Tech cash cow: embedded finance to reach $138bn by 2026

There has never been a time where technology has been such a cash cow more than now; especially with the emergence of embedded finance within every corner of almost every app we use day-in and day-out.  

All of us at some points have used embedded finance whenever we use a service on our phone. For those who aren’t familiar with the term, it occurs when financial services are embedded within non-traditional financial services areas, such as banking services within a ridesharing app, or insurance services within an eCommerce checkout process. 

Your Ubers, Lyfts, online deliveries, you name it; even stretching down to a market value that includes insurance premiums, transaction revenue, and licensing costs. 

Due to this, the embedded finance market is growing astronomically without any signs of decrease on the way. According to a recent report by Juniper Research, the value of the embedded finance market will exceed $138 billion in 2026, from just $43 billion in 2021. 

The research identified that this extraordinary growth of over 215 percent will be driven by the increasing availability of APIs from financial services vendors. It predicts that the easy integration of these APIs will lower the barriers to entry for financial services and create a significant new revenue opportunity for providers of embedded finance. 

Buy now pay later leading market value 

The new research, Embedded Finance: Key Trends, Segment Opportunities & Market Forecasts 2021-2026, found that revenue from buy now pay later services, which embed lending seamlessly in the eCommerce checkout process, will account for just over 50 percent of the embedded finance market in 2026. 

“Embedded lending at point of sale is a massive opportunity for leaders such as Klarna or Afterpay, but it is also an opportunity for banks. As open APIs proliferate, we expect banks to take a significant interest in the market; leveraging their existing user relationships and trusted brands to create compelling propositions,” Research author Nick Maynard explains. 

Embedded insurance a new frontier 

The research also found that embedded insurance holds promise as a compelling way to boost the uptake of insurance for high-value products with eCommerce users. The research identified that by bringing insurance directly into the checkout process and pairing it with the individual high‑value item, product insurance becomes a compelling proposition. 

 The research found that this integration and greater use by high-end eCommerce retailers will see global embedded insurance premiums grow to over $10 billion in 2026, from just $3.8 billion in 2021.