79% of Middle-Market Firms Plan Embedded Finance Upgrades Within a Year

Embedded finance is no longer a question of whether companies should offer financial services. The question is how they should build them.

The PYMNTS Intelligence report, “The Embedded Finance Scale Factor: How Firm Size Shapes Strategy, Technology and Partnership Decisions,” in collaboration with Green Dot,  finds that company size increasingly determines how firms approach embedded finance, from technology investments and provider selection to decisions about whether to build capabilities internally or outsource them. The report, based on a survey of 515 senior leaders at U.S. companies, suggests that embedded finance has matured into a strategic infrastructure decision rather than simply a product expansion opportunity.

The most active segment may be neither the smallest companies nor the largest. Nearly 79% of firms with annual revenue between $250 million and $1 billion plan to upgrade their embedded finance capabilities within the next 12 months, making middle market companies the most aggressive adopters in the study. By comparison, 63% of firms generating more than $1 billion in annual revenue expect to make similar upgrades.

That enthusiasm reflects a broader reality. Many middle market firms have moved beyond experimenting with embedded payments and lending tools but have not yet reached the scale where operating models, governance structures and technology strategies are fully settled. As a result, they face difficult decisions about whether to continue building capabilities internally or consolidate around outside partners.

The research suggests larger companies increasingly favor external providers. Most firms with more than $1 billion in annual revenue outsource embedded finance to a single provider, while only about one-quarter of firms with annual revenue below $250 million take the same approach. Smaller organizations are more likely to maintain systems internally or work across multiple providers, reflecting different operational demands and resource constraints.

Embedded Finance’s Middle Market Inflection Point

The report identified the middle market as the segment experiencing the greatest operational friction as embedded finance programs mature.

Forty-five percent of middle market firms cited strategic alignment and return on investment as significant challenges, nearly double the rate reported by smaller firms. Decision-making complexity, coordination across teams and technology integration challenges also concentrated heavily within this group. Rather than struggling with whether to adopt embedded finance, these companies wrestled with how to scale it efficiently across broader business operations.

Technology priorities also diverged by company size. Smaller firms tended to focus on tools that improve operational speed and visibility, including real-time payments, advanced analytics and cloud infrastructure. Larger organizations, meanwhile, showed greater interest in blockchain and decentralized finance initiatives, reflecting their greater capacity to invest in emerging technologies.

What firms want from their partners also differed.

Trust and security remain dominant concerns among smaller companies, with nearly two-thirds citing trust in a provider as a key factor. Larger firms placed greater emphasis on customization and business alignment. Middle market firms stand apart for another reason: 32% said it is important that their embedded finance partner hold a bank charter, the highest share among all revenue groups. The preference suggests many firms are looking beyond technology alone and increasingly evaluating how regulated banking infrastructure can support compliance, governance and future growth.

The broader message is that embedded finance adoption is entering a new phase. Early conversations focused on adding payment and financial capabilities to customer experiences. Now, firms are evaluating how those capabilities fit into long-term operating models.

For middle-market companies in particular, the challenge is no longer whether embedded finance creates value. It is deciding how much of that infrastructure to build themselves, how much to buy and which partners can support the next stage of growth.

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