Embedded Finance Review

Lars Markull

Welcome to the Embedded Finance Review Podcast, hosted by Lars Markull. Join us biweekly as we delve into the transformative world of embedded finance. Each episode features in-depth conversations with the builders and shapers of embedded finance, who are integrating financial services into everyday products and experiences. We go beyond the surface to explore the relevant details, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of how embedded finance is reshaping vertical SaaS, marketplaces, and more. Perfect for professionals, enthusiasts, and anyone curious about the evolving financial landscape.

  1. Embedded Accounting and the Race to Own the SME, with Mark Holleman from Thred

    May 28

    Embedded Accounting and the Race to Own the SME, with Mark Holleman from Thred

    Embedded finance typically involves payments, banking, lending, investments, and insurance. But there are adjacent areas evolving with the same logic, and embedded accounting is one of them. In this episode, I speak with Mark Holleman, co-founder of Thred. Mark is a returning guest. The last time we spoke, we discussed embedded lending and the build-versus-buy decision. His first startup, the lending provider Sprinque, has since shut down. Now Mark and one of his Sprinque co-founders, Manoj, have started Thred. They are building the layer they wished existed when they offered lending products: an embedded accounting layer for vertical SaaS, SME banks, and financial platforms across Europe.We talk about what embedded accounting actually means for a vertical SaaS, like a yoga studio platform or a tattoo studio tool, how AI agents and human bookkeepers split the work in practice with a confidence score on every journal entry, why scaling accounting across Europe is harder than it sounds, and whether this is also the data layer that finally makes embedded lending work.Mark also shares why a dual go-to-market with direct customers helps Thred earn the trust of platforms before they put the product in front of their own SMEs, how the convergence of banks, accounting software, and vertical SaaS is shaping the financial operating system for SMEs, and why this time around he can build with a much leaner team than at Sprinque.Connect with Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markholleman/About Embedded Finance Review: I'm Lars Markull, founder of Embedded Finance Review, a newsletter, podcast, and event series covering the European embedded finance ecosystem. If you're exploring embedded payments, banking, or lending for your platform, I offer free intro calls where I share honest feedback and connect you with the right providers and partners. Book a call at https://www.embeddedfinancereview.com/office-hours/.This episode was produced by https://orama.tv/(00:00) Intro(03:10) Welcome(04:09) From Lending to Accounting(04:40) Why Books Stay Outdated(06:04) Embedding Where Data Lives(08:20) What Embedded Accounting Means(11:10) Full Service Scope(12:56) Go To Market Netherlands(17:00) Agentic Stack Explained(22:37) Real Time Proactive Finance(25:49) Convergence Banking and SaaS(30:17) Learning From US Players(33:28) First Mover Lessons and Wrap

    38 min
  2. Why Embedded Finance Wins Where Banks Can't Reach, with Tom Sellin from Airwallex

    May 7

    Why Embedded Finance Wins Where Banks Can't Reach, with Tom Sellin from Airwallex

    Tom Sellin has a way of explaining how Airwallex's embedded finance offering works. He uses a Lego set. You have all the pieces: wallets, cards, payouts, and FX. The platform or fintech on the other side decides what to build. A small car. A rocket ship. Just one piece if that is all they need. The point is that you are not buying a finished product. You are choosing which building blocks to plug into your own. Tom is the first person on the ground building Airwallex in Germany. The company has 26 offices, 85 licenses, and infrastructure that already powers companies like Moss and Navan. His job is to make sure German platforms and fintechs know that infrastructure exists and can use it. In this episode, we talk about how Airwallex's embedded finance layer actually works, who is already using it and why, what the build versus buy decision looks like when you need to move money across 150 countries, and what it takes to bring a global fintech into a market where 80% of SMEs still bank with their house bank. Connect with Tom on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomsellin/ About Embedded Finance Review: I'm Lars Markull, founder of Embedded Finance Review, a newsletter, podcast, and event series covering the European embedded finance ecosystem. If you're exploring embedded payments, banking, or lending for your platform, I offer free intro calls where I share honest feedback and connect you with the right providers and partners. Book a call at https://www.embeddedfinancereview.com/. This episode was produced by https://orama.tv/(00:00) Intro(02:23) Tom’s Career Dots(02:41) Rocket Internet Beginnings(03:15) PayPal and Braintree Growth(04:16) Clearpay Leadership Lessons(04:43) Why Airwallex Germany(06:15) Germany Localization Reality(07:35) House Bank Culture(10:05) Airwallex Platform Overview(11:35) Ideal Customers and Use Cases(19:17) Embedded Finance Lego APIs(29:02) Germany Roadmap and Wrap

    32 min
  3. What Software CEOs Get Wrong About Embedded Finance, with Jane Podbelskaya from Charge Forward

    Apr 29

    What Software CEOs Get Wrong About Embedded Finance, with Jane Podbelskaya from Charge Forward

    Jane Podbelskaya does in North America what I do in Europe. She advises software companies and investors on embedded finance, runs a media platform called Charge Forward, and spends most of her time translating the world of fintech for software executives who know their vertical inside out but have never heard of a payfac or an attach rate. In this episode, we compare notes across continents. We talk about how VC and PE funds are actually thinking about embedded finance today, six years after Angela Strange said every company will be a fintech company. We get into why embedded finance is increasingly an antidote to AI disruption rather than a casualty of it, what the data advantage of vertical SaaS really means in practice, and where North America and Europe are at different stages of the same journey. Jane also shares the framework she uses with software CEOs from day one: how to assess whether embedded finance makes sense for your business, where to start, and how to avoid the most common vendor-selection mistakes. Connect with Jane on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jane-podbelskaya-841426/ This episode is sponsored by Hopae, the identity infrastructure layer connecting government identity systems worldwide so businesses can verify users across markets through one single API. Check them out at hopae.com. About Embedded Finance Review: I'm Lars Markull, founder of Embedded Finance Review, a newsletter, podcast, and event series covering the European embedded finance ecosystem. If you're exploring embedded payments, banking, or lending for your platform, I offer free intro calls where I share what I know, give honest feedback, and connect you with providers I trust. Book a call at embeddedfinancereview.com. This episode was produced by https://orama.tv/ (00:00) Start(02:12) Welcome and Guest Introduction(03:30) Shopify Spark and Fintech Investing(07:25) Why Education Is the Gap(11:03) Beyond Payments More Products(12:11) VC View After the Hype(14:42) Why Investors Care About It(17:40) Building the Product Roadmap(20:58) Vendor Trends Fragmentation(25:07) AI Moat With Embedded Finance(29:08) Europe vs North America Differences(31:00) Framework and Closing Advice

    37 min
  4. From E-Commerce to Morocco's First Licensed BaaS with Ismael Belkhayat from Chari

    Mar 19

    From E-Commerce to Morocco's First Licensed BaaS with Ismael Belkhayat from Chari

    Three years ago, a Moroccan e-commerce startup approached every bank in the country to request Banking-as-a-Service. None of them understood what APIs were. So the founders went to the central bank, obtained a payment institution license, and built the entire tech stack themselves. In this episode, I speak with Ismael Belkhayat, CEO and co-founder of Chari, a Y Combinator-backed fintech that has become Morocco's first VC-backed company with a full payment institution license. What started as a B2B marketplace for small retailers has evolved into both a merchant super app and a Banking-as-a-Service platform serving third-party clients across Morocco. We talk about why Moroccan banks couldn't deliver what they needed in 2022, what it actually takes to build a licensed fintech stack from scratch (core banking, card management, payment gateway, everything), how they're positioning as both an operator and infrastructure provider, why they chose to build in-house rather than use providers like Temenos, and why European fintechs should think about Morocco as their next market. Guest: Ismael Belkhayat on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/belkhayat/ About Embedded Finance Review: I'm Lars Markull, founder of Embedded Finance Review, a newsletter, podcast, and event series covering the European embedded finance ecosystem. If you're exploring embedded payments, banking, or lending for your platform, I offer free intro calls where I share what I know, give honest feedback, and connect you with providers I trust. Book a call at embeddedfinancereview.com. Our next in-person event is on April 15th in Berlin as an official FIBE side event. Details on our website. This episode was produced by https://orama.tv/(00:00) Intro(01:48) Host Intro and Welcome(02:53) Chari Story And Pivot(05:57) Merchant Super App Stack(10:34) Airtime Top Ups To Wallets(15:17) Regulator Backing Inclusion(17:21) Why Build In-House(21:17) Renault, not Ferrari Stack(21:44) Balancing Three Models(24:47) Bolt Case Study Rails(30:13) Expansion Advice Wrap Up

    38 min
  5. Embedding Debt Collection into the Fintech Stack with Matteo Benedetti from Debtist

    Mar 5

    Embedding Debt Collection into the Fintech Stack with Matteo Benedetti from Debtist

    Most platforms building embedded finance start with payments. Lending often comes next. What happens when invoices don't get paid is almost always the last thing on the roadmap — and for many SMEs, one of the most painful experiences. In this episode, I speak with Matteo Benedetti, co-founder and CEO of Debtist, a digital debt collection provider based in Berlin. Debtist embeds collection directly into vertical software platforms and marketplaces, so SMEs can recover unpaid invoices without ever leaving the tool they already use. In just over two years, Debtist has built close to a dozen embedded partnerships, reached €12M ARR, and is already profitable. In this episode, we cover: How embedded debt collection actually works and what the user journey looks like inside a vertical SaaSWhy the same platforms that rejected Debtist in 2024 are now coming to themHow Debtist built their entire tech stack in-house and why that turned out to be the right callThe pricing model behind embedded collection and how platforms can monetise itWhat it takes to build a profitable fintech from day one as a penny pincherConnect with Matteo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matteo-benedetti/ About Embedded Finance Review: Embedded Finance Review is a newsletter, podcast, and event series covering the European embedded finance ecosystem. We offer Office Hours, free intro calls for companies navigating embedded finance, and our next in-person event takes place on April 15th in Berlin as an official FIBE side event. Find all details at embeddedfinancereview.com. This episode was produced by https://orama.tv/(00:08) Intro(01:44) Meet Matteo Benedetti(02:11) Debt Collection in Embedded Finance(03:26) How Embedded Collections Work(04:56) User Flow Inside Vertical SaaS(07:46) The 10 Step Collection Process(10:26) Pre Court vs Court Escalation(12:11) Why Debtist Went Embedded(14:55) Platform Demand Is Shifting(18:01) Building Tech and Pricing Model(23:03) Profitability Advice and Wrap Up

    32 min
  6. Why Otto Built a 250-Person Payments Company for Its Marketplace

    Feb 19

    Why Otto Built a 250-Person Payments Company for Its Marketplace

    "At a certain scale, payments isn't a cost factor anymore. It becomes a strategic capability." In this episode, I speak with Christin Burmeister, Head of Product at Otto Payments. Otto is Germany's second-largest e-commerce marketplace with €7 billion GMV, 12 million active customers, and 6,000+ merchants. They started 70 years ago as a catalogue company and successfully transformed into a digital marketplace, building their own 250-person regulated payments entity to run it. Before joining Otto, Christin spent 11 years at Zalando Payments, where she helped build their payments unit from the ground up. When we talk about large retailers building in-house fintech units, she has done it twice. Key topics: Why Otto decided to build payments in-house rather than use third-party providersHow invoice and instalment payments shape customer behaviourManaging merchant fraud risk on a marketplaceOtto's move into embedded lending with BanxwareWhat it really takes to maintain a BaFin license --- I'm Lars Markull, host of the Embedded Finance Review Podcast. I also write a weekly and monthly newsletter and host online and offline industry events. If you're building in embedded finance, I offer free office hours calls: https://www.embeddedfinancereview.com --- This episode was produced by https://orama.tv/(00:00) Start(01:44) Introduction and Greetings(02:19) Introduction to Otto Payments(02:51) Otto's Transition to E-commerce(04:46) Otto Payments Overview(05:33) Building Otto Payments In-House(08:38) Operational Structure of Otto Payments(19:14) Risk Management and Fraud Prevention(24:50) Collaboration with Banks(32:08) Market Trends and Future Prospects(36:34) Conclusion and Contact Information

    37 min
  7. The Intergiro Story: How a Profitable BaaS Provider Lost Its License Overnight - Told by Nick Root

    Feb 5

    The Intergiro Story: How a Profitable BaaS Provider Lost Its License Overnight - Told by Nick Root

    Intergiro was a bootstrapped Swedish BaaS provider with €20M in revenue, nearly 100 employees, and 40,000 clients. They had just hit profitability. Then, overnight, the Swedish regulator revoked their license. A month later, the company filed for bankruptcy. In this episode, former CEO Nick Root tells his side of the story: the AML investigation that started in 2022, the TV reports that accused the company of being run by criminals, the regulator appearing on television, and how a years-old inquiry suddenly came back to life. Nick also shares lessons for founders building in regulated industries, including how to evaluate a regulator before choosing your jurisdiction and why relying on a single license was a mistake. Please note: I did not independently verify the details. This is Nick sharing his perspective on what happened. We cover: How Intergiro built a full-stack BaaS platform without VC fundingThe 2022 AML investigation and the remediation plan they implementedHow a journalist's TV report changed the regulator's approach- Finding out about the license revocation by refreshing the regulator's websiteWinding down €600M in monthly payment volume and protecting client fundsNick's advice for fintech founders on jurisdiction and regulatory relationshipsConnect with Nick Root on X: https://x.com/roots_cause More about the Intergiro story: https://intergiro.com --- I'm Lars Markull, host of the Embedded Finance Review Podcast. I also write a weekly and monthly newsletter and host online and offline industry events. And if you're building in embedded finance, I offer free office hours calls: https://www.embeddedfinancereview.com/office-hours/ This episode was produced by https://orama.tv/ (00:00) Start(01:21) Welcome and Introduction(02:02) The Shocking License Loss(03:33) Nick Root's Background and Journey(04:17) Building Intergiro: Vision and Early Days(05:47) Intergiro's Product Evolution(09:47) Facing Regulatory Challenges(19:36) Client Fraud Incident(20:12) Media Sensationalism(21:14) False Allegations(22:57) Regulatory Fallout(25:39) Company's Response(32:08) Lessons Learned(35:21) Personal Reflections and Future Plans

    38 min
  8. Embedded Banking Done Differently: NoCFO’s Teemu Karuluoto on Choosing a Neobank Over BaaS

    Jan 22

    Embedded Banking Done Differently: NoCFO’s Teemu Karuluoto on Choosing a Neobank Over BaaS

    Most startups building embedded banking follow a familiar path: pick a Banking-as-a-Service provider, integrate their APIs, and build a custom front end. But NoCFO, an AI-powered accounting platform, took a different approach. Instead of building banking from the ground up, they partnered with Holvi, a neobank targeting the same customers, and white-labeled the entire banking product. In this episode of the Embedded Finance Review Podcast, I’m joined by Teemu Karuluoto, founder and CEO of NoCFO. We dive into: Why partnering with a neobank made more sense than going the BaaS routeHow ICP alignment shaped their partnership decisionWhat it’s like to integrate banking when you don’t have the resources to build everything yourselfThe trade-offs between open banking and direct integrationNoCFO’s plans to expand this model to Germany If you’re interested in the strategic decisions behind embedded banking or how to create a seamless experience for your customers, this episode is for you. This episode was produced by Orama.tv. (00:00) Start(01:43) Introduction and Greetings(02:26) Introduction to Digital Accounting and Embedded Banking(02:49) Overview of NoCFO(03:58) How NoCFO Works(05:48) AI Integration in NoCFO(06:54) Founding Story of NoCFO(10:05) Partnership with Holvi and Embedded Banking(25:15) Future Plans and Expansion(28:55) Final Thoughts and Advice

    31 min
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About

Welcome to the Embedded Finance Review Podcast, hosted by Lars Markull. Join us biweekly as we delve into the transformative world of embedded finance. Each episode features in-depth conversations with the builders and shapers of embedded finance, who are integrating financial services into everyday products and experiences. We go beyond the surface to explore the relevant details, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of how embedded finance is reshaping vertical SaaS, marketplaces, and more. Perfect for professionals, enthusiasts, and anyone curious about the evolving financial landscape.

Information

  • Creator
    Lars Markull
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    48
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Lars Markull
  • Show Website
    Embedded Finance Review

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