How Financial Services Are Integrated into B2B Sales: Why Embedded Finance Is a Game-Changer

Just a few years ago, financial services existed separately from the purchasing process. A company would find a supplier, agree on the terms of cooperation, sign a contract, and then apply to a bank for a loan, open a separate line of credit, or arrange for factoring. The financing process itself could take anywhere from a few days to several weeks, which often led to deals being postponed or falling through entirely.

Today, this model is changing rapidly. Embedded Finance is becoming one of the major fintech trends of 2026. The concept is simple: a financial service is integrated directly into the platform, marketplace, or system where the purchase takes place. Customers no longer need to leave the website, contact a bank, or apply for financing separately. Payments, loans, insurance, and other financial instruments become part of the business process itself.

Analysts consider embedded finance to be one of the most promising areas of business digitalization. According to forecasts by international research firms, the global embedded finance market could exceed $600 billion in the coming years, with an estimated average annual growth rate of 25–30%. The main driver of this growth is the B2B segment, where transaction values are significantly higher than in the consumer sector, and the speed of financial decision-making directly impacts sales volume.

How did the traditional B2B financing model work?

Before the advent of modern fintech solutions, the purchasing process for businesses consisted of several separate stages. A company would find a suitable supplier, agree on a commercial proposal, and then begin a separate process of securing financing. If the company didn’t have enough of its own funds, it had to approach a bank, prepare a package of documents, undergo a credit assessment, agree on financing limits, and only then return to the purchase. In many cases, the financing process itself was the longest stage of the entire transaction.

The typical process looked like this:

1. Selecting a product or piece of equipment.
2. Agreeing on the price with the supplier.
3. Searching for a source of financing.
4. Submitting an application to the bank.
5. Reviewing documents and financial statements.
6. Receiving a decision.
7. Paying the invoice.
8. Shipping the goods.

Even if the bank approved the application within 5–10 business days, the business still lost valuable time. For the supplier, this meant lower sales conversion rates, and for the buyer, the risk of losing the product, a favorable price, or delivery deadlines. This problem was particularly acute during large-scale purchases of equipment, production machinery, or inventory ahead of the start of the season.

What is Embedded Finance in simple terms?

The idea behind embedded finance is to eliminate unnecessary steps between the decision to buy and obtaining financing. Whereas financial services used to exist separately from the e-commerce platform, they are now becoming an integral part of it.

Let’s imagine a marketplace where a business purchases manufacturing equipment. After adding an item to the cart, the system immediately offers several payment options: full prepayment, installment payments on the platform, leasing, or other financial solutions. The buyer doesn’t need to go to the bank’s website or re-enter documents. A significant portion of the verifications takes place automatically via API, and decisions are made in minutes or hours, rather than weeks.

To the user, this appears to be a single, seamless process. In reality, however, it is powered by a complex fintech infrastructure that integrates the merchant’s platform, a financial partner, a scoring system, underwriting modules, and automated risk assessment.

That is precisely why Embedded Finance is often referred to as the next stage in the development of the digital economy. Customers no longer think about where the online store ends and the bank begins. To them, the entire process looks like a single digital service.

Why has this model only become possible now?

Ten years ago, implementing such integration was difficult. Banking systems operated in isolation, data exchange was slow, and most verifications were performed manually. Financing decisions depended on a large number of documents and human judgment.

The situation began to change rapidly thanks to the simultaneous development of several technologies:

• Embedded Finance is based on APIs that enable various digital systems to exchange data in real time.
• Cloud platforms enable the rapid integration of financial services into CRM, ERP, marketplaces, and B2B platforms.
• Automated underwriting reduces application review time from several days to just a few minutes.
• Algorithms analyze transaction history, payment behavior, behavioral data, and other metrics to assess risk.
• The digitization of document flow allows contracts to be signed without paper-based procedures.

For businesses, this means one important change. Financial services are no longer a separate offering. They become a natural part of the purchase, just as paying online with a credit card is commonplace today.

What types of embedded finance are already being used in B2B?

Although the term “embedded finance” has become popular relatively recently, most companies already encounter its individual elements almost every day. Businesses pay bills through marketplaces, arrange financing directly when purchasing equipment, insure shipments, or use factoring through digital platforms. All of these financial services in B2B sales share a common feature: the financial service becomes part of the core product, rather than a separate process.

Analysts at the Boston Consulting Group predict that by the end of the decade, more than 30% of all financial services for businesses will be provided through non-financial digital platforms. This means that an increasing number of companies will gain access to financing without directly interacting with a bank.

Several models remain the most common today and are worth examining in detail.

Embedded Payments

The most mature segment of the market. The platform itself accepts payments, processes settlements between parties, automatically generates documents, and integrates with the company’s ERP or CRM system. To the user, the entire process appears as a single transaction, although in reality, the payment provider, bank, accounting system, and e-commerce platform all interact. This model was the first to gain widespread adoption in global e-commerce.

Embedded Lending

The next stage of development. Financing is offered directly during the checkout process. The platform already possesses a significant amount of information about the customer—including order history, average order value, purchase frequency, and sales volume—so the initial risk assessment is performed much faster. For businesses, this means a reduction in the time between the decision to purchase and payment.

BNPL for Businesses

This segment is currently experiencing one of the fastest growth rates. BNPL for Business (Buy Now, Pay Later) operates on the same principle as consumer installment plans but takes into account the unique characteristics of the B2B market. A company receives goods or equipment immediately and pays for them gradually according to an agreed-upon schedule.

This is particularly relevant for:

• manufacturing equipment;
• medical equipment;
• construction equipment;
• professional tools;
• large shipments of goods;
• seasonal purchases.

That is why built-in installment plans are increasingly being integrated into B2B marketplaces and corporate platforms.

Embedded Insurance

Another area that is rapidly gaining popularity. When purchasing equipment, vehicles, or high-value goods, a business can immediately arrange insurance without having to navigate to a separate insurance company website. For the customer, this saves time. For the seller, it’s an additional service. For the insurance company, it means a lower customer acquisition cost.

Why has B2B become the main driver of Embedded Finance?

Many believe that all innovations first emerge in the B2C sector. In the case of Embedded Finance, the situation is somewhat different. It is B2B that generates the greatest economic impact from the integration of financial services.

The reason is simple. The average transaction amount for these companies is tens or even hundreds of times higher than that of ordinary consumers. For example:

• The average online purchase amount for an individual can range from 1,000 to 3,000 UAH;
• Equipment purchases by a company often exceed 500,000 UAH;
• manufacturing contracts are often worth tens of millions of hryvnia.

Even a slight increase in conversion rates for these transactions yields significantly greater economic benefits for the seller.

The second reason has to do with data. In B2B, the platform typically knows much more about the customer than a typical bank does. It can see the history of all purchases, the average order value, the frequency of orders, business seasonality, payment discipline, shopping cart composition, and repeat purchases.

In fact, the platform has data that allows for a more accurate assessment of risks than traditional scoring. That is why modern underwriting increasingly relies on behavioral models rather than just a company’s financial statements.

The third reason is related to fraud. In the B2C sector, the proportion of fraudulent transactions is significantly higher due to the large number of new users. In the B2B sector, most companies have been in business for years, have a procurement history, a legal entity, tax records, and a market reputation. As a result, the risks are significantly lower, and the accuracy of predicting refunds is higher. That is why an increasing number of fintech companies view the corporate segment as one of the most promising areas for growth.

According to various estimates, the global B2B e-commerce market already exceeds 20–25 trillion U.S. dollars, which means it is several times larger than the global B2C e-commerce market. Even modest adoption of embedded financial services in this segment represents hundreds of billions of dollars in potential financial transactions each year. That is why the world’s largest fintech companies are now actively investing in solutions for corporate clients, rather than just the retail market.

Embedded Finance in Ukraine: How Embedded Financial Services Are Gradually Transforming the B2B Market

The Ukrainian market is still in the early stages of embedded finance development, but the pace of business digitization has significantly accelerated this process. While just a few years ago most financial transactions required a visit to a bank in person, today more and more services are being integrated directly into digital platforms, marketplaces, and corporate systems.

These changes are most noticeable in the B2B segment. Companies are increasingly purchasing equipment, machinery, building materials, professional tools, and goods for resale online. At the same time, buyer expectations are changing. Businesses want not only a product catalog but also a full cycle of service within a single interface.

Platforms are gradually emerging on the Ukrainian market that offer:

• online payment without redirecting to third-party services;
• automatic financing approval;
• built-in installment plans;
• electronic document signing;
• integration with accounting and ERP systems.

In fact, financial services are becoming yet another feature of digital platforms. One example of this approach is B2B BNPL solutions, which allow users to make purchases with installment payments directly on the platform without having to contact a bank separately. For the user, the process looks like a regular order placement. A significant portion of the verification checks takes place automatically, and decisions are made much faster than in the traditional banking model.

This is exactly how Ukrainian specialized fintech solutions work, including eDilo, which integrates a financing mechanism directly into the B2B purchasing process. For businesses, this means a shorter time between selecting a product and starting to use it, and for sellers, it means higher deal conversion rates and the ability to handle higher-value orders. So far, the penetration rate of embedded finance in Ukraine is significantly lower than in the U.S. or Western European countries. At the same time, this very fact creates significant potential for growth. Experience from other markets shows that once successful use cases emerge, digital financial services begin to scale rapidly across nearly all e-commerce segments.

What does Embedded Finance offer sellers and buyers?

The popularity of Embedded Finance is easy to explain. This model creates value for all parties involved in the transaction. The buyer gains faster access to financing, the seller increases sales, and the financial partner works with a customer who is already in the final stage of the decision-making process.

For the seller, the benefits are as follows:

1. Embedded Finance helps increase the conversion rate for high-value transactions.
2. The average transaction value is increasing thanks to the availability of financing.
3. Fewer customers postpone purchases due to a lack of funds.
4. The customer experience improves because the entire process takes place on a single platform.
5. Customer loyalty and the repeat purchase rate are increasing.
6. New opportunities for sales automation are emerging.

For the buyer, the effect is just as noticeable:

• faster decision-making regarding a purchase;
• no need to contact the bank separately;
• fewer documents and manual procedures;
• preservation of liquidity and working capital;
• the ability to implement an investment project without a long wait;
• a predictable payment schedule.

For small and medium-sized businesses, the last point is particularly important. A company can purchase the necessary equipment or build up inventory when the market demands it, rather than waiting until it has accumulated enough of its own funds.

Where Is the Embedded Finance Market Headed?

Most experts agree on one thing: the development of Embedded Finance is just beginning. While embedded financial services today are most often limited to payments or BNPL, the range of available tools will expand significantly in the coming years.

Analysts predict that development will proceed along several fronts simultaneously. First, financial services will become even less noticeable to the user. Some decisions will be made automatically before the customer even clicks the “Place Order” button. The platform will analyze the customer’s transaction history, purchase volume, and payment frequency, and will independently offer an available credit limit.

Second, the role of artificial intelligence in underwriting will continue to grow. Already today, algorithms evaluate significantly more parameters than traditional banking scoring models. In the future, they will take into account behavioral patterns, purchasing patterns, business seasonality, and other data that help predict risks more accurately.

Third, Embedded Finance will become increasingly integrated into enterprise software. ERP, CRM, procurement management systems, marketplaces, and industry-specific platforms will gradually evolve into unified digital ecosystems where users will be able not only to complete a purchase but also to obtain financing, insurance, factoring, or other financial services without leaving their current work environment.

For Ukrainian businesses, this means a gradual transition from the traditional “bank first, then purchase” model to a new format in which financial services operate directly within business processes. It is precisely this approach that will become one of the main drivers of B2B sales digitization in the coming years.