Choosing a Banking as a Service (BaaS) provider can be daunting. There are many providers in the market, all offering different features and benefits. How do you know which provider is right for your business? And more importantly, how do you know which provider is trustworthy?

In this article, we’ll give an overview of the five most pioneering BaaS providers. We’ll take a look at what each provider offers and how they stack up against each other. By the end of this article, you will have all the information you need to make an informed decision about which BaaS provider is right for your business!

Here are the five most pioneering BaaS providers that are leading the charge in 2023:

Intergiro.3d

Intergiro is a financial service provider from Sweden whose APIs provide the infrastructure for multiple types of fintechs including neobanks, payment service providers, crypto exchanges, crowdfunding platforms, amongst others. The company is relatively young, but has quickly made its way to the top with its wide range of financial products and impressive client portfolio. Let’s look in depth at why Intergiro.3d is the highest BaaS provider on our list. 

Intergiro stands out because it allows businesses to open and control their own financial services via API and/ or embed financial services into their products to offer to their customers. A key differentiator is that, as a card acquirer, card issuer and licensed banking provider, their banking as a service clients only need to partner with Intergiro to receive, exchange and send funds, either via card or bank wire. This also means the customers can instantly top up their cards or accounts from third party cards. 

The Intergiro.3d APIs enable clients to embed financial services into their own products, or build completely new financial services from scratch. Use cases vary from modern virtual card issuing products,  creating in-app payment methods, or building the next neobank, to setting up traditional card programmes, white-label payment processing, or embedding multi-currency IBAN accounts into your apps. 

Intergiro’s platform is particularly well-suited for creating a closed-loop card payments system. Because Intergiro functions as the acquirer, bank account provider and card issuer, industries ranging from mobility service providers, gig economy players, marketplaces, to crypto exchanges can benefit from instant settlements. 

Why we like Intergiro.3d:

• Intergiro provides branded physical and virtual cards from the major card providers Visa and Mastercard. With Apple Pay and Google Pay, these types of cards can be tokenized and used on the go.

• A great new way for BaaS clients to maintain control of transactions is what Intergiro refers to as delegated authorization. With this functionality, Intergiro is responsible for forwarding clients the authorization message when a payment card is used. Intergiro.3d BaaS-clients have their own business rules in place, and control transactions as they happen – ensuring every payment is authorised and valid.

• Interigro removes the compliance and regulatory burden from you - with automated KYC and onboarding in addition to fraud and transaction monitoring. KYC features (User-Verification). KYC, or "know your customer," is the process of identifying and verifying your customers' identities. This is a legal requirement for any business that is involved in transferring money. Intergiro's onboarding applications create a smooth process for fulfilling this legal requirement and allow for a frictionless onboarding process within your app.

• Intergiro's in-app payment solution makes it easy for you to add a payment checkout to your app with just a few lines of code.

• Intergiro has a unique data-as-a-service offering which allows customers to access their user data in real time.
  
  

Moreover, Intergiro.3d is regulated as an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) under the Swedish Electronic Money Act. As a company, Intergiro's services are GDPR-, PSD2-, and PCI-compliant. 

Other advantages that Intergiro.3d offers:

• A diverse range of payment options

• Regulatory compliance in EEA-area

• End-to-end security

• White-label banking opportunities

• Excellent customer service
  
  

What Intergiro.3d can improve:

• Intergiro is a young company and can continue to improve its product offering. It would be great to see more products in the area of lending and investment products.
  
  

API documentation

Intergiro has all the API documentation hosted here.

MangoPay

The Luxembourg-based financial services provider MangoPay is among the best Banking as a Service providers in Europe. They work with various marketplaces, including e-retailers, crowdfunding platforms, and other B2B platforms. Since their founding in 2013, MangoPay has processed more than 10B euros’ worth of transactions from their extensive client portfolio across Europe. Clients include Wallapop, The Food Assembly, KissKissBankBank, Vinted and many more. 

Why we like Mangopay:

• A complete range of international payment methods include Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Diners Club, and Maestro.

• e-Wallets with IBANs and financial management features provide an enhanced customer experience. MangoPay offers a free and unlimited number of e-Wallets, as well as a large number of features including unlimited escrow time and payment splitting.

• The next big thing in Banking as a Service is white-labelling. MangoPay allows brands to have their own branded financial app to accept local and international payment methods. Tokenization is also available for an added layer of security.

• To maintain safety while conducting payments, MangoPay offers 3D protocol protection, card fingerprinting, deferred payments, and much more to prevent fraud and protect users.

• MangoPay offers a unique KYC (user verification feature). It allows you to check users’ identity while keeping business in compliance with anti-money laundering and other financial regulations.
  
  

What MangoPay can improve:

• MangoPay doesn’t offer a personal banking service to consumers as of now.
  
  

API documentation

Mangopay has all API documentation hosted here.

Contis

Contis is a long-established firm in the industry that was founded in 2008. Since then, the company has grown to become one of the most extensive Banking as a Service platforms in Europe. Contis works with a broad customer base that includes banks, financial institutions, fintechs, and credit unions. The client base include companies like Bitpanda, Hastee, PaySera, Ahmed and many more.

In 2021, they processed over £13bn in transactions and had over 200 clients, with more than 2.5 million accounts. Contis has a wide range of financial services that it offers its clients, which include accounts, card processing, card issuing, and access to cross-border payments. The offered accounts are fully functional and include features such as budget tools, cardless ATM withdrawals, and a skinnable mobile application. 

Why we like Contis:

• Their client base is very diverse, which shows that they are a versatile platform that can work with many different types of businesses.

• Contis has been in the industry for over a decade, which shows that they are a reliable and established firm.

• The Contis system allows customers to do their shopping without having to worry about the hassle of moving their assets around or converting them manually.

• Get your customers' attention with the personalised card program from Contis. Made from eco-friendly materials, these customizable cards can be skinned with your company's theme. 
  
  

What Contis can improve:

• We have heard that the customer support is slow and unresponsive and in general they are relatively rigid for new feature requests.
  
  

API documentation

Contis has all API documentation hosted here.

Enfuce

Helsinki-based Enfuce has been innovating the payment industry since 2016. In such a short time, they have managed to make quite a name for themselves by winning awards like the Nordic Startup of the Year Award and being listed on the Disrupt 100 list. But awards and recognition are not all Enfuce is about –  the company is also one of the most noteworthy companies to offer Banking as a Service in Europe.

Enfuce has recently raised €45M in a Series C funding round, which they are planning to use for international expansion and new product development. The company has long specialised in card issuing for fintechs and banks, as well as open banking services.

Enfuce’s comprehensive card issuing service is suitable for fintech, businesses, and banks looking to design, launch and scale payment cards. A great thing about Enfuce Cards aaS is its fast delivery. They design and launch all types of card programmes in a matter of weeks. 

Why we like Enfuce:

• The company is extremely innovative and has won many awards to prove it.

• Strong client base that includes Pleo and Rocker, showing their versatility as a   platform that their clients can scale together as they grow.

• The company is planning to use their most recent funding round for international expansion, which could make them a major player in the Banking as a Service industry.

• Enfuce has a fast delivery time for their card issuing service, which is a big plus for businesses that need to launch a card programme quickly.

• The open banking services offered by Enfuce set them apart in the industry. You can become fully compliant and provide third-party service providers with access to your platform.
  
  

What Enfuce can improve:

• The company could focus on developing more products, as they currently only offer card issuing and open banking services.

• Enfuce only works with licensed entities, which limits their client base.
  
  

Marqeta

Marqeta is a US-based BaaS company that was founded in 2010. The company provides an API platform that helps businesses with their payment processing, and card issuing - empowering innovators to change the world. Marqeta has raised over $150 million in funding and boasts a client list that includes large companies like Uber, Airbnb, Pinterest, and Instacart.

One of the things that sets Marqeta apart is their commitment to provide a great user experience. The company has a beautiful website and an easy-to-use API platform. The company also offers excellent customer support; you can reach out to them 24/7 through their live chat or email.

The core business of Marqeta is card issuing and card payments, however, their features cover more than just that.

Why we like Marqeta :

• Extensive card issuing and transaction processing services. Easily add virtual/ tokenized debit and credit cards to your business.

• Incentives and rewards programmes. Customers get rewarded for using cards, which helps build their loyalty to your brand.

• JIT-funding, allowing merchants to fund transactions in real-time, so they don't have to wait for the next day's batch processing.

• Expense management platform to keep track of all your company's expenses in one place.

• Documentation that makes it easy to get started with their API platform.

• The company has a long history in the payments industry and a proven track record of being able to scale with their clients.
  
  

What Marqeta can improve:

• You are required to work with multiple thirds parties such as BIN Sponsors and card manufacturers - Marqeta doesn't not provide a fully managed card programme.

• Being US based, there may be GDPR concerns with your customer data being transferred out of Europe.
  
  

API documentation

Marqeta has all API documentation hosted here.

Takeaways

In this “Five Most Pioneering Banking as a Service Providers” article, we have  discussed the top five BaaS providers in today's market. The companies that are mentioned in this article have years of experience and a proven track record, and while the platforms offered by these companies vary, all include card issuing and payment processing. Although all of these providers are excellent, one might be a better fit for your business than the others.

All the providers listed here have been selected for their trustworthiness, user-friendliness, and popularity among millions of people. If you want to know a company that excels at card issuing, including branding and loyalty, take a look at Marqeta. For those businesses located in the EEA, Intergiro offers more favourable transactions and is a one-stop-shop that can offer your company the most advanced pioneering BaaS-platform in 2023.