What Is Embedded Finance?
Embedded finance refers to the integration of financial services within non-financial digital platforms. This includes the seamless offering of services like payments, lending, insurance, investments, and even banking products directly inside applications that weren’t originally designed to be financial tools.
A ride-sharing app offering car insurance, an eCommerce site enabling buy now, pay later options, or a freelance platform handling tax calculations are all examples of embedded finance. In each case, users access financial services without leaving the platform they’re on, allowing for a frictionless experience.
The concept has existed in primitive forms for decades, such as store-branded credit cards or loyalty schemes, but today’s version is powered by technology that allows real-time, secure, and scalable integration of financial services into digital ecosystems.
Why Embedded Finance Matters
The importance of embedded finance lies in its ability to meet users where they are, delivering relevant services in context. Users benefit from simplified interactions, reduced barriers, and better access to financial tools. Businesses, on the other hand, can improve user retention, unlock new revenue streams, and create more engaging and holistic customer journeys.
It also enables more equitable financial access. Traditional financial services are often rigid and exclude small businesses, remote workers, and underbanked individuals. Embedded finance offers new models that cater to these segments in scalable and cost-effective ways.
Technology Behind Embedded Finance
The core driver of embedded finance is technological advancement, particularly in the areas of infrastructure, connectivity, and security. Several key technologies make this integration possible:
API Connectivity
Application Programming Interfaces, or APIs, allow financial services to be embedded seamlessly within external platforms. Through APIs, different systems can communicate and exchange data in real time. This makes it possible for a retail platform to offer loans or for a travel site to enable instant insurance purchases.
The API layer functions invisibly to users. Behind the scenes, it connects the host platform to financial service providers, processes user data, and completes transactions in seconds.
Cloud-Based Infrastructure
Cloud computing provides the necessary flexibility and scale to power embedded finance applications. With cloud infrastructure, platforms can handle high transaction volumes, update features dynamically, and support operations across different geographies.
The cloud also supports better data storage and access, allowing for real-time analytics and reporting. This is crucial for user personalization and operational insights.
Real-Time Data Exchange
Modern embedded finance tools rely on instant data transmission. Whether approving a loan, processing a payment, or verifying identity, decisions must be made quickly and accurately.
Secure data exchange protocols ensure that sensitive information moves safely between systems. Encryption, tokenization, and other security measures maintain the integrity of data while enabling responsiveness and reliability.
Navigating Compliance and Regulation
Financial services are heavily regulated to protect consumers and prevent misuse. Even though embedded finance is often offered by non-financial companies, they still must comply with regulatory standards. To do this, many rely on partnerships with regulated entities that offer the necessary licensing and oversight.
KYC and AML Requirements
Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering checks are standard for any financial transaction. Embedded finance platforms must verify users, monitor behavior for suspicious activity, and report any inconsistencies to regulatory bodies.
These checks are often automated and integrated into the onboarding flow to reduce friction while maintaining compliance.
Data Protection and Privacy
Compliance with data privacy laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation is mandatory when handling user information. This includes transparent data usage policies, secure storage practices, and consent-based sharing models.
Users must be informed about how their data is used and must have the ability to control access and usage. Platforms must also implement strong cybersecurity practices to protect against data breaches and fraud.
Payment Card Industry Standards
Handling credit or debit card transactions requires adherence to strict security protocols set by the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. This ensures that cardholder data is transmitted, processed, and stored securely.
Designing the User Experience in Embedded Finance
One of the most critical aspects of embedded finance is user experience. Financial tools must feel like a natural extension of the platform they’re embedded in. Achieving this requires careful attention to design, user flow, and trust.
Seamless Integration
Financial services should be offered at the right moment without overwhelming the user. For example, offering trip insurance during the checkout process on a travel site or presenting a credit option on a product page in an online store.
The user interface should reflect the brand of the host platform, creating continuity and trust. Users should never feel like they’re being passed off to a third-party provider.
Intuitive Functionality
Interfaces must be clear, easy to navigate, and transparent. Whether users are applying for financing or managing a wallet balance, they should be able to complete tasks with minimal effort.
Well-designed embedded finance systems guide users through complex financial processes in ways that feel familiar and unintimidating.
Contextual Relevance
The key advantage of embedded finance is offering the right service at the right time. This requires an understanding of user behavior, preferences, and intent. Machine learning and behavioral analytics help platforms personalize offerings, making services more relevant and timely.
Financial Data Flow and Management
Managing the flow of financial data is both an operational and strategic concern. Platforms need systems that ensure data is securely transferred, properly stored, and usefully analyzed.
Secure Processing
All data exchanged between users, platforms, and financial institutions must be encrypted and protected against tampering. Secure data environments and frequent audits are essential for trust and compliance.
Real-Time Analytics
Financial data provides deep insights into user behavior, transaction patterns, and operational performance. With embedded finance, platforms can analyze this data to improve offerings, detect fraud, and identify growth opportunities.
Personalization and Feedback
Data can also drive personalized financial products. For example, based on a user’s past purchases, platforms can offer custom installment plans or suggest relevant insurance packages.
Key Categories of Embedded Financial Services
Embedded finance is not limited to a single type of financial product. Instead, it encompasses a broad set of services that can be customized based on the platform’s industry and user needs.
Embedded Payments
This includes one-click payments, in-app checkouts, stored payment methods, and digital wallets. The goal is to streamline the transaction process, reduce friction, and improve conversion rates.
Embedded Lending and Credit
Users can access instant credit or installment plans within the platform. Business platforms may offer credit lines to suppliers or vendors based on historical transaction data.
Credit offerings help users afford larger purchases and give businesses tools to encourage more spending.
Embedded Insurance
Whether it’s trip insurance, product warranties, or auto coverage, insurance products are integrated directly into the purchase journey. Users can opt in without needing to compare policies or leave the platform.
Embedded Investing
Platforms may offer investment features like fractional stock purchases, round-up savings, or automated investment tools. These services allow users to build wealth over time, often starting with small amounts.
Embedded Currency Exchange
Global platforms may include multi-currency wallets, real-time currency conversion, or cross-border payment tools. This is particularly useful for freelancers, marketplaces, and eCommerce platforms with international users.
Embedded Payroll
In gig economy platforms, integrated payroll systems allow for real-time earnings distribution, tax withholding, and financial planning tools. Workers can see their earnings instantly and manage them through the same platform.
Embedded Compliance
Automated compliance tools help platforms manage user verification, fraud detection, and reporting. This ensures that platforms remain compliant with financial laws without building complex internal systems.
Embedded Finance: Transforming Businesses and Industries
Embedded finance is not merely a convenience-driven feature for end users—it is a fundamental shift in how businesses create value, engage customers, and build new revenue models. As technology lowers barriers to delivering financial services, companies across industries are adopting embedded finance to strengthen their position in competitive markets.
Strategic Impact of Embedded Finance
Businesses today are under constant pressure to innovate and retain user attention. Embedded finance provides a strategic toolset that not only enhances functionality but also aligns with broader business goals such as customer retention, lifetime value growth, and ecosystem expansion.
Revenue Diversification
One of the key benefits of embedded finance is the creation of new income streams. Companies that previously acted solely as intermediaries can now earn transaction fees, interest margins, or subscription income from financial services offered directly within their platforms.
For instance, a marketplace can charge service fees on payment transactions, a platform offering embedded credit can earn interest or revenue-sharing agreements, and a logistics company can benefit from embedded insurance sales. This diversification helps reduce reliance on traditional sources of income and adds resilience to business models.
Deeper Customer Engagement
When financial services are integrated into the customer journey, users engage more frequently and meaningfully with the platform. Offering services like one-click checkout, in-app wallets, or installment payments makes the platform indispensable in the user’s daily life.
Furthermore, by owning a greater portion of the financial journey, businesses gain richer data about their users. This allows for more personalized offerings, loyalty programs, and upsell opportunities that drive engagement and reduce churn.
Competitive Differentiation
In saturated markets, product features alone are no longer sufficient to stand out. Embedded finance allows companies to deliver unique experiences that competitors may struggle to replicate. For example, a ride-hailing platform that provides real-time driver payouts or a real estate app that offers embedded mortgage approvals gains a clear edge in user satisfaction and convenience.
This kind of differentiation creates brand stickiness and allows businesses to position themselves as holistic service providers rather than transactional tools.
Embedded Finance Across Key Industries
Embedded finance is versatile and adaptable, enabling use cases across a wide range of sectors. The following sections highlight how specific industries are adopting financial capabilities and reimagining their value propositions.
Retail and eCommerce
Retailers and eCommerce platforms are among the earliest adopters of embedded finance. Online shopping environments are ideal for integrating financial tools such as digital wallets, installment plans, and embedded insurance.
Embedded Payments
Offering embedded payment options like stored cards, one-click checkout, or mobile wallets removes friction from the purchase process. Customers are more likely to complete transactions when the process is fast and intuitive.
Buy Now, Pay Later
Installment payments and deferred billing options improve purchasing power and increase basket size. Merchants benefit from higher conversion rates while consumers enjoy greater flexibility.
Embedded Product Insurance
Retailers can offer insurance for electronics, appliances, or fashion items at checkout. This not only improves user trust but also generates additional revenue for the platform.
Transportation and Mobility
Mobility platforms benefit significantly from embedded financial tools, particularly for driver and rider management. These platforms often serve as both service facilitators and financial ecosystems for gig workers.
Driver Wallets
Offering drivers digital wallets with instant access to earnings helps build loyalty and reduces reliance on traditional banks. This feature also supports underbanked users in the gig economy.
Embedded Fuel and Maintenance Payments
Some platforms embed vehicle-related payments such as fuel cards or service discounts within their app. This simplifies expense management and improves operational transparency.
Ride Insurance
Travel insurance for riders or micro-insurance for drivers can be embedded within the trip cost. These services build trust and mitigate liability.
B2B Platforms and Marketplaces
Business-to-business platforms can use embedded finance to simplify trade, improve liquidity, and manage complex financial interactions among vendors, suppliers, and buyers.
Embedded Invoicing and Credit
Platforms can offer automated invoicing, payment reminders, and working capital credit lines. This helps small and medium-sized enterprises manage cash flow and extend their operational runway.
Vendor Financing
Large marketplaces can provide financing options to vendors based on historical transaction data. This supports growth and encourages long-term loyalty to the platform.
Embedded FX and Multi-Currency Accounts
For platforms operating internationally, embedded currency conversion and multi-currency wallets simplify global trade and reduce the cost of cross-border payments.
Travel and Hospitality
The travel industry is inherently financial, involving booking transactions, cancellations, insurance, and foreign currency services. Embedding these services enhances convenience and improves customer satisfaction.
Booking Protection and Insurance
By offering trip cancellation insurance, travel delay coverage, or health insurance during the booking process, platforms deliver added value and peace of mind to travelers.
Embedded Currency Exchange
Travel platforms can provide real-time foreign exchange services, enabling travelers to lock in rates or access multi-currency wallets that work across countries.
Loyalty and Rewards
Integrating payments with loyalty systems enables real-time rewards accrual and redemption. Users can pay with points or receive travel perks based on transaction behavior.
Freelance and Creator Economy
Freelancers and creators often face challenges with payments, taxation, and income predictability. Embedded finance can streamline their workflows and improve financial security.
Embedded Payroll and Real-Time Payouts
Freelance platforms can provide faster access to earnings through real-time payroll systems. This reduces financial uncertainty and supports better income planning.
Tax Calculation and Withholding
By integrating tax estimation and withholding tools, platforms make it easier for freelancers to remain compliant and avoid surprises at tax time.
Creator Banking Tools
Creator platforms may embed savings tools, virtual cards, or even micro-investment features to help users manage their finances without needing a separate banking app.
Healthcare and Wellness
As healthcare becomes more digitized, platforms are exploring embedded finance to reduce friction in payments and insurance processing.
Embedded Billing
Healthcare providers can offer transparent billing and real-time payment processing within digital platforms. Patients can see service costs, apply insurance, and pay instantly.
Flexible Financing Options
Medical financing tools allow patients to pay in installments for expensive procedures. These features increase access to care and reduce drop-off rates due to cost.
Subscription Health Plans
Some wellness platforms integrate recurring billing systems for memberships, virtual care packages, or digital therapy sessions. This streamlines operations and improves retention.
Education and EdTech
Educational platforms increasingly integrate financial tools to make learning more accessible and to streamline tuition and content payments.
Embedded Tuition Payments
Digital learning platforms can embed tuition payments, installment plans, or scholarships, allowing users to manage education costs flexibly.
Student Loan Management
Some platforms integrate student loan tools that track balances, automate payments, or provide refinancing options, enhancing the user’s financial health journey.
Pay-as-You-Learn Models
In skills-based education, users may pay only after gaining employment. These income-share agreements can be managed through embedded contracts and repayment systems.
Platform Benefits and Operational Efficiency
Beyond customer-facing benefits, embedded finance improves internal efficiencies and business performance.
Automated Reconciliation
Embedded financial tools often come with dashboards for transaction tracking and reconciliation. Businesses can automate financial reporting and reduce manual errors.
Instant Settlements
Instead of relying on traditional banking cycles, platforms can settle transactions in real time. This improves liquidity and reduces working capital constraints.
Centralized Financial Infrastructure
Having a unified embedded finance layer allows businesses to manage payments, lending, compliance, and reporting from a single interface. This simplifies operations and supports scalability.
Reduced Customer Support Load
When financial services are intuitive and integrated, customer service requests related to payments, refunds, or verifications decrease significantly. This lowers operational costs and improves satisfaction.
Emerging Trends in Embedded Finance
As embedded finance evolves, several trends are shaping the future direction of the industry.
Vertical-Specific Solutions
More platforms are seeking embedded finance solutions tailored to their specific industries, such as agriculture financing for farm platforms or royalties tracking for music creators. These niche applications create high-value experiences for users.
Modular Financial Toolkits
Companies are increasingly opting for modular toolkits that allow them to select and embed only the financial services relevant to their use case. This reduces complexity and speeds up time to market.
Rise of Super Apps
Platforms that integrate multiple services—including commerce, communication, and finance—are becoming dominant in regions like Southeast Asia and Africa. Embedded finance plays a crucial role in powering these super apps.
Ecosystem Partnerships
Instead of building financial tools in-house, businesses are forming partnerships with financial infrastructure providers to offer regulated, secure, and scalable services. These partnerships allow faster deployment and compliance readiness.
Future of Embedded Finance and What Comes Next
The momentum behind embedded finance continues to build as businesses discover new ways to integrate financial services directly into digital experiences. After revolutionizing customer engagement and operational models across industries, embedded finance now stands at a pivotal point—shaped by evolving technologies, rising user expectations, and a dynamic regulatory landscape.
As this transformation deepens, understanding what lies ahead becomes critical. This part of the series focuses on the next chapter of embedded finance, including innovations, infrastructure advances, cross-border expansion, and the future roles of platforms and regulators.
Next-Generation Technology Drivers
The evolution of embedded finance is inseparable from technological progress. Emerging technologies are making financial integration faster, safer, and more intelligent.
Smarter APIs and Open Banking 2.0
The next wave of APIs goes beyond simple connectivity. Intelligent APIs will allow more contextual, real-time financial services. Enhanced data-sharing protocols will provide a unified view of customer financial behavior, enabling smarter decision-making and hyper-personalized services.
Open banking continues to evolve into a more holistic framework. As regulations and technical standards mature, platforms will gain deeper access to account-level insights, fostering innovation in lending, personal finance, and credit scoring.
AI and Machine Learning in Financial Services
Artificial intelligence will play a central role in automating and optimizing embedded finance. Advanced algorithms can assess risk in real time, detect fraud patterns, and recommend financial products based on individual behavior.
Lending platforms will use machine learning to evaluate non-traditional credit data, expanding access to underbanked users. AI will also power dynamic pricing in insurance, personalized financial advice, and automated investment strategies embedded within digital platforms.
Blockchain and Tokenized Finance
Blockchain will introduce transparency and speed to financial interactions embedded in platforms. Smart contracts will allow automated payouts, real-time reconciliations, and cross-border settlements without traditional intermediaries.
Tokenized assets and programmable money will become more accessible within consumer-facing applications. Platforms might allow users to earn, spend, or invest digital tokens seamlessly within embedded financial flows.
Cloud-Native Financial Infrastructure
Cloud computing is the foundational enabler of scalable embedded finance. Future systems will increasingly rely on microservices architecture, event-driven workflows, and distributed data layers. These architectures improve fault tolerance, flexibility, and development speed.
Serverless computing and containerization will also reduce infrastructure complexity, allowing startups and enterprises alike to embed financial logic without managing physical infrastructure.
Expanding Embedded Finance Globally
The potential of embedded finance is not limited to developed markets. As mobile adoption, internet access, and fintech infrastructure improve worldwide, embedded finance is becoming a powerful engine for global economic inclusion.
Emerging Markets as Growth Engines
In regions like Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa, embedded finance has the potential to bridge major financial gaps. Many users in these markets operate outside the traditional banking system, making integrated financial tools within apps or platforms their first experience with formal financial services.
Digital platforms in these regions are embedding savings accounts, credit lines, and insurance products into ride-hailing, agriculture, and logistics apps. These services are often tailored to local contexts and delivered in native languages.
Localization of Financial Services
As embedded finance expands globally, localization becomes critical. Platforms must support local payment methods, currency options, tax regimes, and compliance standards. Providing services in alignment with regional habits and regulations ensures both adoption and long-term success.
Multi-currency wallets, language-specific onboarding flows, and local customer support are becoming standard features of global embedded finance deployments.
Cross-Border Financial Services
Businesses operating internationally require embedded finance to manage cross-border payments, settlements, and compliance. Multi-jurisdictional financial tools allow platforms to serve vendors, customers, or contractors across countries without separate infrastructure.
This includes embedded foreign exchange, international invoicing, local disbursements, and borderless financial accounts—all delivered seamlessly inside the user interface of global platforms.
Embedded Finance Business Models of the Future
As platforms mature and competition increases, embedded finance will shift from basic features to more strategic models. The way companies package, price, and deliver financial services will evolve significantly.
Embedded Ecosystems
Instead of embedding a single financial function, future platforms will offer full-service ecosystems. A marketplace might include embedded credit, escrow, insurance, and savings—all tied into a seller’s digital experience. A freelance app could bundle invoicing, instant pay, tax withholding, and investment tools into one seamless flow.
These comprehensive ecosystems deepen platform stickiness and create recurring revenue streams while adding immense value for end users.
White-Label Finance-as-a-Feature
More businesses will adopt white-label embedded finance. This approach lets platforms offer financial products under their own brand, without handling the complexity of regulatory licensing, infrastructure management, or risk assessment.
Finance-as-a-feature allows digital platforms to introduce custom-branded bank accounts, debit cards, or lending tools as part of their core offering, turning every business into a pseudo-financial institution tailored to its niche.
Usage-Based Monetization Models
Pricing models for embedded finance are also shifting. Rather than flat monthly subscriptions or fixed transaction fees, platforms are experimenting with dynamic pricing. Usage-based models—such as charging based on active wallets, payment volume, or credit origination—allow better alignment between value delivered and cost incurred.
This flexible monetization helps platforms scale financial services alongside user growth and improve profitability.
Subscription-Based Embedded Services
With the popularity of recurring payments, many platforms are exploring subscription bundles that include embedded financial features. For example, a seller on a digital marketplace could subscribe to a premium tier that unlocks lower transaction fees, access to credit, and advanced financial analytics.
These models allow platforms to turn financial tools into tiered service levels, encouraging user upgrades and long-term retention.
Regulatory Trends and Risk Management
As embedded finance becomes more mainstream, regulatory scrutiny is increasing. Governments and regulators are crafting policies to protect consumers, ensure systemic stability, and encourage innovation.
Unified Licensing Frameworks
Historically, embedded finance providers had to work with multiple licenses across payments, lending, insurance, and banking. Regulators are now introducing unified frameworks that simplify the licensing process for digital financial service providers.
This creates more consistent rules for platforms operating across verticals and fosters cross-border collaboration through passporting or mutual recognition agreements.
Consumer Data Protection
With embedded finance platforms handling sensitive financial data, regulators are mandating strict controls around data usage, consent, and transparency. Privacy regulations like GDPR and equivalents in other regions are being enforced rigorously.
Future platforms must adopt privacy-by-design principles and offer clear user controls over how their financial data is collected, shared, and stored.
Embedded KYC and Identity Standards
Regulators are placing more focus on digital identity and embedded compliance. Know Your Customer processes are being integrated directly into onboarding flows with biometric verification, document scanning, and identity graphing.
Standards around digital identity portability will enable users to carry verified profiles across platforms, simplifying access to embedded finance while ensuring regulatory compliance.
Sandbox Environments and Innovation Hubs
To support safe experimentation, regulators in several regions are creating sandbox environments where companies can pilot embedded finance solutions under controlled conditions. These sandboxes promote innovation, accelerate product development, and create feedback loops between the private sector and regulators.
Innovation hubs also help platforms understand compliance requirements early and reduce time to market for new financial features.
Future User Expectations and Behavioral Shifts
User expectations around financial services are evolving. The next generation of customers expects transparency, instant access, and contextual relevance. Embedded finance will need to anticipate these shifts.
Contextual Finance
Users expect financial tools to appear exactly when needed. Contextual finance means offering credit during checkout, insurance while booking travel, or investment nudges when receiving payments.
This requires platforms to harness behavioral signals, contextual triggers, and predictive analytics to deliver timely, relevant financial offerings embedded within the user journey.
Invisible Finance
As financial services become more integrated, users will interact with them less directly. The future is about invisible finance—where actions like saving, paying, or insuring happen automatically in the background based on preferences and goals.
For instance, a platform may round up purchases and invest the spare change or automatically route income between spending, savings, and taxes. The focus shifts from tools to outcomes.
Multi-Channel Embedded Experiences
Users interact with platforms across devices, apps, and channels. Embedded finance must deliver consistent experiences whether accessed through mobile apps, desktop dashboards, smart devices, or messaging interfaces.
Future systems will integrate financial capabilities into voice assistants, wearable interfaces, and augmented reality environments—meeting users wherever they are.
Collaboration Across Ecosystems
The future of embedded finance is not shaped by individual players but by ecosystems. Collaboration between platforms, infrastructure providers, fintech innovators, and regulators is essential for sustainable growth.
Fintech-Platform Partnerships
As more digital businesses adopt embedded finance, partnerships with infrastructure providers are becoming crucial. These partnerships provide access to regulated services, developer toolkits, and support infrastructure, allowing platforms to launch faster and scale globally.
Co-innovation models, where fintechs work closely with platforms to design tailored solutions, are gaining popularity.
Industry Consortia and Shared Standards
Standardization will be a major enabler of interoperability and innovation. Industry groups are forming to define protocols for digital identity, data exchange, API interfaces, and fraud prevention.
Shared standards reduce fragmentation, accelerate integration, and improve security across the embedded finance landscape.
Role of Developers and Open Platforms
Developers are central to the embedded finance revolution. Future platforms will emphasize open architectures, self-service developer tools, and plug-and-play components that make financial integration as easy as adding a new UI module.
Community-driven innovation and developer ecosystems will drive the next wave of embedded use cases across niche sectors.
Conclusion
Embedded finance is no longer a distant trend—it is now a defining force shaping how businesses operate, how consumers interact with money, and how financial services are distributed in a digital-first world. Across industries and regions, the ability to offer payments, lending, insurance, investments, and compliance natively within digital platforms is unlocking new levels of convenience, personalization, and financial access.
From ride-hailing apps offering one-click payments to B2B platforms providing instant credit lines and marketplaces embedding end-to-end transactional flows, the use cases are vast and growing. Companies of all sizes are reimagining the customer journey, using embedded finance to reduce friction, deepen engagement, and create new monetization channels that were previously unattainable outside the traditional financial ecosystem.
This transformation is made possible by the convergence of modern APIs, cloud infrastructure, regulatory innovation, and an increasingly digital-savvy user base. As we have explored throughout this series, embedded finance is not just about technology—it’s also about trust, user experience, and the strategic redesign of products and services to align with how people live, work, and transact today.
Looking ahead, the future of embedded finance will be shaped by the next generation of intelligent APIs, AI-driven personalization, blockchain transparency, and globalized infrastructure. It will empower businesses to move beyond basic integrations and build financial ecosystems tailored to specific verticals and user needs. Regulatory bodies will continue to evolve, balancing innovation with risk mitigation, while users will increasingly expect financial services to be contextual, seamless, and even invisible.
For platforms and businesses, the time to act is now. The competitive landscape is shifting toward those who can embed financial services not as an add-on, but as a core value proposition. By embracing embedded finance, companies can transform their offerings, drive new revenue, and deliver richer, more relevant customer experiences. In this new era, the boundary between a technology platform and a financial provider is blurring—and those who adapt first will help define the future of finance itself.
