Hi Embedded Finance Friend
I am writing these lines during my last few hours in India, before heading back home to Berlin. I am glad I managed to play a long round of paddle last night, with 25°C at 20:00. I guess I will need to wait a bit before I can experience that again.
And now let’s dive in 👇
Modulr Partners with FIS to Enter the US Market
UK-based payments infrastructure provider Modulr is expanding to the United States through a partnership with FIS, which invested in Modulr through its venture arm back in 2021. Modulr will provide the underlying technology for FIS's Money Movement Hub, a platform that gives US banks a single API to connect to multiple payment rails, including FedNow and TCH RTP. This marks Modulr's first market outside of Europe, but with a different playbook: in the UK and EU, Modulr holds its own e-money licences and directly onboards fintechs and brands, while in the US, it starts as a software provider to FIS.
Read the full story on Embedded Finance Review.
Stripe Powers Checkout Inside Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft has launched Copilot Checkout, enabling users to complete purchases directly inside the AI assistant without being redirected to a retailer's website. Stripe is one of the payment partners powering the experience, alongside PayPal and Shopify, with Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Ashley Furniture, and Etsy sellers among the first merchants available. When a conversation leads to shopping, a Stripe-powered checkout appears natively in the chat, using the Agentic Commerce Protocol that Stripe codeveloped with OpenAI.
Read the full story on Embedded Finance Review.
JPMorgan Takes Over Apple Card as Goldman Exits
JPMorgan Chase has reached an agreement with Apple to become the new issuer of the Apple Card, ending Goldman Sachs' six-year credit card partnership with Apple. American Express, Capital One, Synchrony, and Barclays were all rumoured contenders, but JPMorgan won the race, acquiring an estimated $20 billion in credit card balances at a $1 billion discount reflecting higher-than-average delinquency rates. Goldman reportedly lost $1.2 billion on the card in 2022 alone, with the product's generous terms and 34% subprime customer rate proving unsustainable.
Read the full story on Embedded Finance Review.
In other Embedded Finance news
- CEO change at Solaris: Carsten Höltkemeyer stepped down at the end of 2025 and was succeeded by Steffen Jentsch, who joins from the retail brokerage platform flatexDEGIRO. The leadership transition comes less than a year after Solaris sold a majority stake to Japan's SBI Group as part of a €140 million Series G funding round (Solaris).
- Embedded Finance in Automotive: Flagship Advisory Partners published a US-focused vertical snapshot on embedded finance in automotive dealerships, repair shops, and car washes. The industry has high software penetration at 95%, but embedded fintech adoption varies: payment acceptance is mature, while payouts and lending present substantial untapped opportunity (Flagship Advisory Partners).
- Toast Adds AI Features for Food and Beverage Retailers: US company Toast announced new AI capabilities for its retail platform, including inventory insights, real-time SKU management, and AI-powered invoice scanning. The updates expand Toast's push beyond restaurants into food and beverage retail, where 83% of operators plan to increase AI tool usage this year. Toast is a textbook example of vertical SaaS monetising through embedded finance: the company generates over 70% of its revenue from financial services layered on top of its core software (Toast).
- Rain Raises $250 Million for Stablecoin Card Infrastructure: US startup Rain raised $250 million in Series C funding, boosting its valuation to $1.95 billion. The company's platform enables businesses to launch compliant stablecoin cards that work everywhere Visa is accepted, powering over $3 billion in annualised transactions across 200+ companies. Rain is essentially building BaaS infrastructure for stablecoin-based payments, letting brands embed crypto-powered cards without building the underlying rails themselves (Rain).
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 Mumbai,
Lars Markull (LinkedIn)
