BaaS, helping provide better visibility and transparency. Mitra said she views APIs not as an innovation but as table stakes in the industry. “APIs are a standard now,” she said, highlighting their role in enhancing security, enabling modularization of services and exchanging data. With better data access, banks can offer improved forecasting services to their clients. For receivables and payables, banks can provide solutions that automate and streamline processes, reducing manual work and improving efficiency. For financing, by using real-time data, banks can offer more tailored financing solutions, such as invoice financing and supply chain financing. Mitra also emphasized the promise of embedded finance in cash flow and liquidity management. She explained how APIs are transforming these critical functions. “APIs are enabling you to get access to your own account balances, real-time account balances, and your own real-time transactions,” she said. This real-time visibility allows for more efficient cash management. “With APIs, you’re able to do that and see that information on an intraday basis,” she said. “You’re able to save money, you’re able to optimize your liquidity.” Mitra said she envisions a future where at “the click of a button, you could actually ask your bank to move money in order to make your entire cash flow management and liquidity management flow better.” Navigating Challenges: Partnerships and Regulations While the opportunities are significant, Mitra acknowledged the challenges banks face in the embedded finance space. Interoperability and scalability remain hurdles, particularly when dealing with legacy platforms. “When you’re trying to do something like this, which really and clearly needs a cloud-based infrastructure, I think the scalability and interoperability is still a challenge in terms of implementation, timelines, costs, affecting user experience,” she said. Regulatory considerations also pose a challenge leading to a more complex environment. Mitra pointed out that the line between regulated and non-regulated services can be blurry, especially when navigating different jurisdictions. She said she anticipates deeper regulatory scrutiny in the future but sees this as a positive development that will bring more clarity to the industry. Despite representing a major global bank, Mitra emphasized the importance of a bank-agnostic approach in embedded finance. “The reason BaaS, embedded finance or any of these new buzzwords … is important and picking up pace is because it enables the customers to have a choice, and that is the most important thing here,” she said. To truly benefit customers, embedded finance solutions need to work across multiple banks and financial institutions, Mitra said. “If you are only looking at one bank, and you’re coming at it from a one-bank view, the use case that I just explained doesn’t work,” she said. “You need to have all your bank accounts, all your data in a single solution.” The bank-agnostic approach is particularly crucial for multinational companies operating across different geographies, enabling customers to make a choice and providing a certain level of flexibility. “The phrase ‘bank-agnostic,’ in my view, is the crux of cracking the embedded finance game,” she said. “That’s the value that you are really adding to the customer. In the retail sector, I would even go further and say there will be a day where it’ll be easy to switch banks for a retail consumer like they do today for utility companies or phone providers. We should be able to get to that stage, and you can’t do that without being bank-agnostic.”)). - Our friends from Aperture published a new bancassurance report which is highly relevant for the embedded insurance sector ([Aperture](https://www.aperture.co/bancassurance-is-back-and-better/?%5Fbhlid=ca586406a9d6310e0b7824b7d2c8c49cf2980bed&ref=embeddedfinancereview.com)). --- Somebody forwarded you this email? [*Subscribe for free*](#/portal/signup). Are you planning to start your own newsletter? [*Check out Beehiiv and get 20% off*](https://www.beehiiv.com/?via=lars&%5Fbhlid=1e2d0b53e649a19295373995086b9d9a309682d9&ref=embeddedfinancereview.com).