PayAdmit executive says consumer brands are scaling fintech products

Consumer brands in ride-sharing, travel, retail, telecoms, gaming and food delivery are becoming large-scale financial services distributors, with embedded finance in ride-sharing often exceeding 30% of platform revenue and travel booking margins rising by about 25%, according to Vladyslav Kolodistyi of PayAdmit. Kolodistyi argued in an external Finextra opinion that the competitive pressure for banks is shifting from well-known infrastructure providers and software platforms to consumer companies that control high-frequency transaction data.

The analysis identifies Uber, Lyft, Bolt and Grab as examples of ride-sharing businesses that have added driver debit cards, daily instant payouts, vehicle finance and rider wallets. Kolodistyi said the driver finance relationship has become a retention tool for platforms, because payments speed and access to working capital affect how drivers use the service.

In travel, he cited Booking, Expedia and Airbnb as businesses embedding trip finance, host payouts, multi-currency wallets and insurance into the booking process. In retail, he pointed to Apple, Amazon, Walmart and Target using co-branded cards, buy now, pay later products, savings products and cashback wallets to extend the customer relationship beyond the sale itself.

Telecom groups such as M-Pesa, Orange and T-Mobile were described as another major channel for embedded finance through mobile money, device finance, bill payments and micro-savings. Kolodistyi said telecom-led financial services have played a material role in reaching unbanked customers in some markets.

How the model works

Embedded finance places payment, credit, savings, insurance or account functions inside a non-bank service, rather than requiring customers to use a separate financial institution at the point of need. A ride-share driver may receive earnings instantly to a branded debit card, while a travel customer may add insurance or instalment finance during checkout.

Kolodistyi said the mechanism differs from the software-sector model. Vertical software providers often add payments and lending to monetise merchant relationships, while consumer brands use the same tools to strengthen customer loyalty and gather behavioural data. In his view, that data can support product personalisation and underwriting because the brand sees repeated activity across shopping, mobility, entertainment or device use.

The analysis also highlighted gaming and entertainment companies including Roblox, Epic, Steam and Twitch, which use creator payouts, in-game currencies, subscriptions and marketplace fees. Food delivery and on-demand platforms such as DoorDash, Deliveroo and Glovo were described as running finance functions across couriers, restaurants and consumers, including instant payouts, working capital, wallets and tipping systems.

Proposed 2026 sequence

Kolodistyi set out a five-step roadmap for consumer brands considering embedded finance products in 2026:

• Start with payments at checkout to capture transaction data.
• Add branded wallets or stored-value products to increase engagement.
• Introduce a branded debit or credit card to extend the relationship into wider spending.
• Offer buy now, pay later or instalment finance using accumulated data.
• Add savings or deposit products through a banking-as-a-service partner.

He cautioned that brands which move directly into deposit products without first building payments, wallet, card and lending capabilities may lack the customer trust, data and operating base required to support those products. The argument places sequencing at the centre of the strategy, with earlier products feeding data into later ones.

Finextra labels the post as external content by an author and says it was not edited by the publication. Kolodistyi is listed as a London-based business development professional at PayAdmit.

This story draws on original reporting from Finextra Research.