Worldline and YouLend have launched Cash Advance, a financing product for SMBs. Merchants can access up to €250,000 in as little as 48 hours, with repayments automatically linked to daily sales. The product is live in Belgium and the Netherlands, with European expansion planned (Worldline).
Based on the announcement, the Cash Advance feature appears to be available only to Worldline's direct merchants, so this launch is technically not Embedded Finance. However, based on Worldline's efforts to position itself more prominently in the Embedded Finance ecosystem, I would expect the feature to be made available for integration to platforms and marketplaces, so they can offer it to their own business customers.
Merchants can apply for funding directly within their Worldline dashboard. Offers are generated from live transaction data rather than manual applications or forecasts, and no traditional paperwork is required.
PSPs are catching up
This follows the same playbook as other PSPs, most notably Stripe and Adyen. Both companies offer financing products in Europe for merchants and platforms: Stripe Capital and Adyen Balance Platform. These features are quickly becoming must-haves for PSPs, and those who do not offer them will likely lose clients and/or be unable to work with larger digital platforms. Generally, PSPs are already involved in their customers' money flows and often have unique data for underwriting. Therefore, obtaining financing from their PSPs is often the most convenient solution.
YouLend's momentum
YouLend continues its strong run in Europe. The company reported $230 million in revenue for FY24/25, having funded over 370,000 businesses globally. The company works with financial companies such as Teya, Qonto, and myPOS, as well as non-financial brands such as Upwork, Shopify, and Mews. YouLend also opened a Berlin office this month to support European expansion (Financial IT).
