In the last decade, the way we pay, borrow, invest, and insure has undergone a quiet revolution. What once required visits to a bank branch or reliance on multiple intermediaries is now increasingly happening within the apps and platforms we already use daily – whether it’s hailing a ride, shopping online, or subscribing to a SaaS product. This shift has a name: embedded finance.
By integrating financial services directly into non-financial platforms, embedded finance is redefining how businesses deliver value and how customers interact with money. For SaaS and fintech players, it’s no longer a futuristic buzzword but a competitive necessity.
What Is Embedded Finance?
Embedded finance refers to the seamless integration of financial services such as payments, lending, insurance, and investments into existing digital products or ecosystems. Instead of redirecting users to a bank or third-party provider, these services are offered in-app, at the point of need.
Examples are all around us:
- Ride-hailing apps that allow passengers to pay within the app itself.
- E-commerce platforms offering “buy now, pay later” at checkout.
- SaaS platforms integrating expense cards, payroll, or invoicing solutions.
In each case, the financial service is no longer a standalone offering – it’s part of the core experience.
Why Embedded Finance Is the Future
1. Consumer Expectations Have Changed
Today’s digital-native customers expect speed, convenience, and personalization. They prefer one-stop platforms where everything – product, payment, and service – is bundled. Embedded finance answers this demand by removing friction and building trust directly into the user journey.
2. Expanding Market Size
A report by Dealroom and ABN AMRO Ventures forecasts that the global embedded finance market will reach about $7.2 trillion by 2030. In India, the adoption curve is even sharper, fueled by the success of UPI payments and regulatory support for digital-first banking.
3. Revenue Diversification for Businesses
For SaaS and fintech companies, embedded finance opens up new monetization streams. Instead of simply charging subscription or transaction fees, platforms can earn through financial products like micro-credit, premium checkout solutions, or insurance partnerships.
4. Better Customer Retention
When financial services are built into the platform, switching costs rise. Customers are more likely to stay loyal to a product that handles both their core need and their financial requirements efficiently.
Embedded Finance in India: A Unique Story
India offers a fertile ground for embedded finance. A few factors explain why:
- UPI-led Payment Revolution: According to the Press Information Bureau (PIB), as of June 2025, UPI handled 18.39 billion transactions in that single month, underscoring its rapid adoption across India.
- SME Digitalization: Millions of small and medium businesses are adopting tools for invoicing, compliance, and payroll, creating demand for built-in financial solutions.
- Payment Gateway Growth: The market for payment gateway India solutions continues to expand, with businesses of all sizes requiring secure, low-cost, and versatile options.
- Regulatory Push: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and NPCI are actively fostering open APIs, interoperability, and fintech innovation.
For global players, India’s embedded finance ecosystem provides a glimpse of how large-scale adoption can reshape financial behavior.
How Businesses Can Harness Embedded Finance
- Start with Payments: The entry point is almost always payments – whether integrating a payment gateway, enabling subscription billing, or offering multi-mode checkout.
- Expand to Adjacent Services: Once payments are streamlined, businesses can layer lending (BNPL, credit lines), insurance, or investment products.
- Leverage APIs: Low-code APIs allow businesses to embed complex financial workflows without heavy engineering investments.
- Focus on Compliance and Trust: Finance is a regulated sector. Businesses must ensure data security, KYC/AML compliance, and transparent customer communication.
The Role of Platforms Like Zwitch
While embedded finance represents the future, the path to adoption isn’t without hurdles – ranging from regulatory complexities to tech integration challenges. This is where platforms like Zwitch come in.
Zwitch offers low-code APIs for payments, payouts, banking, verification, and compliance. For SaaS and fintech businesses, this means:
- Launching financial products without months of development.
- Accessing 150+ payment modes in one place.
- Managing banking, reconciliation, and compliance seamlessly.
- Building customer-first experiences without diverting resources from core innovation.
The goal isn’t just to make financial services available – it’s to make them invisible, intuitive, and built into the flow of business.
Conclusion
Embedded finance is not a passing trend. It’s the operating model for the next decade of digital business. Companies that embrace it early will not only unlock new revenue streams but also future-proof themselves against evolving customer expectations.
Whether you’re building a SaaS product for SMEs, launching a fintech app, or expanding globally, embedded finance can help you deliver holistic value. And with platforms like Zwitch, the transition doesn’t have to be complicated.
The future of finance is embedded – and the future is already here.
