Embedded Finance

Discover how banking is disappearing into apps—every company becomes a fintech company without building a bank

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Banking is Becoming Invisible

You're using embedded finance right now and don't even know it. When Uber pays drivers instantly, Shopify offers business loans, or Airbnb handles payouts in 190 currencies—that's not them building banks. It's embedded finance: financial services integrated so seamlessly into non-financial apps that you forget they exist.

The trend is clear: every company becomes a fintech company. Uber becomes a bank for drivers. Shopify becomes a lender for merchants. Amazon finances inventory. The $20 trillion opportunity isn't building new banks—it's embedding banking into the 50 million apps that already have customer trust.

The Shift: From Bank-First to App-First

Traditional finance forced you to visit banks. Embedded finance brings banking to where you already are.

Old World: Bank-Centric
• Go to bank's app
• Generic financial services
• Separate from your life
• One-size-fits-all products
• Banks own customer relationship
New World: Embedded Finance
• Finance comes to your app
• Context-aware services
• Integrated into workflow
• Personalized to your business
• Platform owns relationship

💡The Core Insight

Banking is infrastructure, not a destination. Users don't want to "go banking"—they want to get paid, send money, or access capital while doing something else. Embedded finance makes money invisible by making it contextual.

Why Now? The Perfect Storm

Embedded finance exploded 2020-2025 because three forces converged simultaneously:

🔌
API-First Banking
• Stripe, Plaid, Marqeta launch
• Banking becomes API calls
• Integration: 6 months → 6 weeks
⚖️
Regulatory Clarity
• BaaS model legally validated
• Sponsor bank partnerships OK
• Compliance-as-a-service viable
💰
Platform Economics
• VC funding for fintech infra
• Platforms need revenue beyond GMV
• Financial services = 40% margins
Result: From 2020 to 2025, embedded finance exploded from $22B to $230B in revenue. Every major platform now has a financial arm. The window to build without finance is closing.

The $7 Trillion Opportunity

By 2030, embedded finance will generate $7 trillion in transaction volume and $230 billion in revenue. Here's where the money flows:

Embedded Payments
$3.2T
In-app checkouts, wallets, instant transfers
Embedded Lending
$2.1T
BNPL, merchant cash advances, working capital
Embedded Banking
$1.2T
Business accounts, cards, expense management
Embedded Investing
$0.5T
Fractional shares, rewards investing, wealth