Examples include: 

• ClearBank supporting business bank accounts for Tide
• Shopify Balance enabling merchants to manage money from their store
• ClearBank enabling Coinbase to launch a UK savings account. 

Embedded banking accounts allow fintechs, platforms and consumer brands to offer bank-grade accounts directly inside their products. Instead of sending users to an external bank, companies embed current accounts, savings accounts and payment functionality into existing apps, dashboards or marketplaces. 

For customers, this reduces friction. For businesses, it enables deeper engagement, higher balances and new revenue streams. 

Embedded banking is now widely used across: 

• SME banking
• Consumer savings and wealth apps
• E-commerce platforms
• Digital asset and crypto platforms 

The examples below show how embedded banking works in practice, and how licensed banks such as ClearBank provide the regulated infrastructure behind the scenes.

Use case: SME current accounts and payments 
Embedded banking partner: ClearBank 

Tide is a UK platform built specifically for small businesses and sole traders. It initially launched using an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) model, which allowed fast onboarding and payments but came with limitations: 

• No FSCS deposit eligibility
• Restrictions on paying interest on balances 

To remove these constraints, Tide introduced business bank accounts powered by ClearBank, a UK-licensed clearing bank.

• Accounts are accessed entirely through the Tide app
• Tide controls onboarding, UX and customer communications
• ClearBank provides the banking licence, accounts and payment rails 

This model allows Tide to offer: 

• FSCS-eligibility on account deposits
• Interest on balances
• Direct access to UK payment schemes  

Today, Tide serves 600,000+ UK SMEs, demonstrating how embedded banking can support scale in business banking without Tide becoming a bank itself. 

Use case: Merchant money management 
Platform: Shopify 

Embedded banking is not limited to fintech companies. Shopify Balance provides merchants with a business money-management account directly inside the Shopify dashboard. 

• Sales payouts
• Card spending
• Cash-flow management 

All of this sits alongside the tools merchants already use to run their stores. There is no separate bank login. 

Balance operates alongside other embedded financial products such as: 

• Shopify Capital
• Shop Pay  

This shows how embedded banking accounts can become part of a platform’s core operating system, rather than an add-on feature. 

Use case: Fiat savings inside a digital assets platform 
Embedded banking partner: ClearBank 

In 2025, Coinbase became the first digital assets exchange to offer GBP savings accounts directly within its app. 

These accounts: 

• Are powered by ClearBank
• Allow customers to earn interest on GBP balances
• Offer FSCS protection for eligible deposits  

For users who move frequently between fiat and digital assets, embedded savings reduce friction and increase confidence in holding cash on the platform. 

This example illustrates how embedded banking can bridge traditional finance and digital assets, enabling hybrid financial experiences. 

ClearBank is a UK-regulated clearing bank that provides banking infrastructure to fintechs and platforms rather than serving retail customers directly. 

• Bank accounts and savings accounts
• FSCS-eligible deposit protection
• Direct access to UK payment schemes:
• Faster Payments
• CHAPS
• Bacs  

Through an API-first, cloud-native platform, ClearBank allows partners to embed banking services while retaining control over branding and user experience.  

In this model: 

• ClearBank operates in the background as the licenced bank
• The partner remains the primary customer interface 

This approach enables companies to deliver bank-grade functionality without becoming banks themselves. 

Across SMEs, consumer savings, e-commerce and crypto, embedded banking accounts are already shaping how financial services are delivered. 

These examples demonstrate that when banking is: 

• Contextual
• Integrated
• Delivered inside existing products  

…it becomes less visible, more intuitive and more closely aligned with real customer needs. 

Embedded banking is no longer experimental. It is a proven model being used at scale across multiple industries. 

An embedded banking account is a bank account offered inside a non-bank product, powered by a licenced bank but branded and controlled by the platform. 

In the UK, eligible deposits are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) when held with a licenced bank. 

EMI accounts enable deposits and payments but cannot offer deposit protection or interest. Embedded banking uses a full banking licence, removing these limitations. 

Common sectors include SME platforms, savings and wealth apps, e-commerce marketplaces, payroll providers and digital asset platforms. 

No. Most partner with a licenced bank via embedded banking or Banking-as-a-Service rather than becoming banks themselves.  

Sources: 

• https://www.getdefacto.com/article/embedded-finance-examples
• https://www.unnax.com/6-amazing-examples-embedded-finance/