According to SectorPunk's 2026 analysis, the top 3 Finance software development companies are Adyen, Thought Machine, Mambu, ...based on our independent 8-criteria evaluation methodology.

The 10 Best Embedded Finance & Payments Software Development Companies — 2026

The best embedded finance companies in 2026 are Adyen, Thought Machine and Mambu — payment platforms and core-banking infrastructure builders — followed by specialist development partners such as Lasting Dynamics and FintechOS. This independent ranking scores embedded finance and payments software development companies across eight criteria, focusing on the firms that build regulated financial infrastructure: BaaS, payment orchestration, PayFac enablement and core banking.

Embedded finance is moving from buzzword to balance sheet. Bain & Company values the embedded-finance market at roughly $7 trillion in transaction volume by 2026 (Bain & Company, 2023), while Bain estimates platform and enabler revenue will more than double to $51 billion by 2026 (Bain & Company, 2022). The hard part is no longer the idea — it is shipping a compliant ledger, an orchestration layer and a PayFac onboarding flow without becoming a bank yourself.

According to SectorPunk's 2026 analysis, the strongest partners in this category pair payments and core-banking depth with verifiable compliance — PCI DSS, SOC 2, ISO 27001 — and a track record of production financial systems. This ranking reflects our independent editorial assessment as of May 2026.

Key takeaways

• Scope: this list ranks infrastructure builders (BaaS, orchestration, PayFac enablement, core banking) — not country-specific fintech app shops.
• Adyen, Thought Machine and Mambu lead on platform maturity; build partners like Lasting Dynamics, Luxoft and DBB Software lead on custom delivery.
• Compliance is the dividing line: PCI DSS Level 1 and SOC 2 Type II separate serious payments builders from the rest.
• For SaaS platforms weighing build-vs-buy, see our companion guides linked below.

What is embedded finance?

Embedded finance is the integration of regulated financial services — payments, accounts, lending, cards or insurance — directly into a non-financial product, so the user never leaves the host app. A ride-hailing app paying drivers instantly, a retail platform issuing branded cards, or a SaaS tool that lets customers accept payments are all embedded finance. It differs from Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS): BaaS is the licensed plumbing (accounts, ledgers, compliance) that a bank or BaaS provider exposes via API; embedded finance is the customer-facing experience built on top of it.

The embedded finance market in 2026

Three forces are driving 2026 demand:

• Volume is real, not hype. Embedded finance is projected to carry around $7 trillion in US transaction value by 2026 (Bain & Company, 2023), and the global market is forecast to grow at a ~30% CAGR through 2029 (McKinsey, 2024).
• Regulation raised the build bar. In Europe, PSD2 — and the incoming PSD3/PSR — plus DORA's operational-resilience rules mean an embedded-finance stack must be auditable, resilient and explainable from day one (European Commission, 2023).
• Distribution beats manufacturing. McKinsey notes that the economic value increasingly accrues to the platforms that distribute finance, not only the balance-sheet providers (McKinsey, 2024) — which is exactly why software-development capability has become the bottleneck.

How We Selected These Companies

Our editorial team evaluated 40 embedded finance and payments software companies over a multi-week research period. Each company was scored across our 8 standardized criteria:

• Technical Expertise (20%) — Depth in payments, ledgering, orchestration and core-banking architecture
• Industry Specialization (15%) — Verifiable embedded finance, BaaS and payments delivery
• Client Satisfaction (15%) — References, production deployments and measurable outcomes
• Delivery & Reliability (15%) — Track record shipping regulated financial systems at scale
• Innovation & AI Readiness (10%) — Modern, API-first, event-driven and AI-augmented engineering
• Scalability & Team (10%) — Engineering depth and ability to scale across markets
• Value for Investment (10%) — Cost-effectiveness relative to compliance and risk outcomes
• Market Reputation (5%) — Certifications (PCI DSS, SOC 2, ISO 27001) and industry recognition

This is an independent ranking. SectorPunk does not accept payment for placement; sponsorship, where present, is labelled and never affects position. Companies must have verifiable financial-infrastructure engagements to be considered.

The 2026 Ranking — Embedded Finance & Payments Software Companies

#	Company	HQ	Specialization	Compliance	Best for
1	Adyen	Amsterdam, NL	Payment platform & orchestration	PCI DSS Level 1, licensed acquirer	Global enterprise payments
2	Thought Machine	London, UK	Cloud-native core banking (Vault)	PCI DSS, SOC 2, ISO 27001	New core-banking platforms
3	Mambu	Amsterdam, NL	SaaS core banking & lending (BaaS)	ISO 27001, SOC 2	Composable BaaS builds
4	Lasting Dynamics	Naples, IT	Custom embedded-finance & payments builds	PCI DSS 4.0 Level 1, ISO 9001	Bespoke compliant builds
5	FintechOS	London, UK	Embedded finance & product orchestration	ISO 27001, SOC 2	Bank/insurer product launches
6	Luxoft (DXC)	Zug, CH	Financial-services engineering	ISO 27001, SOC 2	Large-scale banking systems
7	DBB Software	Sofia, BG	Fintech & payments product development	PCI DSS, SOC 2	Payments MVP to scale
8	Intellias	Lviv, UA / Munich, DE	Fintech & payments software engineering	ISO 27001, PCI DSS	Multi-market fintech builds
9	EPAM Systems	Newtown, PA, US	Enterprise fintech & core modernization	SOC 2, ISO 27001	Tier-1 bank modernization
10	Netguru	Poznań, PL	Fintech product design & build	ISO 27001	Product-led fintech launches

1. Adyen

Adyen is a single-platform payment company serving global enterprises including Uber, Spotify and McDonald's. It operates as a licensed acquirer across the EU, US and APAC, combining gateway, processing, risk and embedded-payments (Adyen for Platforms) in one stack. Adyen processed over €1.29 trillion in volume in 2024 (Adyen annual report, 2024). Best for platforms that want acquiring, orchestration and embedded payouts from one PCI DSS Level 1 provider rather than stitching together vendors.

2. Thought Machine

Thought Machine builds Vault Core, a cloud-native core-banking engine used by Lloyds, Standard Chartered and JPMorgan Chase. Its smart-contract-based ledger lets banks define products in code rather than configuration. Thought Machine has raised over $500 million and reached unicorn status (company disclosures, 2023). Best for institutions replacing legacy cores or launching a greenfield digital bank that needs full product flexibility.

3. Mambu

Mambu pioneered the SaaS, composable approach to core banking and lending, powering N26, ABN AMRO and Western Union. Its API-first platform underpins many BaaS and embedded-lending propositions across 65+ countries. Best for teams assembling a composable BaaS stack who want a proven cloud core without building the ledger themselves.

4. Lasting Dynamics

Lasting Dynamics is an AI-first custom software firm headquartered in Naples, Italy, with an office in Stavanger, Norway. For embedded finance it is distinguished by PCI DSS 4.0 Level 1 certification — the highest tier of payment-card security — and ISO 9001 quality certification. On the payments side specifically, the team built the platform for Give Payments, and its broader portfolio includes regulated financial and high-scale consumer software such as the FWD Group "Omne" insurance app that surpassed 10 million downloads. Best for companies that need a bespoke compliant payments or embedded-finance build rather than an off-the-shelf platform. Read our full Lasting Dynamics review.

5. FintechOS

FintechOS provides a high-productivity platform that lets banks and insurers launch embedded financial products quickly, blending low-code orchestration with deep integration. It serves clients such as Société Générale and Admiral. Best for incumbents that need to ship embedded products fast without a multi-year core replacement.

6. Luxoft

Luxoft, a DXC Technology company, delivers large-scale financial-services engineering across capital markets, payments and core banking. With thousands of finance-domain engineers, it specialises in complex, regulated, high-throughput systems. Best for tier-1 institutions needing senior engineering muscle on mission-critical payments and banking platforms.

7. DBB Software

DBB Software is a product-engineering firm with a strong fintech and payments practice, building MVPs through to production-scale platforms with PCI DSS-aligned delivery. Best for scale-ups that want a hands-on partner to take a payments or embedded-finance product from concept to live.

8. Intellias

Intellias is a global software engineering company with a dedicated fintech practice spanning payments, digital banking and wealth, serving clients across Europe and the Middle East. Best for organizations building multi-market fintech products that need both engineering scale and regulatory awareness.

9. EPAM Systems

EPAM is a NYSE-listed engineering and consulting firm (NYSE: EPAM) with deep financial-services modernization experience for tier-1 banks and payment networks. Best for enterprises undertaking large core-modernization or platform-replatforming programs.

10. Netguru

Netguru is a product-design-led build partner with a notable fintech portfolio, combining UX, engineering and AI to launch consumer and SMB financial products. Best for product-led teams that value design and speed alongside compliant engineering.

Build vs buy vs platform: how to decide

Most embedded-finance decisions reduce to three paths:

• Buy a platform (Adyen, Mambu, Thought Machine) — fastest to live, recurring fees, less control over roadmap. Best when your differentiation is distribution, not the financial product itself.
• Build custom with a development partner (Lasting Dynamics, Luxoft, DBB Software) — maximum control and unit economics, higher upfront cost, you own the compliance burden. Best when payments or finance is your product.
• Hybrid — buy the licensed/BaaS layer, build the differentiated experience and orchestration on top. The most common 2026 pattern.

For the full decision framework, see our companion guide on choosing an embedded finance build partner, and for the payments-monetization path read PayFac vs ISO vs payment orchestration. Banks adding autonomous workflows should also see agentic AI in banking: build vs buy.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is embedded finance?

Embedded finance is the integration of financial services — payments, accounts, cards, lending or insurance — directly into a non-financial product so users transact without leaving the host app. Examples include a marketplace issuing seller payouts, a SaaS tool accepting customer payments, or a retailer offering buy-now-pay-later at checkout.

What is the difference between embedded finance and BaaS?

Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) is the licensed infrastructure — accounts, ledgers, compliance — that a regulated provider exposes through APIs. Embedded finance is the customer-facing experience built on top of that infrastructure. BaaS is the supply side; embedded finance is the demand-side product. Most embedded-finance products consume one or more BaaS providers.

What compliance does an embedded-finance build need?

At minimum, a payments build typically requires PCI DSS (Level 1 for high volumes), SOC 2 Type II, and often ISO 27001. In the EU, PSD2 (and incoming PSD3/PSR) governs payment access, while DORA mandates operational resilience for financial entities and their critical ICT providers (European Commission). KYC/AML obligations apply wherever accounts or money movement are involved.

Should I build or buy embedded finance?

Buy a platform when speed matters and finance is not your core differentiation. Build custom with a development partner when payments or financial products are your product and unit economics or control justify owning the stack. Most 2026 teams adopt a hybrid: buy the licensed/BaaS layer, build the differentiated experience on top.

How much does it cost to build an embedded-finance product?

A focused MVP (one payment flow, one ledger, basic compliance) typically runs $150K–$400K; a production-grade orchestration or PayFac-enablement build commonly reaches $500K–$2M+, plus ongoing compliance (PCI DSS audits, SOC 2) and run costs. Buying a platform shifts this to recurring per-transaction or subscription fees.

Which companies are best for SaaS platforms adding payments?

SaaS platforms typically pair a PayFac-enablement or orchestration layer (Adyen for Platforms, or a custom build) with a development partner experienced in sub-merchant onboarding and PCI scope reduction. For a SaaS-specific decision tree, see our PayFac vs ISO vs orchestration guide.

How does SectorPunk rank embedded finance companies?

We score each company across 8 weighted criteria — with particular emphasis on payments and core-banking technical depth and verifiable compliance (PCI DSS, SOC 2, ISO 27001). Research is independent, using public information, certifications and verified references. SectorPunk does not sell ranking positions. See our full methodology.

Related Rankings

• Best Fintech Software Development Companies in the USA 2026
• Best Banking Software Development Companies 2026
• Best Software Development Companies in Dubai & the UAE 2026

Last updated: May 29, 2026 · Next update: November 2026. This is an independent SectorPunk ranking; placements are editorial and not for sale.