Fortnox Builds Its Lending, Buys Its Cards & 7 More July Stories

Hi from Berlin,

After a few days off, I am back at my desk and planning to work through some ideas for EFR in the quiet month of August.

In July, I tested a different spin for my weekly newsletter. Instead of covering all kinds of news in the weekly newsletter, I sent focused editions on lending, banking and payments. Check them out and let me know if you want me to continue this after the summer break.

I do not expect many news announcements in August, and thus, I will feature different highlights of 2026 in my weekly newsletter. If you want to read them, make sure you have the weekly mailing activated (Change here). The monthly mailing skips August and returns at the beginning of October with the September recap.

And now let's dive in 👇

News

Lending

1. Just Eat Takeaway.com and YouLend have passed €150m in embedded financing to restaurants across seven European markets. (EFR)
2. Otto and Banxware bring seller financing up to €5m to Otto Market. How the deal works and why Otto builds payments but buys lending. (EFR)
3. REA Card and YouLend launch embedded financing for German SMEs, with offers based on card revenue instead of bank credit checks. (EFR)
4. JTL and YouLend launch embedded lending for German e-commerce merchants, with same-day financing inside the JTL-Wawi ERP ecosystem. (EFR)

Banking

1. Fortnox offers SME cards with Mynt and financing through Fortnox Finans: a build-vs-buy case study in embedded finance. (EFR)
2. Expensify launches its Visa Commercial Card in the UK and Europe, built entirely on Marqeta, with credit that cannot roll over past month-end. (EFR)
3. Samsung's Galaxy Card is issued by Barclays and lives in Samsung Wallet. How it compares with the Apple Card, and why it counts as a co-brand. (EFR)

Payments

1. How Squarespace built Payments, Capital and Balance with Stripe, and why its embedded finance stack rolls out US first, Europe later. (EFR)

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this edition.

My newsletter, podcast, and events are free, but I need your support to keep them going. Please share Embedded Finance Review with your friends and coworkers, and let me know your feedback.

And if you need help understanding, building, or launching an embedded finance product, visit my website and get in touch.

Best wishes from Berlin,

Lars Markull (LinkedIn)