Category

Banking-as-a-Service

Banking-as-a-Service providers give fintechs and embedded-finance brands the licensed infrastructure to open accounts, hold client money, issue IBANs, and move funds — without becoming a bank themselves. On Finlane you can scope, compare and shortlist BaaS providers on a like-for-like basis: licences, geographic coverage, ledger and safeguarding model, payment rails, and integration effort.

Fintech startups
Embedded finance platforms
Marketplaces
Vertical SaaS
Enterprise brands
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In one minute

What it is

Licensed infrastructure — accounts, IBANs, payment rails, safeguarding and a ledger — exposed through an API, so you can offer financial products under your own brand without holding a banking or e-money licence yourself.

What you get

Customer accounts or wallets, named or virtual IBANs, access to payment schemes, a ledger, statements, and the regulatory reporting that sits with the licence holder.

What you still own

The product, the customer experience, usually first-line support, and — depending on the model — parts of onboarding, monitoring and complaints. Regulatory responsibility is shared by contract; it does not disappear.

When you need it

When your product has to hold or move money for your customers, and partnering is faster or cheaper than getting licensed yourself.

How it works

Your product

Brand, app, customer relationship

BaaS provider

API, ledger, programme management, compliance tooling

Licence holder

The provider itself or a partner bank

Rails and schemes

SEPA, Faster Payments, SWIFT and others

Your customer

Uses the financial product

Some BaaS providers hold the licence themselves; others orchestrate one or more partner banks. Always establish whose licence your customers’ money sits under — it decides deposit protection, risk appetite and what happens if a partner exits.

Who does what

Onboarding interface

You
Owns
Provider
Supplies components (optional)
Partner bank
—

KYC / KYB checks

You
Sometimes, under reliance
Provider
Often performs or supplies tooling
Partner bank
Approves policy

Account and IBAN issuance

You
Requests via API
Provider
Operates
Partner bank
Holds the licence (if separate)

Holding and safeguarding funds

You
—
Provider
Operates
Partner bank
Holds (if separate)

Transaction monitoring

You
Shares alerts and context
Provider
Operates
Partner bank
Oversees

First-line customer support

You
Owns
Provider
Second line
Partner bank
—

Complaints handling

You
First response
Provider
Regulated handling
Partner bank
Oversees

Regulatory reporting

You
Supplies data
Provider
Prepares
Partner bank
Submits (if licence holder)

Decisions to make before you shortlist

Licence model

Provider is licensed
Provider with partner bank
You act as agent or distributor
Your own licence, provider as technology only
Speed and simplicity versus control, margin and regulatory exposure.

E-money or deposits

E-money account
Bank deposit account
Safeguarding and flexibility versus deposit protection, interest and a bank licence holder.

Account structure

Named IBAN per customer
Pooled account with virtual IBANs and sub-ledgers
Customer clarity versus cost and flexibility.

Ledger

Provider's ledger as source of truth
Your own ledger, synced
Less to build versus product flexibility and easier migration.

One provider or several

Single provider
Primary plus backup
Per-market providers
Integration cost versus resilience, coverage and an exit plan.

Use cases

Launch a neobank or wallet

Spin up a consumer or SMB banking product with named IBANs, deposits and everyday payments — without holding a banking licence yourself.

Read the use case

Embed accounts in a vertical SaaS

Give your customers a segregated account inside your platform (invoicing, payroll, marketplace payouts) with the BaaS provider handling KYC, safeguarding and ledgering.

Read the use case

Add SEPA, Faster Payments or SWIFT rails

Route domestic and cross-border transfers on the schemes your customers actually use, with settlement and reconciliation handled by the provider.

Read the use case

Operate a marketplace payout flow

Hold buyer funds, split them between sellers, and pay out on schedule — with the compliance and safeguarding perimeter owned by the BaaS partner.

Read the use case

Offer multi-currency accounts and FX

Give business or consumer customers accounts in EUR, GBP, USD and beyond, with transparent FX and international transfers.

Read the use case

White-label a banking product for enterprise

Stand up a co-branded banking experience for a bank, telco or retailer — with the BaaS provider handling core banking, statements and regulatory reporting.

Read the use case
View all Banking-as-a-Service use cases

What to compare

Licence and regulator

Decides what you can offer and where

Ask: Whose licence, which regulator, permissions and passported countries?

Geographic and IBAN coverage

Local IBANs affect acceptance

Ask: Which IBAN countries, for which customer types?

Risk appetite

Providers may exclude industries or jurisdictions

Ask: What do you not onboard?

Account model

Drives reconciliation and customer experience

Ask: Named accounts or virtual IBANs?

Rails and schemes

Affects cost, speed and coverage

Ask: Which rails are direct or correspondent?

Compliance split

Determines the team you need

Ask: What do you do, and can we rely on your KYC?

API and developer experience

Drives integration effort

Ask: How do sandbox, webhooks and idempotency work?

Exit and portability

Determines switching cost

Ask: What data export and migration support is included?

How providers charge

Implementation or setup fee

One-off; sometimes waived against a minimum commitment

Monthly platform fee or minimum

Check how minimums change after year one

Per-account fees

Active and opened accounts may be priced differently

Per-transaction fees by rail

Instant, standard and international may differ

FX margin

Ask for the markup over a stated reference rate

Compliance pass-through

Checks and screening may be billed per event

Volume tiers and commitments

Understand what happens if you undershoot

Ask each provider for the all-in cost at your expected volume, for year one and year three.

Regulatory context

EU

  • DORA passes ICT third-party requirements to providers.
  • SEPA Instant and verification of payee are part of the baseline for euro accounts.

UK

  • E-money and payment firms operate under the EMRs and PSRs, supervised by the FCA.
  • Consumer Duty shapes retail product design and communication.

US

  • BaaS runs on sponsor banks; bank–fintech partnerships have been under heightened regulatory scrutiny.

Orientation only, not legal advice.

What providers will ask you

Have these ready before you publish.

  • Legal entity, jurisdiction and ownership
  • Business model, target customers and markets
  • Expected accounts, balances and payment volumes
  • Industries served and risk profile
  • Compliance setup and ownership
  • Licences held or planned
  • Funding and runway
  • Target launch sequence

Red flags

  • The provider cannot say whose licence customer funds sit under
  • Risk appetite is discussed only after integration starts
  • The sandbox behaves differently from production
  • No written exit terms, data export or migration support
  • Undisclosed dependency on one partner bank

How Finlane fits

Your RFP covers

  • Licence model and regulator requirements
  • Markets and IBAN countries
  • Customer types and risk profile
  • Account model and ledger
  • Payment rails
  • Compliance split
  • Integration and API requirements
  • Volumes and commercial expectations
  • Exit and resilience terms
  1. 1Scope your BaaS requirements with the AI advisor
  2. 2Providers that fit your brief receive it
  3. 3Compare structured responses side by side
  4. 4Shortlist and continue with your own due diligence

Providers on Finlane

Browse all providers in the directory

Frequently asked questions

Related reading

Buying in Banking-as-a-Service?

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