Banking as a service, or BaaS, has become one of the most important strategic imperatives for chief executives across all industries, including banking, technology, manufacturing and retail.

Retail and business customers want integrated experiences in their daily lives, including seamlessly embedded financial experiences into everyday experiences. Paying for a rideshare from an app, financing home improvements when accepting a contractor quote, funding supplier invoices via an accounting package and offering cash management services to fintechs – these are just some examples of how BaaS enables any business to develop new and exciting propositions to customers, with the relevant financial services embedded into the process. The market for embedded finance is expected to reach $7 trillion by 2030, according to the Next-Gen Commercial Banking Tracker, a PYMNTS and FISPAN collaboration. Banks that act fast and secure priority customer context will experience the greatest upside.

Both banks and potential BaaS distributors, such as technology companies, should be looking for ways to capitalize on BaaS opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises and businesses (SMEs). According to research from Accenture, 25% of all SME banking revenue is projected to shift to embedded channels by 2025. SME customers are looking for integrated financial experiences within relevant points of context.

SMEs need a more convenient, transparent method to apply for a loan, given that business owners are often discouraged from exploring financing opportunities. In 2021, 35% of SMEs in the United States needed financing but did not apply for a loan according to the 2022 Report on Employer Firms Based on the Small Business Credit Survey. According to the Fed, SMEs shied away from traditional lending due to the difficult application process, long waits for credit decisions, high interest rates and unfavorable repayment terms, and instead used personal funds, cut staff, reduced hours, and downsized operations.

And while there is unmet demand from SMEs, there is also excess supply. Over the last few years, the loan-to-deposit ratio at U.S. banks fell from 80% to 63%, the Federal Reserve wrote in August 2021. Banks need loan growth to drive profits. Embedding financial services for SME lending is not only important for retaining and growing customer relationships, but also critical to growing and diversifying loan portfolios. The time for banks to act is now, given the current inflection point: BaaS for SMEs is projected to see four-times growth compared to retail and corporate BaaS, according to Finastra’s Banking as a Service: Global Outlook 2022 report.

How to Succeed in Banking as a Service for SMEs
There are three key steps that any institution must take to succeed in BaaS: Understand what use cases will deliver the most value to their customers, select monetization models that deliver capabilities and enable profits and be clear on what is required to take a BaaS solution to market, including partnerships that accelerate delivery.

BaaS providers and distributors should focus on the right use case in their market. Banks and technology companies can drive customer value by embedding loan and credit offers on business management platforms. Customers will benefit from the increased convenience, better terms and shorter application times because the digitized process automates data entry. Banks can acquire customers outside their traditional footprint and reduce both operational costs and risks by accessing financial data. And technology companies can gain a competitive advantage by adding new features valued by their customers.

To enable the right use case, both distributors and providers must also select the right partners – those with the best capabilities that drive value to their customers. For example, a recent collaboration between Finastra and Microsoft allows businesses that use Microsoft Dynamics to access financing offers on the platform.

Banks will also want to focus on white labeling frontu2011to-back customer journeys and securing access to a marketplace. In BaaS, a marketplace model increases competition and benefits for all providers. Providers should focus on sectoru2011specific products and services, enhancing data and analytics to enable better risk decisions and specialized digital solutions.

But one thing is clear: Going forward, embedded finance will be a significant opportunity for banks that embrace it.

WRITTEN BY

Jeff Manghillis