Finance
41% of Banks Offer Embedded Finance Solutions, Have FinTechs to Thank
In today’s financial services arena, embedded finance and banking-as-a-service (BaaS) have emerged as transformative forces, redefining the way banks and financial institutions (FIs) engage with consumers and businesses. At the core of this shift is the use of application programming interfaces (APIs), which enable smooth financial transactions through digital platforms.
A recent PYMNTS Intelligence report, “Embedded Finance and BaaS: From Marketing Buzz to Banking Bedrock,” in collaboration with NCR Voyix, reveals traditional institutions must now make a critical choice: adapt to these advancements to remain relevant or risk being surpassed by more nimble competitors.
APIs Transform Embedded Finance
Embedded finance and BaaS are becoming integral to the banking industry, driven by the need to offer seamless financial solutions and counter competitive threats from Big Tech and FinTech companies. According to recent surveys, 41% of FIs have already implemented embedded finance solutions, and 48% have expanded their BaaS capabilities. This adoption reflects a strategic shift toward leveraging these technologies to stay relevant in a market increasingly dominated by digital-first players.
A trend is that 79% of banks worldwide expect banking to become deeply embedded in daily consumer and commercial activities. As a response to this shift, 20% of banks are transitioning toward BaaS-centric models that enable them to offer a range of in-house financial products and services.
This strategic move is crucial, as businesses are integrating C systems with payment providers via APIs to gain data-driven insights, a trend anticipated to accelerate with advancements in artificial intelligence (AI).
Navigating Roadblocks to Embedded Finance
Despite the clear advantages, adopting embedded finance and BaaS presents challenges. In the U.K., for example, two-thirds of banking executives cite at least 10 obstacles, including cost and risk factors, that hinder the widespread adoption of embedded finance. A staggering 99% of executives acknowledge at least one barrier, with a substantial number highlighting the absence of a unified internal strategy as a major hurdle.
Meanwhile, the regulatory environment remains a critical issue. In the U.K., 31% of compliance leaders report being hampered by regulatory uncertainty, while broader concerns about outdated systems and the lack of cohesive strategies exacerbate the problem.
European banks face additional security challenges, with 80% acknowledging the importance of API security, but only 24% having implemented comprehensive security solutions. These issues are particularly pressing for smaller community banks and credit unions (CUs), which often struggle with legacy systems and limited resources.
FinTech Partnerships: Key to Banking Innovation
FinTech partnerships are emerging as essential for banks and FIs seeking to accelerate innovation and enhance customer satisfaction. These collaborations enable institutions to integrate advanced technologies and offer more responsive services, addressing evolving consumer needs and maintaining competitive edge.
A key driver of this shift is the demand from Generation Z. PYMNTS Intelligence research shows that 30% of Gen Z consumers are likely to switch financial institutions if their current ones fail to innovate. Despite this, 41% of CUs have no plans to offer popular digital services like Zelle by 2030, and 23% are not considering digital budgeting tools. This highlights a critical disconnect and underscores the urgency for CUs to adopt API-enabled products.
In response, 80% of CUs are recognizing the value of FinTech partnerships as a crucial element of their digital transformation strategy. Nearly half of these institutions plan to invest in FinTech collaborations in the near future, with about 30% expecting to partner with multiple FinTechs.
The rise of embedded finance and BaaS marks a shift in banking from traditional silos to a digital-first approach. Despite significant challenges, especially for smaller banks and credit unions, FinTech partnerships and API integrations offer a path forward.
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — Families are navigating the already stressful college planning process, and a new set of financial grades is prompting many to look more closely at the stability of the schools they are considering.
Forbes’ annual financial report card for private, nonprofit colleges and universities is putting a spotlight on how well schools can manage their finances. The rankings are based on each institution’s ability to cover immediate expenses with cash on hand — a measure that is increasingly resonating with parents.
In the Triangle, the grades vary widely. Duke University received an A+, while Meredith College earned a B-. Shaw University was rated C-, and Saint Augustine’s University received a D.
For families, those grades are becoming an important part of the decision-making process, alongside academic and campus life.
“This college experience is much more than the books and the tuition,” Wake Forest parent Meranda Van Ningen said.
Van Ningen said a school’s financial condition is now a key factor as she — and many other parents — evaluate long-term value and security.
“We had to really lean in and ask the questions, make sure that we were getting the answers we appreciated,” she said. “They want us. They want our money to come in and to pay for that next year.”
She said the financial grades offer insight into how well schools can navigate economic challenges.
“Show that they can handle this tough, tough economy, to be honest, and that they know how to roll with it because campuses have good years and bad years as well,” Van Ningen said.
Financial planners say that shift in focus is well-founded, especially as some colleges across the country face financial strain or closure.
“A lot of smaller colleges are closing throughout the country,” said Gray Pendleton, president of Pendleton Financial. “I think it’s important to look at the financial health of the school.”
Experts say the added scrutiny reflects the high stakes of higher education, often one of the largest investments a family will make. Along with reviewing financial grades, they encourage families to thoroughly research institutions before committing.
They also stress the importance of early financial preparation to manage rising costs.
“Even like, $10 to $100 a month,” Pendleton said. “The NC 529 savings plan is great. And that’s an aggressive, age based plan. That’s a good opportunity.”
As financial grades draw more attention, families are increasingly weighing not just where students will thrive academically, but also which schools are best positioned to remain financially secure over the long term.
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Investors and analysts said the market was moving beyond the smaller hotel conversions that dominated the past two years, with more sizeable transactions expected as financing conditions improve, distressed sales accelerate, and buyers hunt for assets capable of generating stable income.
“This year and next year, there will be more sizeable transactions,” said Kavis Ip, CEO of Centaline Investment.
Unlike earlier student housing projects typically backed by smaller private investors, the Regal deal was structured with an equity partner and sized for eventual exit to institutional buyers such as insurers, sovereign wealth funds and private equity firms.
“We always wanted to do deals of this size,” Ip said. “Large institutional-grade assets create a completely different buyer pool when you eventually exit.”
In February and March 2026, Snowflake was the stock Wall Street couldn’t quite figure out. The stock was down 50% from the early January high to early April 2026, according to TradingView data. Snowflake was caught between a decelerating core business and an AI narrative that kept getting pushed further into the future.
Then Snowflake reported earnings. And the stock jumped 37% in a single session. Goldman Sachs responded with one of its most dramatic price target increases on a major software stock this year, raising its Snowflake (SNOW) target in a note shared with me at TheStreet.
SNOW is now trading at $255.37, up 16.42% year-to-date after the post-earnings surge, according to Yahoo Finance.
The Goldman note identified two specific dynamics converging inside Snowflake’s business right now that the market had been underpricing. Once you understand both, the 37% single-day move starts to look less like euphoria and more like a rational repricing.
Goldman Sachs raises Snowflake price target to $278 from $216
Right after earnings, Goldman Sachs raised its Snowflake (SNOW) target to $278 from $216 in a note shared with me at TheStreet, while maintaining its Buy rating. The two AI inflections Goldman mentioned in the note are compounding simultaneously within Snowflake’s business.
The first is external: the proliferation of AI coding tools is making it dramatically easier for enterprises to migrate from legacy data platforms to modern ones like Snowflake. Migrations that previously required months of engineering work are being compressed.
More Wall Street:
The cost of switching has fallen. The urgency to switch has risen as companies need governed, structured data environments to run AI applications. Snowflake is the direct beneficiary of both forces.
The second is internal: Cortex Code. That’s Snowflake’s own AI coding product, launched in general availability in mid-February 2026, which embeds a context-aware AI coding agent directly into the development workflow.
It enables customers to build, deploy, and iterate on data pipelines, analytics, and AI agents faster while remaining fully governed within the Snowflake environment.
Related: Snowflake stock analyst reveals surprising stock forecast
Adoption has been the fastest of any Snowflake product in company history, with over 7,100 accounts already using it — approximately 50% penetration — according to the Q1 earnings release report and the note.
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