Banking as a Service (BaaS): Revolutionising Integrated Payments

With the rise of Banking as a Service (BaaS), businesses, marketplaces, and creator platforms provide integrated payments and financial services directly within their product offerings, improving the customer experience.

Nowhere is this more prevalent than in payments. 

From opening up new experiences and methods to enabling businesses to make instant, real-time payments across the world, BaaS is ushering in a new era for payments. 

This guide explores Banking as a Service, its opportunities across the payment ecosystem, and how Thunes can connect businesses to a global payment network.

Table of contents

What is Banking as a Service and Integrated Payments?

Before we discuss why BaaS is such an exciting development in payments, it’s important to understand the two components involved: Banking as a Service (BaaS) and integrated payments. 

Banking as a Service

Banking as a Service (BaaS) enables non-bank platforms, such as fintechs, marketplaces, or SaaS providers, to offer embedded financial products without requiring a banking license. By tapping into banking capabilities through APIs, third-party platforms can build and deliver services like:

• Debit or prepaid cards
• Digital wallets
• Bank accounts
• International transfers
• Lending and credit tools

The BaaS provider handles the heavy lifting. It offers licensing, KYC/AML, and transaction processing so platforms can focus on customer experience and innovation.

Integrated Payments

Integrated payments refer to the embedding of payment processing directly into a software platform or digital product. Doing so enables users to send, receive, or manage payments without leaving the core product or service experience.

This is often powered by payment service providers or API-based payment gateways, which connect platforms to:

• Card processing (Visa, Mastercard, Amex)
• Local and international bank transfers
• Mobile wallets
• Alternative payment methods (e.g., BNPL, crypto, QR codes)

Instead of sending users to third-party portals, businesses can keep the entire transaction journey within the platform, streamlining operations and enhancing trust.

How does Banking as a Service work?

Banking as a Service empowers non-bank platforms to offer financial products without becoming banks themselves.

At the core of BaaS is a partnership model: regulated financial institutions provide the underlying infrastructure, while non-bank companies deliver the customer experience. 

This collaboration is enabled through APIs, which provide platforms with secure access to key banking capabilities like payments, accounts, cards, and compliance tools. The result is that banks expand their reach, platforms enhance their value, and customers get seamless, embedded financial services.

A few models are driving this collaboration, which we explore in more detail below. 

Provider-Only Model

Banks or licensed financial institutions open up their infrastructure through APIs. This allows third-party platforms to plug directly into services such as payments, cards, or accounts, without going through an aggregator.

It’s a simple, focused approach. Providers unlock new revenue streams by offering access to their core systems, while distributors gain compliant, cost-efficient building blocks they can customise to fit their product.

Example:

A licensed digital bank opens its APIs to external partners. A personal finance app connects directly to the bank to offer features like virtual cards and direct deposits. There’s no middleware or bundling involved – the app picks the services it needs and builds the experience natively into its own interface.

Provider-Aggregator Model

This model connects multiple banks through a single platform. For fintechs that require reliable access to regulated infrastructure without managing multiple relationships, this is an efficient solution.

Distributors can access a broader suite of financial products from a single integration point, and the aggregator handles complexity, making it easier to scale and customise offerings.

Example: 

A platform built for gig workers needs access to accounts, cards, and lending. Instead of forming individual bank partnerships, it connects to a BaaS aggregator that manages multiple banking relationships behind the scenes. With one API, the platform can onboard users, send payouts, and offer financial products.

Distributor-Aggregator Model

Here, distributors act as the front end, embedding financial services into their platform, but they don’t go directly to banks. Instead, they rely on a distributor-aggregator to package the right services and deliver them as plug-and-play components.

This model is ideal for non-financial brands looking to enhance their product without becoming a fintech. It supports faster launches, more personalised experiences, and access to a range of financial tools, without needing a banking license.

Example: 

A SaaS platform for gym owners wants to add financial tools to its dashboard. It works with a distributor-aggregator that bundles services from various banks and fintechs. The aggregator delivers these as ready-to-use modules, which the SaaS platform embeds directly into its product.

Distributor-Only Model

In this setup, a distributor partners directly with one or more financial providers, without using any aggregation layer. The goal isn’t to build a full financial product but to improve the core user experience by embedding the right financial features.

This model supports brand-aligned, seamless services and is used to drive loyalty, retention, or operational efficiency.

Example: 

A ride-hailing app partners with a single bank to issue branded debit cards and offer instant driver payouts. There’s no aggregator involved; the integration is purpose-built for the app, designed to improve the driver experience with fast, embedded payments at the point of need.

How BaaS unlocks value across the financial ecosystem

From powering platform-based innovation to streamlining integrated finance, BaaS is creating value across the ecosystem for banks, non-bank businesses, and the end users they serve.

For financial institutions

1. Unlock new revenue streams: Banks can monetise their existing infrastructure by enabling third-party access through APIs.
   
2. Scale without additional overheads: By offering white-labelled financial capabilities, financial institutions can expand their digital footprint and customer reach without incurring the traditional costs of acquisition or infrastructure expansion.
   
3. Tap into new markets: Partnering with non-bank distributors opens access to untapped customer segments in markets where digital financial services usage is on the rise.

For BaaS users

1. New monetisation layers: Offering financial services, such as payment tools, on your platform increases customer lifetime value while introducing new recurring revenue opportunities.
   
2. Launch faster, with less complexity: With BaaS, platforms skip the heavy lift of building banking infrastructure from scratch and can go to market quickly with ready-to-integrate, regulatory-ready financial services.
   
3. Own the customer experience: BaaS enables businesses to deliver integrated and branded financial services, driving loyalty, retention, and differentiated customer journeys.
   
4. Serve customers where they already are: From payments to personal finance tools, customers can transact, save, or invest within a platform’s native environment, which minimises friction. 

For end customers

1. Seamless access: Customers gain access to banking tools integrated into the apps and services they use, which means no app-switching or account juggling.
   
2. Better value, lower costs: By removing middle layers and optimising for efficiency, BaaS platforms can offer more competitive rates, faster transactions, and reduced fees.
   
3. One ecosystem, multiple services: From paying bills to managing income, integrated finance simplifies daily financial life through a unified platform experience.

What are the benefits of integrating BaaS into your platform?

Banking as a Service isn’t just a tool. It’s a strategic lever that can drive product innovation, revenue diversification, and improve customer relationships.

Here’s how businesses are improving their operations and scaling internationally with BaaS. 

Move faster with pre-built infrastructure

Plugging into existing banking rails via APIs can reduce the time needed to launch financial products. Instead of building from scratch – and depleting resources on development and coding work – businesses can push new services live in weeks, not months, enabling faster response to customer needs and market shifts.

New monetisation layers

Integrating products like payment or financial tools into your platform increases customer lifetime value while introducing new opportunities to generate additional revenue. It’s estimated that SaaS companies can increase their revenue 2–5x by adding financial services to their software or product.

Expand internationally 

Businesses can leverage their BaaS partner’s global licensing and local banking relationships to launch in new markets with less friction. 

When a business utilises a BaaS solution integrated with Thunes, it can provide instant, reliable, and secure payouts with upfront visibility and transparency on FX rates and fees.

Deepen customer relationships

Integrating finance into your user experience creates more touchpoints. When your customers can also make payments within your platform’s environment, the result is greater stickiness, lower churn, and higher lifetime value.

Differentiate where it matters

In a saturated market, user-centricity wins. BaaS provides the tools to offer personalised, integrated financial services that reflect your customers’ real-world needs, helping businesses build trust, loyalty, and long-term advantage with their customer base.

Regulatory compliance made easy

Regulatory laws and compliance rules in payments are complex and vary from country to country. When a business integrates BaaS, it can outsource much of the work, ensuring payments meet regulatory and compliance requirements no matter where they are made. 

BaaS providers who partner with Thunes can offer a fully compliant payment service – our transaction monitoring and robust licensing framework ensure that all payments meet regulatory standards worldwide. 

What’s next for BaaS? 4 trends shaping the future of finance

As Banking as a Service continues to evolve, it’s driving a fundamental shift in how financial products are built, distributed, and consumed. 

There are four trends defining the next chapter of BaaS and opening the door to new opportunities for businesses and platforms.

1. Open banking and hyper-personalisation

Open banking enables secure, consent-driven data sharing between banks and platforms. This transparency enables businesses to deliver highly tailored financial services within their environment that align with individual user behaviour.

It will allow platforms to offer more intelligent recommendations, automated money tools, and embedded financial journeys driven by real-time customer data.

Examples:

• A gig work platform could offer tools that let freelance workers forecast their weekly income and view their current balance or upcoming bills.
• An e-commerce marketplace could offer buyers instant financing options based on their actual banking data, without needing to leave the platform.

2. Digital banking goes mainstream

Neobanks and mobile-first fintechs are bypassing traditional infrastructure to build banking experiences from the ground up, and BaaS provides them with the backend agility to scale quickly without the need for physical branches.

It improves speed to market, simplifies operations, and differentiates UX, all delivered through API-first partnerships with Payment Networks like Thunes. 

Examples:

• A travel app launches its own multicurrency wallet using BaaS, allowing users to pay, hold, and convert currencies on the go without needing a bank app.
• A ride-hailing company could roll out instant driver payouts by integrating with a payment API, eliminating traditional weekly delays.

3. Integrated finance expands beyond Fintech

BaaS is no longer confined to financial apps. Retailers, health tech firms, and even telecom companies are integrating payments, lending, and financial tools into their platforms, transforming everyday apps into financial hubs.

It allows businesses to turn their existing user base into financial services users, without redirecting them off-platform.

Examples:

• A fitness app might offer users the ability to finance personal training plans or equipment with a “buy now, pay later” option embedded in the checkout.
• An online marketplace could offer sellers working capital loans based on their sales data. The loans would be disbursed and repaid directly through the platform.

4. RegTech becomes non-negotiable

Dealing with local and international regulations is becoming increasingly complex. To manage this, BaaS platforms are integrating RegTech to simplify KYC, AML, and cross-border security.

For businesses, implementing RegTech means less manual overhead and more automated, secure onboarding and real-time fraud prevention built directly into their payments stack.

Example:

• Integrating with Thunes would allow businesses to automate compliance across onboarding, AML screening, and real-time transaction monitoring, helping platforms stay audit-ready while scaling internationally.

Thunes: Your integrated payments partner

Thunes supports BaaS providers with a global payment infrastructure and wallet coverage. 

With a single, simple connection to Thunes’ APIs, your partners can send and accept payments in every corner of the world.

Integrating with a BaaS that is plugged with Thunes offers many advantages:

• Cost savings: Debit and credit card payments, as well as wire transfers, may incur fees and charges. When multiple parties are involved in the process, it can add layers of complexity and costs. By integrating with Thunes, BaaS solution providers can remove intermediaries and hidden fees.
  
• Speed and efficiency: Paying a bank account or credit/debit card can take up to five days to process and settle. Using a payment network like Thunes, BaaS providers can eliminate third-party intermediaries and processing platforms, ensuring settlement time is almost instant.
  
• Ease of use: If your BaaS solution is ready to expand its reach, you can connect to our global payment Network through a single API. Our dedicated Solutions Delivery team will guide you through every stage of the integration process.
  
• Security: By partnering with Thunes, BaaS providers can offer improved security and regulatory compliance. We hold compliance licenses in countries worldwide, including the USA, France, the EU, the UK, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
  
• Transparency: Thunes provides a detailed view of each transaction upfront, including foreign exchange (FX) and transaction fees, ensuring complete visibility. BaaS solutions can therefore offer improved transparency to their customers, allowing them to see the cost of sending money and how much the beneficiary will receive in their preferred local currency.
  
• Meet your customers where they are: BaaS providers can send instant payments worldwide to over 4 billion bank accounts and 3 billion mobile wallet accounts through the Thunes Network.
  
• Expanded reach: Our Proprietary Direct Global Network provides access to 320+ payment methods, 130+ countries, and over 80 currencies, giving BaaS solutions access to new markets and underbanked and unbanked demographics.

Ready to elevate your payment solutions? Connect to Thunes, the Smart Superhighway to move money around the world.