EMBEDDED FINANCE Copy

The evolution of software-as-a-service has enabled banks and fintechs to offer banking-as-a-service to their non-bank clients, a practice known as embedded finance. One example is a collaboration between BBVA and Uber in Mexico. As many Uber drivers were unbanked, BBVA provided a digital bank account to the Uber drivers, who can then receive payment from Uber directly into their accounts within minutes of delivering the passenger. The account with a virtual debit card also allows drivers to pay for fuel and other charges digitally, and also to access other financial services from BBVA.

Another example would be Shopify, an ecommerce provider that helps small and medium businesses build online shops, and also helps to embed useful financial services for the end customers of those SMEs, such as paying by instalments.

Many small merchants in fact have great difficulty securing suitable banking services, and as platforms such as Spotify gather extensive transaction data, Shopify can easily offer lending services based on data analytics. Shopify approaches merchants with loans using projections based on transaction volumes.