https://www.embeddedfinanceindex.com/llms-full.txt

# Embedded Finance Index 2026 What 6,646 fintechs actually run on. Half the stack is auditable. The half regulators care most about isn't. - Generated: 2026-11-14 - Source URL: https://www.embeddedfinanceindex.com - Publishers: Apideck × Open Banking Tracker × Embedded Finance Review - License: free to quote with attribution and source link > $185B B2B SaaS embedded-payments TAM · <20% captured (BCG + Adyen, Oct 2024) ## Headline numbers - 6,646 fintech and embedded-finance companies analyzed - 1,508 verified third-party providers (≥2 disclosed buyers or recognized Open Banking Tracker vendor) - 1,055 fintechs name their sponsor bank - 454 fintechs name their KYC vendor - 84 fintechs name their fraud tools - Ratio: 2.3× more fintechs disclose a sponsor bank than a KYC vendor - 422 non-bank fintechs operate their own banking / clearing / issuing infrastructure - $552B in disclosed venture funding across 597 of 1,508 verified providers - 607 Embedded Finance Review articles indexed ## Layer disclosure rates For each layer of the embedded-finance stack, what share of the 6,646 analyzed fintechs publicly named a vendor: - Payments: 45.5% (3,024 fintechs) - BaaS: 22.6% (1,503 fintechs) - Sponsor bank: 15.9% (1,055 fintechs) - Open Finance: 15.5% (1,029 fintechs) - Lending: 12.8% (853 fintechs) - Card issuing: 11.6% (768 fintechs) - FX / Payouts: 11.5% (763 fintechs) - KYC / identity: 6.8% (454 fintechs) - Insurance: 4.4% (291 fintechs) - Crypto / Stablecoin: 3.9% (262 fintechs) - Payroll: 2.5% (167 fintechs) - Fraud: 1.3% (84 fintechs) The payments side of the stack is auditable from outside. The risk side isn't. Public datasets of vendor relationships will systematically over-represent payments and under-represent KYC, fraud, and sanctions screening. Treat the bottom rows as a floor, not a ceiling. ## Category leaders (top 5) ### Payments / PSP 1. Stripe — 685 buyers · 10.3% 2. Adyen — 293 buyers · 4.4% 3. PayPal — 149 buyers · 2.2% 4. Checkout.com — 100 buyers · 1.5% 5. Worldpay — 84 buyers · 1.3% ### BaaS 1. Evolve Bank & Trust — 67 buyers · 1.0% 2. Sutton Bank — 60 buyers · <1% 3. Cross River — 56 buyers · <1% 4. Pathward — 47 buyers · <1% 5. ClearBank — 35 buyers · <1% ### Card issuing 1. Marqeta — 65 buyers · <1% 2. Stripe Issuing — 31 buyers · <1% 3. Enfuce — 23 buyers · <1% 4. Paymentology — 23 buyers · <1% 5. Sutton Bank — 21 buyers · <1% ### Lending 1. Affirm — 63 buyers · <1% 2. Klarna — 53 buyers · <1% 3. YouLend — 44 buyers · <1% 4. Stripe Capital — 32 buyers · <1% 5. wisetack — 21 buyers · <1% ### Payroll 1. Gusto Embedded — 38 buyers · <1% 2. Check — 22 buyers · <1% 3. Salsa — 16 buyers · <1% 4. ADP — 10 buyers · <1% 5. Remote — 7 buyers · <1% ### Insurance 1. Cover Genius — 33 buyers · <1% 2. Qover — 12 buyers · <1% 3. Sure — 9 buyers · <1% 4. Coverdash — 7 buyers · <1% 5. Zego — 7 buyers · <1% ### FX / Payouts 1. Currencycloud — 74 buyers · 1.1% 2. Airwallex — 71 buyers · 1.1% 3. Nium — 66 buyers · <1% 4. Wise Platform — 57 buyers · <1% 5. Stripe — 57 buyers · <1% ### Open Finance / Data 1. Plaid — 291 buyers · 4.4% 2. Apideck — 62 buyers · <1% 3. Salt Edge — 58 buyers · <1% 4. MX — 56 buyers · <1% 5. GoCardless — 53 buyers · <1% ### Crypto / Stablecoin 1. Fireblocks — 31 buyers · <1% 2. Zero Hash — 26 buyers · <1% 3. Circle — 21 buyers · <1% 4. Bridge — 19 buyers · <1% 5. Stripe — 16 buyers · <1% ### Accounting 1. QuickBooks — 813 buyers · 12.2% 2. Xero — 502 buyers · 7.6% 3. NetSuite — 329 buyers · 5.0% 4. Sage — 149 buyers · 2.2% 5. Sage Intacct — 138 buyers · 2.1% ## Sponsor banks 401 distinct sponsor banks across 1,055 disclosed relationships. A *sponsor bank* is the chartered institution that holds the regulatory charter — distinct from a *BaaS provider* (the API/platform layer), so this ranking differs from the BaaS leaderboard even where the same names appear. 1. Evolve Bank & Trust — 97 fintechs (9.2% of disclosed) 2. Cross River — 65 fintechs (6.2% of disclosed) 3. Sutton Bank — 61 fintechs (5.8% of disclosed) 4. Pathward — 42 fintechs (4.0% of disclosed) 5. Celtic Bank — 37 fintechs (3.5% of disclosed) 6. Community Federal Savings Bank — 36 fintechs (3.4% of disclosed) 7. Thread Bank — 30 fintechs (2.8% of disclosed) 8. Lead Bank — 24 fintechs (2.3% of disclosed) 9. The Bancorp Bank — 24 fintechs (2.3% of disclosed) 10. WebBank — 23 fintechs (2.2% of disclosed) ## BaaS failure cycle (2023–2025) ### Synapse (US, 2024) Chapter 11. Serving ~100 fintechs and four partner banks. Over 100,000 customers locked out. Trustee identified $65-95M shortfall. Root cause: Pooled FBO accounts with no independent source of truth. ### Blue Ridge Bank (US, 2024) OCC consent order (original 2022, amended Jan 2024). Grew to ~70 fintech partnerships at peak without scaling compliance. Required to reduce partnerships and raise capital. Root cause: BSA / AML breakdowns at scale. ### Evolve Bank & Trust (US, 2024) Federal Reserve cease-and-desist (Jun 2024). Partner to Stripe, Mercury, Affirm, Airwallex, Dave. Created regulatory contagion across the BaaS ecosystem. Root cause: AML / risk-management deficiencies. ### Solaris (Germany, 2024-25) BaFin restrictions; special representative appointed. One of Europe's most-cited BaaS providers placed under sustained regulatory supervision. Root cause: AML governance + capitalisation concerns. ### Railsr (UK / EU, 2023) Special administration; forced downstream migrations across dozens of fintech customers. Root cause: Compounding losses + funding gap. ### Intergiro (Sweden, 2025) Finansinspektionen revoked authorization Jun 2025; wind-down through Sep 2025, bankruptcy filed Jul 2025. Downstream platforms lost access overnight. Root cause: AML / CTF failures — STR filing + CDD deficiencies. ## Bank charter queue (2025–26) Fintechs and infrastructure providers that have applied for their own US bank charter since the OCC reopened de novo chartering. Status follows the OCC ladder: applied → conditional approval → approved → opened. Every decided row