Hope is not a strategy. That's a line from today's podcast episode that stuck with me. In embedded finance, too many partnerships are built on hope. But the companies that actually succeed? They do the work upfront.
Today I'm joined by Jas Shah, a fintech product consultant who has worked on both sides of embedded finance, from inside big banks like Citibank to advising fintechs on how to become "embedded ready."
We start by looking at what makes embedded finance partnerships work. Jas breaks it down into a "three-party win" framework: the embedder, the embeddee, and the customer all need to benefit. He points to Klarna as a strong example. When one of these three is neglected, partnerships struggle. And more often than not, it's the customer who gets forgotten.
From there, we dig into how fintechs can become "embedded ready." It starts with understanding what your product does well and who your customers are. But it also means having APIs that developers can test within days, not months. Jas also recommends starting with referral partnerships to validate demand before investing in deeper technical work.
Finally, we explore agentic finance and how AI agents will reshape SME lending by replacing brokers with automated systems that scan the market and surface the best loan options in seconds.
Connect with Jas on LinkedIn or read his fintech writing at jasshah.substack.com.