The financial world is experiencing a tectonic phase change. Exclusive insights from Sibos reveal how neobanks, APIs, and mobile wallets are transforming financial inclusion from a cost burden into a revenue engine, while simultaneously giving corporate treasurers the real-time liquidity orchestration they demand. The common thread? A powerful, seamless new era of embedded finance.
The global financial system isn’t just evolving; it’s undergoing a tectonic phase change. The old friction points—exclusion for the unbanked and sluggish liquidity for treasurers—are being vaporized by a new generation of interconnected platforms.
At Sibos, the convergence was clear: Financial Inclusion is no longer a philanthropic sidebar, and Liquidity Orchestration is no longer a manual spreadsheet exercise. They are twin pillars of a single, digital-first growth engine, fueled by the explosive power of Embedded Finance (EmFi).
For decades, basic banking for underserved populations was the industry’s ultimate blind spot. Incumbents dismissed it as a low-margin, high-cost endeavor, effectively locking billions out of the formal economy. This vacuum is now the new frontier for growth.
Mahesh Paolini-Subramanya, CTO at BKN301, cut straight to the core challenge: “Incumbent players often don’t find it cost-effective to offer basic, ‘lifeline’ retail banking.”
The response? Neobanks and fintechs didn’t wait for permission; they simply stepped in and walked away with the opportunity traditional banks ignored.
The pivot, according to Paolini-Subramanya, is a mindset shift: banks must stop viewing inclusion as a cost to be minimized and start seeing it as new revenue to be embraced. The way forward isn’t complex, experimental tech; it’s about embracing the modern fintech stack and delivering what people truly need with systems that are “boring, reliable, secure.”
For proof of concept, look no further than India’s UPI. Its success wasn’t about a clever gadget; it was a fundamental, system-level change that made digital payments ubiquitous. The result: cash receded, and the velocity of money exploded, fueling macro growth.
This journey is mirrored in the evolution of the mobile wallet. As Elie Bertha, Chief Product Officer at Thunes, explained, wallets began as pure inclusion tools in Africa and Asia 20 years ago. Now, driven by convenience and mass merchant acceptance, they are evolving into fully open, mainstream financial rails that will be used by 60% of the world’s population by 2036. What started as necessity is becoming global convenience.
If inclusion is about enabling billions of small transactions, liquidity orchestration is about controlling trillions of dollars. Against a backdrop of geopolitical tension and supply chain shock, corporate treasurers have zero tolerance for latency.
Moez Habib Thameur, VP of Product, Working Capital Solutions at Kyriba, framed the urgency perfectly: “External volatility is pushing working capital to the top of the agenda.”
The demand is for real-time, API-driven technology. For the modern treasurer, a static end-of-day bank file is a relic of the past. Success today demands being able to move cash and manage exposure at your fingertips.
Kyriba positions itself as the liquidity performance centerpiece, focused on helping treasurers not just manage, but master their cash through four actionable steps:
This is why connectivity is a major theme—tight ERP-bank links are becoming non-negotiable. And while the technology is still “nascent,” the increasing industry chatter around tokenized and stablecoin-style capabilities signals that banks are doubling down on state-of-the-art offerings that promise near-instant settlement.
The underlying API infrastructure that powers instant treasury is also tearing down the wall between commerce and finance, giving rise to Embedded Finance.
Chris Newman, Head of Corporates at ClearBank, highlighted the magnitude of the shift, noting the projected €100bn European opportunity in EmFi. But the value is about more than just a new revenue line; it’s about engagement.
“Beyond revenue, it drives brand engagement and loyalty,” Newman asserted.
By weaving financial features into their customer journeys—whether it’s point-of-sale financing or account services—corporates unlock richer first-party data. This gives them powerful new signals to improve insights and retention, turning a passive customer into an active, high-frequency user.
The emerging ecosystem is a sophisticated collaboration:
As Newman observed, the level of corporate interest in embedded banking at Sibos was “higher than I expected.” This confirms that EmFi is not a passing trend; it is the definitive new business model for large, brand-driven companies looking to deepen their customer connection and monetize every stage of the digital journey.
The common denominator across all these frontiers? The old walls are crumbling. Finance is becoming invisible, integrated, and immediate—a fundamental force driving global growth and equity.