Gusto Launches Gusto Money: Payroll Provider Expands Into Embedded Finance With Credit, Bill Pay, and Invoicing

The US payroll provider Gusto has launched Gusto Money as part of a bigger announcement called Gusto Showcase (Gusto Money). Gusto Money consists of three different financial features:

While presented together under the Gusto Money brand, these features actually rolled out separately throughout 2025: Bill Pay launched in May through the Melio partnership, followed by Payroll Bridge with Parafin in September. Notably, rather than building these financial services in-house, Gusto is leveraging embedded solutions from specialised fintech providers.

There are a few interesting elements in this announcement, but before diving into them, it is essential to mention that the launch is not strictly Embedded Finance. Gusto is a payroll provider, so its core product is not something banks have historically offered; nevertheless, it is still closely related to financial services. Thus, Gusto is likely more fintech than a non-financial brand.

Gusto Money is not the first time the company has offered adjacent financial services. Since 2016, the company has been offering pension plans (401(k) plans) to employees of their customers through a partnership with Guideline. And Gusto seemed to have liked this product offering a lot, as it acquired Guideline completely in August 2025. The company has also been developing employee-focused financial services through Gusto Wallet, which provides employees with early pay access, a debit card, spending and savings accounts, and budgeting tools, essentially creating a comprehensive employee banking experience within the payroll platform. The announcement of three features and the creation of a Gusto Money category indicate that the company is placing an even stronger focus on offering financial services to both employers and employees.

Payroll Bridge, the line of credit for businesses to make payroll when cash flow is tight, seems like a highly logical product extension. We can all imagine the tricky situation of a founder or Managing Director who cannot make payroll, and what it may imply for their employees and their motivation. A line of credit at this point might be a lot more relevant for businesses than at any other point in time. That said, this also means these companies are tight on cash flow, and the underwriting is even more crucial than at different times. Thus, it would be interesting to know how many companies can actually receive the line of credit, as some will definitely be declined.

The strategic logic becomes clearer when considering that small businesses essentially have two main expenses: payroll and vendor payments. Having already dominated the payroll side, Gusto is now targeting the complete payment flow for SMBs.

I was pretty surprised about the launch of Bill Pay and Invoicing, though. Gusto suggests that the location where you manage payroll is also the ideal place to handle accounts receivable and payable. I guess on a high level, this makes sense as it falls under business operation, but how close is it really?

Firstly, payroll and accounts receivable and payable are typically handled separately, and most tools available in the market help you with one or the other - but not both. Therefore, many businesses have likely already set up a system for accounts payable and receivable, even if it's just in their accounting tool or business bank account.

That said, I still get that Gusto made this move. The partnership with Melio is making this move much easier, and in addition, they can put these features under the product Gusto Money. And judging by their website teasing "Coming Soon" features to "Track what's coming in, going out, and available to use—all from one connected hub," it seems like more financial features will indeed follow.