Have you ever made a purchase on a retailer’s website, opted to “buy now, pay later” in an online checkout or received a payout from a gig work platform? Whether you realized it or not, an embedded finance company was working behind the scenes to process your payment, underwrite your loan or disburse your payment — all without redirecting you to another site.
Top Embedded Finance Companies
- Stripe
- Plaid
- Marqeta
- Adyen
- Klarna
- Affirm
- Unit
- Galileo Financial Technologies
- Airwallex
- Parafin
Embedded finance may be invisible to the user, but it’s a big business. Bain & Company expects more than $7 trillion — or more than 10 percent of total U.S. financial transactions — will flow through embedded financial services in 2026. Bain also projects the market for platforms and enablers in this space will reach $51 billion, which is more than double what it was just five years ago.
With so much activity in the space — and with significant bearing on your business’ revenue, customer experience and regulatory risk — it’s important to know the top companies in the sector, how they differentiate themselves and how to choose the right solution for your platform.
What Are Embedded Finance Companies?
Embedded finance companies provide infrastructure that connects regulated financial institutions with the software platforms that want to offer financial products. Instead of redirecting users to a third-party institution, these platforms can offer financial services (payment processing, lending, insurance, banking services and so on) within their own interface, creating a seamless customer experience and opening up new revenue streams.
Banking as a service (BaaS) companies, for example, provide fintech companies, online banks and other software platforms with banking services, such as FDIC-insured deposit accounts, debit cards, direct deposit and money transfers. Banking is a highly regulated industry, so only chartered banks can provide these offerings. BaaS companies make their services available via API, allowing software platforms to embed them into their platform without clearing the licensing and regulatory hurdles of operating a bank.
Embedded finance isn’t limited to banking services, though. Some companies specialize in issuing virtual or physical cards for branded consumer debit cards, corporate expenses and vendor payments. Embedded payment processors, meanwhile, allow platforms to accept and disburse money within their own consumer experience, while embedded lending providers underwrite loans that appear on a client’s platform. Other companies operate at a more foundational, data connectivity level, verifying user identities and other account data for BaaS companies.
Best Embedded Finance Companies
Stripe is the most widely used embedded finance provider, processing $1.9 trillion in payments in 2025 alone. In addition to processing payments, Stripe’s technology allows companies to manage subscription billing, automate tax compliance and issue custom charge cards. It also allows platforms to offer financing and banking services, such as direct deposit or bill payment. More than 16,000 companies, including Shopify and DoorDash, use Stripe Connect, the company’s embedded payment platform.
Plaid provides financial data infrastructure that connects more than 12,000 financial institutions to more than 9,000 apps like Venmo and Robinhood. Its APIs allow these platforms to route payments to and from banks, underwrite loans and verify users’ identity, income and external accounts. Plaid says it has helped clients reduce fraud by 50 percent through its analysis into behavior changes, device activity and bank account history.
Marqeta develops card programs tailored to clients’ business needs. Customers can use physical or virtual cards to manage expense accounts, pay suppliers or create a branded consumer credit or debit card. Its dynamic spend controls allow clients to reduce fraud through pre-approved purchase categories and other restrictions. And if those conditions are met, Marqeta’s Just-In-Time (JIT) funding model will release only the necessary amount of funds, preventing working capital from being tied up in prepaid card programs.
Adyen combines payments, data insights and financial products with one enterprise-grade tech stack used by Uber, McDonald’s, Spotify and many other large corporations. Adyen for Platforms allows marketplaces like eBay to process payments, track transactions and pay out sellers, vendors and gig economy workers. It also allows platforms to offer business accounts, business financing and card programs to their users.
Klarna is a leading buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider, allowing consumers to break down their online purchases into smaller installments — often with zero interest. Klarna has partnered with Stripe, Adyen and other companies that process online transactions for retailers. Klarna is used by 119 million consumers, and it’s accepted by more than 1 million merchants, including eBay, Expedia and Ticketmaster.
Affirm is another leading BNPL company that allows consumers to split their online purchases into smaller, interest-free payments within a retailer’s online checkout. Affirm also partners with payment processors, such as Stripe and Adyen, and it’s the default BNPL provider in Amazon’s checkout experience. Its Adaptive Checkout feature personalizes payment options to attract more customers. Affirm is used by more than 337,000 merchants and 50 million consumers.
Unit offers the financial infrastructure that allows software platforms to provide their users with bank accounts, money transfers, financing options and card programs. Many of Unit’s customers are industry-specific software platforms that cater to the particular needs of businesses in that industry. For example, it provides property management platform Baselane with tools that help landlords organize their accounts, collect rents and track expenses.
Galileo Financial Technologies provides the infrastructure that allows fintech companies and other platforms to offer banking products, card programs and embedded payment solutions to their users. Many online banks, for example, turn to Galileo for deposit accounts that offer early pay, round-up savings and overdraft protection. Clients also use Galileo’s physical and virtual cards for corporate expenses, loyalty programs and paying gig workers. Galileo is a SoFi subsidiary, and it will soon change its name to SoFi Tech Solutions.
Airwallex offers business accounts for companies that operate across multiple countries. With Airwallex’s API, companies can accept payments in a client’s local currency, avoiding costly foreign exchange fees. Businesses can also make timely payments to suppliers and employees, with 95 percent of transactions arriving the same day. Plus, customers can issue multi-currency cards to handle corporate expenses and freelancer payouts without foreign transaction fees.
Parafin is an embedded lending company that lets platforms offer working capital, cash advances and flexible financing to their small business users. The company uses AI to evaluate a business’ financials, generate a pre-approved offer and originate the loan. Platforms such as Amazon, DoorDash, Walmart and TikTok Shop offer these financing deals to merchants who use their platforms, and they get a cut of the fixed financing fee. Parafin has funded more than 50,000 businesses and extended more than $35 billion in offers.
How to Choose the Right Embedded Finance Company
Choosing the right embedded finance company depends on what you’re trying to build, who you’re building it for and how quickly you need to scale.
Start With Your Use Case
Choosing the right provider starts with the utility of the financial product you want to launch. A retailer that simply needs payment processing has different requirements than a SaaS platform looking to offer business accounts, branded cards or lending products. Some providers, like Stripe or Adyen, offer a comprehensive suite of tools, but you may find that a specialized card issuer or embedded banking company may offer deeper functionality and greater customization.
Assess Geographic Coverage
Businesses should also consider a provider’s geographic footprint before committing to an embedded finance platform. Some companies, such as Unit, operate exclusively in the United States, while others, such as Airwallex, cater to the unique needs of companies regularly conducting businesses in multiple currencies.
Weigh Compliance Ownership
Every embedded financial product operates inside a regulatory framework, but providers absorb differing levels of responsibility for that compliance burden. Before signing any contract, establish which regulatory obligations transfer to the provider and which remain with your team.
Consider Your Size
Early-stage startups and enterprise companies will have different embedded finance needs. Some companies, like Stripe and Unit, offer onboarding and pricing models designed for early-stage companies that need to move quickly. Other providers, like Adyen, Marqeta and Galileo, are engineered for high-volume operations and become more cost-competitive as transaction scale increases.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are embedded finance companies?
Embedded finance companies provide the infrastructure that lets non-financial software platforms offer financial products directly inside their own interfaces. They sit between regulated financial institutions and the software companies that want to offer financial services without obtaining their own banking licenses.
What is an example of an embedded finance company?
Stripe is one of the most widely used embedded finance companies, providing APIs that let companies accept payments, issue cards and offer banking features on their own platform. Klarna is another prominent example, offering several buy now, pay later options that let shoppers break down their online purchases into smaller installments.
What is the difference between embedded finance and banking-as-a-service?
Banking-as-a-service is a subset of embedded finance. BaaS specifically refers to the infrastructure layer that makes embedded banking products possible. Embedded finance is a broader category that includes other financial services, such as payments, lending, insurance and investing.
What is the difference between embedded finance and fintech?
Fintech refers broadly to technology companies that deliver financial services, including consumer apps, investment platforms and payment processors. Embedded finance is more specific, and is limited to financial products integrated into non-financial software.
