Fintech Powerhouses Enfuce and SEB Embedded Partner to Launch Next-generation Card Programmes

P-Cards
06.06.2023 06:20 am

Card issuing and processing pioneer Enfuce has teamed up with Swedish Banking as a Service (BaaS) disruptor SEB Embedded to launch next-generation virtual and physical card programmes for SEB Embedded’s customers, powered by Enfuce’s award-winning cloud-powered issuer processor platform.

Established in January 2023 as an offshoot of Nordic banking group SEB’s innovation lab SEBx, SEB Embedded has a full banking licence and a modern banking technology platform, and is on a mission to bring banking to where it’s needed. By selecting Enfuce, SEB Embedded will be able to strengthen its existing BaaS capabilities with card services that offer full regulatory compliance and smooth onboarding.

Enfuce’s fully compliant and customisable tech stack and easily integrated APIs will be made available through SEB Embedded’s platform. Through Enfuce, SEB Embedded will be able to offer a range of value-added services including its exchange rate API, authorisation controls, and the ability for users to set and view PINs.

Crucially, with BaaS taking off around the world, SEB Embedded, together with Enfuce, is empowering clients to tap into new revenue opportunities and unlock innovative new ways to expand their customer bases by adding Card as a Service (CaaS) and other financial services to their value propositions.

Christoffer Malmer, CEO of SEB Embedded, comments: “Creating new compelling financial services like BaaS and expanding into new customer segments is exciting but also challenging. SEB Embedded was looking for a provider to help us get new products to market quickly and efficiently, including the extension of Card as a Service within BaaS. Our must-haves for any potential partner included speed and responsiveness, cost efficiency, flexibility, proactivity and scalability.

“The team at Enfuce has demonstrated impressive drive and commitment to support us on our journey. Adding to that, a deep industry knowledge and a modern technology stack, we are confident that Enfuce will be a strong long-term partner in our quest to become the first choice for Banking as a Service in Europe. Together with Enfuce, SEB Embedded can take a completely fresh approach to delivering financial services to new customer segments and markets.”

Led by co-founders and co-CEOs Monika Liikamaa and Denise Johansson, Enfuce offers an agile alternative to existing issuer processing platforms, with the ability to quickly add modules and services as and when needed. The first in the world to fully move card issuing to the cloud, and with its turnkey CaaS model, packaged BIN sponsoring, and all regulatory compliance taken care of, Enfuce is the partner of choice for visionary leaders looking to implement inspired and modern card products.

Monika Liikamaa, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Enfuce, says: “SEB Embedded is no ordinary customer. As an offshoot of a major bank like SEB, we knew from the start the expectations for us to go above and beyond our A game on all aspects of this collaboration. That they have chosen Enfuce as their partner is testament to our flexible and customisable issuing and processing functionality, compliance expertise, and our platform’s future-readiness. Together, Enfuce and SEB Embedded will accelerate the pace of new fintech product exploration and development.

“With SEB Embedded, our shared ambitions, expertise, tech ingenuity, and product development flexibility will be unstoppable in the market. We’re incredibly excited about our partnership’s potential to deliver compelling embedded financial services, create revolutionary new use cases, smoother payment journeys, and vastly enhanced customer experiences.”

Denise Johansson, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Enfuce, says: “This partnership is a game-changer for banks and non-financial companies in Sweden. Offering card solutions traditionally required major investment, rigorous regulatory obligations and dependence on slow-moving core legacy systems. With SEB Embedded and Enfuce, clients have a unique opportunity to offer financial services without crossing the line of actually becoming a bank. We take care of BINs, licences, products, and compliance so that clients can focus on their customers.”

“Enfuce and SEB Embedded will change financial services now and into the future because clients get the best of both worlds like never before – with the backing and resources of a trusted global bank, and Enfuce’s agile technology and compliance expertise, clients can quickly offer bank-style services and launch multiple products through the cloud for greater speed to market and at lower cost.”

SEB Embedded is currently operating in the Swedish market, but with a view to expanding both geographically into Europe and with an increased card offering, alongside a broad range of banking products.

The new partnership with SEB Embedded is the latest milestone in Enfuce’s successful growth journey, following its €45 million in Series C funding that was secured from Vitruvian Partners, a global investment firm which supports ambitious, high-growth companies. With a fast-growing roster of partnerships secured over the past 12 months, alongside several prestigious award wins, Enfuce is swiftly becoming the go-to partner for card issuance and embedded payments services in the B2B and B2C spaces.

Being the first financial service provider in the world to be PCI-DSS certified while running its service in the public cloud, Enfuce’s technology supports debit, credit, prepaid and fleet and fuel card programmes in any form – plastic, virtual and/or tokenised – for consumer, commercial and B2B applications, including integration with digital wallets.

Established in 2016 in Finland, Enfuce is the trusted partner for issuer processor solutions for more than 35 core-clients, supporting 16 million cardholders and processing more than €2 billion in transaction value annually. Key applications for Enfuce’s services include expense management, neobanks and fuel retailers, as well as providing corporate and consumer payment programmes and advanced spending controls.