Banking-as-a-Service · Use case
Launch a neobank or wallet on Banking-as-a-Service
Short answer
A BaaS provider supplies the licence, accounts, IBANs, payment rails and ledger; you build the app, the brand and the customer relationship. The decisions that matter most are whose licence you run under, whether customers hold e-money or deposits, and how much of compliance you take in-house.
What this use case is
A consumer or SME banking product — accounts, everyday payments, usually a card — offered under your brand. Without your own licence, a BaaS provider carries the regulated parts.
Who builds this
What your customer sees
- 1Downloads the app
- 2Verifies identity
- 3Receives an IBAN
- 4Funds the account
- 5Pays and gets paid
- 6Adds a card to a mobile wallet
How Banking-as-a-Service solves it
Onboarding
your app collects data; KYC runs through the provider or your own vendor
Account creation
an account and IBAN are opened under the licence holder
Incoming funds
credited to the ledger and safeguarded or held as deposits
Outgoing payments
submitted to SEPA, Faster Payments or other rails through the provider
Events
every balance change reaches your app through webhooks
Statements and reporting
produced by the provider; regulatory reporting stays with the licence holder
Want to have
- Accounts and IBANs in your target markets
- SEPA and SEPA Instant or Faster Payments
- KYC integration
- Webhooks for every balance event
- Statements
- Transaction monitoring
- A card programme or card-issuing partner integration
Optional
- Savings or interest
- Multi-currency
- Direct debits
- Payee verification in the app
- Open banking connectivity
Design decisions
E-money wallet or deposit account
speed and provider choice versus deposit protection, interest and how you may describe the product
Named or virtual IBANs
customer clarity and payee verification versus cost and flexibility
Your role
launch speed versus control and margin
What to put in your RFP
Licensing and markets
- licence holder and regulator
- target countries
- consumer and/or SME customers
Accounts
- IBAN countries
- named or virtual
- account limits
- savings options
Payments
- rails required
- instant payments
- direct debits
- payee verification
Onboarding and compliance
- KYC approach
- compliance split
- transaction monitoring
Cards
- native card issuing or partner integration
Technical
- sandbox, webhooks, SDKs, uptime commitments
Commercials
- setup, minimums, per-account and per-transaction pricing, at your volume
Exit
- data export, IBAN portability, migration support
How to evaluate providers for this use case
- 1Risk appetite for retail or SME customers in your segment
- 2IBAN countries matching your market
- 3API maturity for a mobile-first product
- 4A realistic path to your own licence later
- 5Stability of the licence holder
Pitfalls
- Calling the product a bank when customers hold e-money
- Underestimating customer support and complaints volume
- Choosing a provider whose risk appetite excludes your segment after you have integrated
- No plan for migrating to your own licence
What providers will ask you
- Target segment and markets
- Projected accounts and balances
- Compliance lead
- Funding and runway
- Launch timeline
Other Finlane categories that cover parts of this
This use case is solved mainly with Banking-as-a-Service. These categories cover specific parts of it and can be tendered alongside it.
Frequently asked questions
See the full cross-category stack for this use case
Other Banking-as-a-Service use cases
Give your customers a segregated account inside your platform (invoicing, payroll, marketplace payouts) with the BaaS provider handling KYC, safeguarding and ledgering.
Add SEPA, Faster Payments or SWIFT railsRoute domestic and cross-border transfers on the schemes your customers actually use, with settlement and reconciliation handled by the provider.
Operate a marketplace payout flowHold buyer funds, split them between sellers, and pay out on schedule — with the compliance and safeguarding perimeter owned by the BaaS partner.
Offer multi-currency accounts and FXGive business or consumer customers accounts in EUR, GBP, USD and beyond, with transparent FX and international transfers.
White-label a banking product for enterpriseStand up a co-branded banking experience for a bank, telco or retailer — with the BaaS provider handling core banking, statements and regulatory reporting.