New research shows that avoidable service gaps from embedded finance providers are directly limiting embedded finance market growth and costing businesses measurable revenue in the process.
Key Facts
- Equals partnered with Visa Consulting & Analytics to produce the study.
- Service gaps are directly linked to lost revenue opportunities in embedded finance growth.
- Research identifies specific areas where providers fall short on support.
- Published findings stress the need for improved service delivery across the embedded finance market.
- The study calls for practical, near-term fixes, not long-term overhauls.
What the Research Found About Embedded Finance Market Growth
Embedded finance solutions work by adding payment tools, credit products, and financial features directly into non-bank apps and platforms — think expense management inside an accounting tool, or insurance options inside a booking app. When it works well, it removes friction for users and opens new revenue lines for platforms. When providers fail to deliver adequate features or support, that friction comes back and so do the losses.
The Equals and Visa Consulting & Analytics study maps these failure points with enough detail to be actionable. Service gaps, as defined in the research, occur when providers fail to offer sufficient help, features, or reliability to the businesses building on top of their infrastructure. The compounding effect is that companies miss payment opportunities they would otherwise have captured, reducing their return on the investment made in embedded financial services.
This is particularly relevant for businesses exploring embedded finance solutions for the first time. When early experiences are shaped by poor provider support, adoption slows and the sector’s growth trajectory suffers with it. You can read more about how the sector is evolving across different use cases in our coverage of Embedded Finance Solutions: Visa and Airwallex’s freight industry collaboration.
The core finding: Embedded finance market growth is being constrained not by lack of demand, but by gaps in how providers serve the businesses building on their platforms. The revenue being lost is avoidable.
Why These Service Gaps Matter for Embedded Finance Market Growth
The embedded finance market is not short of momentum. Partnerships between large institutions and specialist providers are multiplying. FIS and Visa, for instance, have joined forces to help regional and community banks offer embedded financial services without building them from scratch, a model that extends the market’s reach to institutions that would otherwise be left behind. See our coverage: FIS and Visa Partner to Help Regional and Community Banks Offer Fintech Services.
At the same time, acquisitions are accelerating. NMI’s purchase of Dwolla brought account-to-account payment tools deeper into the embedded finance solutions stack, making it easier for companies to add payment features directly inside their own apps. Read the full deal breakdown: NMI Acquires Dwolla to Grow Embedded Payments.
The Tala and Airtm partnership shows how embedded financial services are moving into credit as well — users can now access loan offers without leaving a digital wallet app, powered by AI-based credit checks. That kind of frictionless experience is what the sector is capable of at its best. For context on that deal: Tala Partners Airtm for Embedded Credit in Wallets.
But the Equals and Visa Consulting research is a reminder that the infrastructure supporting this growth needs to keep pace. Providers that fall short on support or features create a ceiling on what their clients can achieve — and that ceiling suppresses the headline numbers for embedded finance growth across the sector. The same issue affects adjacent areas like real-time payments. Payfinia’s integration with The Clearing House RTP network is one example of providers actively closing these kinds of gaps: Payfinia RTP Integration Opens Instant Payments Access.
⚡ Key Takeaways
- Service gaps are a direct brake on embedded finance market growth
- Equals and Visa research quantifies the revenue impact of provider shortfalls
- Providers need stronger support structures to unlock embedded finance growth
- Digital payments suffer measurable losses when embedded financial services fall short
- Practical fixes not full rebuilds are what the study recommends
- The study offers clear, sector-wide insights for embedded finance solutions providers
FAQ
Conclusion
Embedded finance market growth is real, well-funded, and structurally supported — but it is being slowed by avoidable failures at the provider level. The Equals and Visa Consulting & Analytics study does the sector a service by naming those failures clearly and pointing toward fixes that do not require a rebuild from scratch. Companies relying on embedded financial services should audit their provider relationships now. The businesses that act on these findings stand to recover revenue that is already being lost — and to position themselves better as the embedded finance market continues to scale.
