Case study
The all-in-one effect: Why Epos Now is embracing embedded finance
Get a preview of our latest collaboration with Epos Now and why this leading SaaS platform is offering SMBs embedded financial services.
Taking a walk in the customer’s shoes isn’t a marketing ideal for Epos Now. It’s a reality the company has been embodying since day one.
Its founder was once a small and medium-sized business (SMB) owner who wanted to make running a business easier for companies with smaller margins. Epos Now rose from this vision, offering SMBs in the retail, hospitality, and food and beverage industries customizable POS Systems to streamline their operations.
But apart from smoothly conducting and managing transactions, there was still a fundamental need that stood in the way of SMB growth: financing. SMBs are underserved, with a quarter unable to access funding through banks. The entire process – from opening business accounts to getting the necessary approvals – slows them down. Many resort to informal sources, like short-term loans from personal networks. Accurate, tailored insights are also hard to come by because of legacy banking technology.
With 64% of SMBs wanting financial services directly integrated into their daily workflows, Epos Now teamed up with Adyen to offer embedded finance through its platform.
Becoming a full-service platform
Epos Now made the decision to move into embedded payments two years ago. It turned to Adyen for a setup that allows SMBs to sell and get paid, all on Epos Now’s platform. It went live within just four months.
By embedding payments, Epos Now has better control of the end-to-end user journey, minimizing its reliance on multiple third-party payment providers. It can focus on working with a single partner to create a stable platform, giving its SMB users a higher level of service more quickly and efficiently.
Previously, merchants had to phone us or the payment providers if they had issues. This created a disconnect for the merchants and slowed down their ability to trade. Now, our merchants have one point of contact, which is Epos Now, and we have one point of contact, which is Adyen.
Jason Downing
SVP Product Management, Epos Now
Despite this, it still took SMB users a long time to set up bank accounts and get paid.
To speed up the process, Epos Now wanted to integrate more comprehensive financial services into its platform. It worked with Adyen to offer its SMB users a wider range of financial products, including business accounts, cards, and cash advances, all in one place.
We understand a lot more about the business of our merchants than traditional banks do because they’re running all their transactions on our platform. So we can provide them more bespoke services to help them grow.
Jason Downing
SVP Product Management, Epos Now
Time is money: Speeding up business
Embedded finance allows Epos Now to speed up all business processes in the user journey.
When it comes to setting up shop, Epos Now can cut down the time needed to open up accounts for SMBs. It doesn’t need to redirect users to a bank and can instead offer them accounts on the platform itself. This is all made possible thanks to Adyen’s licenses.
In the past, our merchants had to go to a high street bank to onboard with us. They had to wait for days or weeks to set up their bank accounts, which slowed down their ability to trade. With embedded finance, we can give them accounts within 24 hours.
Jason Downing
SVP Product Management, Epos Now
After creating the accounts, Epos Now can offer capital and payment cards to their users in a timely manner. SMBs can then start their operations without delays and use the funds to pay for supplies and staff or to make transfers.
Let’s say you’re a small retailer. With Christmas coming up, you want to buy extra stock. But your cash flow is weak and you need to take a little extra capital for that period. By embedding financial products, Epos Now can offer you this cash advance so you can access financial services in the same place where you conduct your business operations.
Jason Downing
SVP Product Management, Epos Now
Unlocking synergy benefits
Embedding financial services in a platform could be complicated. But working with Adyen gives Epos Now wide-ranging benefits.
Epos Now can save precious resources by relying on a single partner. It can efficiently speed up its go-to-market activities and resolution times.
It can also draw on Adyen’s financial technology to offer more tailored services to SMBs. Since Adyen already processes Epos Now’s payments, it can provide better insights into what users want.
And because of Adyen’s global coverage and flexible application programming interfaces (APIs), Epos Now can offer these customizable services to its 70,000 merchant locations, located in over 70 countries with greater efficiency and scalability.
Embedded finance not only helps Epos Now deliver better value to its SMB users but also realize greater returns on investment.
Embedded finance—be it accounts, capital, or issuing—is a win-win for us and our customers. The customer gets good value and we’re able to build new and strong revenue lines. SMBs can get everything they need to run their business on our platform, from point of sale systems and payments to financial services.
Jason Downing
SVP Product Management, Epos Now
Epos Now’s full suite of embedded financial products is live, with business accounts and issuing in the UK as well as capital in the UK, US, and Australia.
