Hi {{first name|embedded finance friend}}
I did something new. I published my very first standalone YouTube video: Embedded Finance Explained.
Somewhat unsurprisingly, it is a video where I can explain the basics of Embedded Finance and share some practical advice. I would love to hear your feedback, and am curious what a second YouTube video could be about. Just reply to this email or ping me on LinkedIn.
And in the unlikely scenario that you want to hear even more from me, check out the newest episode from the Ventures in the Valley Podcast, where I speak with host Victor even more about Embedded Finance: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
What are the biggest mistakes when building Embedded Finance products? Join us on Friday August 29th at 11am (CEST) to learn, share and discuss. We will be joined by Fintech executitve and newsletter subscriber Christian von Hammel-Bonten to help us walk through the biggest mistakes. And after each mistake, we will take a break and discuss with the audience.
Register now, spots are limited
As a reminder, due to the low number of new announcements, my newsletter is in summer mode. I am summarising the biggest stories from January to July 2025. This edition is all about Embedded Lending (well, except today’s podcast episode):
- August 5th → Banking (Link)
- August 12th → Lending (today!)
- August 19th → Payment
- August 26th → Investment & Insurance
And now let’s dive in 👇
Are you building something new in Embedded Finance? Feel free to reach out for a free intro call, and maybe I (or somebody from my network) can help. More info here
We Want to Make Neobanks Useless (Podcast with Procountor)
Discover how Procounter, Finland's largest accounting software company, is revolutionising small business banking through embedded finance. Guest Juho Putkonen sits down to discuss how they're aiming to make neobanks obsolete by building banking services directly into their invoicing and accounting platform.
Procounter serves over 100,000 Finnish companies through their accounting software (~13.5% of Finland's GDP in invoices). But they identified a massive pain point: traditional banks were charging businesses around €80 per month just for data transfers between bank accounts and accounting software, with weeks-long onboarding processes. Their solution? Partner with challenger bank Alisa Bank to offer embedded banking at €10 per month with instant data integration.
In our podcast episode, we talk about:
- The adoption of their Embedded Banking product
- Their partnership with Alisa Bank
- The future roadmap, including other financial products
- Lessons learnt and advice for builders
You can find the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
Top Non-Financial Brands Stories in Embedded Lending (Jan - Jul 2025)
My comment: The first seven months of Embedded Lending were driven by non-financial brands in the eCommerce, restaurant software, business software and the healthcare industry. Maybe healthcare is a bit surprising, but otherwise, I would say these are the industries most targeted for new lending offerings.
A few other things stood out for me:
- Country → Most of the announcements were related to Germany. On the one hand, this makes sense as the British market had already adopted new lending products earlier, and Germany is the largest economy in Europe. Or maybe it’s just because of my personal bias? What announcement from other countries did I miss?
- Size of company → I am happy to see that not just the large US tech companies are offering Embedded Lending in Europe, but also smaller software companies.
- B2B → Rather unsurprisingly, all of the announcements are related to B2B financing, and none are for consumer financing.
eCommerce
🇩🇪 Amazon → The online platform has split ties with Dutch bank ING for their lending partnership, which was not truly embedded. Amazon’s new offering aims to be exactly that (News).
🇩🇪 eBay → The online marketplace brings its embedded lending partnership with YouLend from the UK to Germany, where it already partnered with Iwoca before (News).
🇵🇱 Shoper → The e-commerce software solution provider has partnered with PragmaGo for merchant cash advance and B2B Buy Now Pay Later solution (News).
🇩🇪 🇬🇧Shopify → The US company has finally (and quietly) rolled out Shopify Capital in the UK and Germany (News).
Restaurant
🇩🇪 allO → The restaurant software provider followed its US role model, Toast, and launched a lending offering in partnership with Finmid (News).
🇪🇸 Glovo → The food delivery platform, owned by Delivery Hero, partnered with Finmid to offer loans to restaurants (News).
Business Software
🇩🇰 🇩🇪 Ageras → The business tool provider extended its lending partnership with Swedish lending provider Froda from Denmark to Germany (News).
🇩🇪 Lexware → The digital accounting provider partnered with four lending partners: Banxware, Iwoca, Silvr and YouLend (News).
Healthcare
🇩🇪 Nelly → The medical practices-focused vertical Fintech raised €50 million to grow its offering, which includes digital factoring and payment products (News; Podcast with Nelly).
🇩🇪 Onfy → The online marketplace for pharmacies partnered with Banxware to offer easy financing options for pharmacies (News).
Other
🇬🇧 Paymentassist → The automotive-focused vertical fintech company partnered with Groov to leverage their lending orchestration solution (News).
Top Infrastructure Provider News in Embedded Lending (Jan - Jul 2025)
My comment: Looking at the image above, it seems like pure Embedded Lending providers don’t like to see colour in their logo?! Jokes aside, the Embedded Lending infrastructure provider has undergone significant evolution over the past few years. Suppose you add to the names below the companies Iwoca, Liberis and YouLend (which I partially covered in the non-financial news segment above). In that case, this likely represents the vast providers of pure Embedded Lending providers in Europe. I wonder if all these players will remain in their current direction, or if some will focus on specific customer segments or industry, or maybe we see market consolidation at one point?
🇩🇪 Banxware → Switched to a forward flow model where the infrastructure provider focuses purely on the technology and works with different underlying banks to provide the money and assume the risk of the loans (News).
🇬🇧 Clearscore → The consumer credit score provider has made its financial marketplace available as an embedded solution (News).
🇩🇪 Finmid → Extended its coverage and expanded its offering to a total of 20 European countries (News).
🇸🇪 Froda → Secured $23 million in Series B funding and aims to grow its presence outside of its home market (News).
🇩🇪 Stripe → Announced that Stripe Capital is coming to Germany and will be available for platforms in the second half of 2025 (News). Additionally, Stripe now enables platforms to offer loans with just a few clicks, starting in the US (LinkedIn).
Podcast with Embedded Lending Stories (Jan-Jul 2025)
🇫🇮 From Food Delivery to Embedded Finance - Wolt's Journey to Financial Services with Anniina Heinonen (Podcast)
🇸🇦 Embedded Car Financing in Saudi Arabia with Ali Tabbalat from EmFlex (Podcast)
🇳🇱 Embedded Lending: Build vs. Buy - A Founder's Hard-Won Lessons with Mark Hollemann (Podcast)
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this edition.
My newsletter, podcast, and event activities are free, but I need your support to continue. Please share Embedded Finance Review with your friends and coworkers, and let me know your feedback (links above).
And if you need help understanding, building, or launching an embedded finance product, visit my website and get in touch with me.
Best wishes from Berlin,
Lars Markull (LinkedIn)
