Non-Financial Companies Are Becoming The Future of Finance

The next time you make a payment, take a moment to consider who’s really processing it. Chances are, it’s not who you think. As we enter 2025, we’re witnessing a fundamental shift in who controls financial services – and traditional banks are increasingly finding themselves playing catch-up.

In a recent MPE Voice podcast episode , payments expert Neira Jones highlights a striking statistic: embedded finance is projected to become a $7 trillion market by 2030. It’s a figure that underscores just how significant this shift really is.

The Power Shift

“Every company will be a fintech company,” predicted Angela Strange of Andreessen Horowitz. This statement, once seen as hyperbole, is rapidly becoming reality. We’re talking about a market that’s set to hit $7 trillion by 2030, with embedded finance services projected to generate over $291.3 billion by 2033 . Those aren’t just numbers – they’re a revolution in the making.

This transformation goes far beyond the usual suspects like Apple Pay or Amazon’s payment solutions. Your favorite retailer might now be your lender, your social media platform your payment processor, and your software provider your bank. In Europe, thanks to forward-thinking regulations like PSD2, this transformation is happening even faster than anywhere else in the world.

Why Traditional Banks Should Be Nervous

Here’s where it gets interesting: these new players aren’t just winning because they have better tech – they’re winning because they know us better. While your bank might know how much you spend, your favorite shopping app knows what you buy, when you buy it, and what you might want next.

And consumers? They’re embracing this shift with open arms. A recent study shows that 63% of people under 35 are perfectly happy getting financial services from companies that aren’t banks. The reason is simple: it just works better.

The Real Innovation Isn’t What You Think

Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of this shift is that the real innovation isn’t in financial technology itself. It’s in making that technology disappear completely. Traditional banks excel at moving money around – but these new players excel at making you forget you’re moving money at all.

As Ivo Gueorguiev (Paynetics co-founder) notes , today’s consumers are showing more loyalty to brands outside traditional banking. It’s not hard to see why – these brands are meeting people where they are, making financial services feel less like banking and more like living.

Not All Plain Sailing

Of course, there are challenges. About 80% of sponsor banks are grappling with compliance requirements. The regulatory landscape is complex – while Europe leads with comprehensive frameworks, markets like the US are still navigating state-by-state variations.

But solutions are emerging. White-label financial products – think of them as financial services in a box – are gaining traction. In fact, 72% of banking executives are now considering offering these services to other companies. It’s a pragmatic response to a complex problem.

What This Means for Tomorrow

For traditional banks, this shift presents both challenges and opportunities. The smart ones are already positioning themselves as infrastructure providers for this new wave of financial services. According to Plaid’s research, we’re seeing four key transformations:

1. A fundamental reset in how we interact with financial services
2. New revenue streams through embedded financial products
3. The emergence of specialized providers targeting specific niches
4. A new era of partnerships between traditional banks and brands

Looking Ahead

As Neira Jones emphasizes in the MPE podcast above, this transformation of financial services isn’t just another trend – it’s a fundamental reshaping of how we think about money. Her insights are particularly timely as industry leaders prepare to dive deeper into these topics at the upcoming MPE 2025 conference in Berlin (March 18-20) .

The future of finance isn’t about who has the shiniest financial products – it’s about who can make those products fade into the background of our daily lives. And increasingly, that’s not coming from where you might expect.

This mini-edu episode from MPE Voice is part of a larger conversation happening across the industry. Want to understand more about how embedded finance is reshaping the payments landscape? Listen to the full discussion above, where Neira Jones breaks down the key opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. To explore these topics further, join industry leaders at the MPE 2025 conference in Berlin this March.