Financial services in non-financial platforms

One trend that has grown in recent years is embedded finance, which means that financial services are integrated into non-financial platforms, products or services, and are often invisible to the user. Instead of going to a bank or a separate app to manage payments, or take out loans or insurance, these services are available directly at the checkout of an e-commerce store or on a booking platform, for example. In Sweden, embedded finance services are offered by banks and fintech companies. The latter category usually either cooperates with banks to offer the services or offers services for which they are authorised themselves, for example as payment institutions.

A key difference between embedded finance and the traditional use of third-party services is how the financial function is integrated into the customer experience. In a traditional third-party solution, the customer meets the financial actor directly – for example, by choosing a payment method that is clearly labelled with an external provider. Instead, with embedded finance, the financial service is built into the company's own platform, so that the consumer perceives the offer as part of the company's regular services. However, the company that the customer encounters does not have its own licence; instead, the legal responsibility lies with a licensed operator in the background. This allows companies to offer financial services without having to become financial institutions themselves, while ensuring that the regulatory requirements are met by licensed operators.

Embedded finance can make financial services more accessible and convenient for consumers. It can also favour innovation by allowing companies to purchase only the specific financial services they want to integrate on their website or platform. However, it is not always clear to the end user which company is behind the service or with which company the user has concluded a contract and where to turn in case of problems.^[14] Embedded finance (De Nederlandsche Bank).

AI agents for payments can grow

Artificial intelligence (AI) is being used in various areas of the payments market and, more recently, the emergence of so-called AI agents has attracted international attention. They can be used to automate and optimise payments for the user. It is still early days, but several large companies are investing in the technology.^[15] Big Firms Bet on Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Payments (Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta).

AI agents can be given different degrees of authorisation to act autonomously. For example, an agent can be authorised to make payments independently, based on the user’s preferences or predetermined rules. This means that the consumer does not have to authorise each individual payment. For example, a user can instruct their agent to buy concert tickets at the same time as they are released. In this case, the user first signs a mandate that describes all the terms of the assignment – such as the maximum price, exact time and other specific conditions. This mandate serves as a verifiable and pre-approved proof of the user’s instructions. When the specified conditions are met, the agent can automatically complete the purchase.^[16] Announcing Agent Payments Protocol (Google). A lower-authorised agent can act as an assistant, collecting, structuring and conveying information so that the consumer can then make the payment themselves.^[17] Not just token gestures − speech by Sarah Breeden (Bank of England).

AI agents have the potential to improve the shopping experience for consumers. However, there are risks in that consumers may not fully understand what authorisations they are giving to the agent. There are also risks in that the agent may make incorrect or unwanted transactions. Consumers therefore need to pay attention to the authorisations they grant to an AI agent. At the same time, businesses providing AI agents must comply with relevant legislation protecting consumers, including the EU’s AI Regulation, most of whose provisions apply from 2 August 2026.^[18] Regulation (EC) No 2024/1689 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 on rail passengers’ rights and obligations.

Established players offer open banking services

The EU’s Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) allows third-party financial service providers – with the consumer's consent – to access the consumer’s banking information. This can be information on transactions and account details, or the initiation of payments that go directly between bank accounts (account-to-account), known as open banking. One of the aims of PSD2 was to improve competition in the payments market.^[19] PSD2 enables greater competition (Riksbank). The conditions for open banking operators may be improved by a new EU payment services framework, which you can read more about in the fact box “New payment services framework” in section ”The payments market is generally safe but fraud and money laundering are problems”.

By buying up companies specialising in this type of solution, the card networks Mastercard and Visa have entered the open banking market. They have thus gained access to technologies, customers and services that they are integrating into their networks.^[20] Mastercard expands open banking reach with acquisition of Aiia (Mastercard), Kortjätten köper Tink (Svenska Dagbladet, Swedish only).

When offering open banking services, card networks can use processes and frameworks already established for card payments, such as those related to the customer experience, consumer protection and dispute resolution for complaints and returns, which may bring benefits to consumers. On the other hand, it may lead to competition being restricted.

EU decision opens up competition in contactless mobile payments

Some of the world’s largest technology companies, which control the operating systems for smartphones, also offer digital wallets – such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. They are used, for example, for in-store purchases, where a digital card is integrated into the digital wallet app and can be swiped against a payment terminal. This payment method has quickly become very popular in Sweden in a short period of time, as you can read more about in section “Payment habits in Sweden”.

In 2024, the European Commission ruled that Apple had restricted competition in mobile payments by locking the technology that enables payments with the tap function in the telephone to Apple Pay. Apple has now been forced to open up this technology to third-party providers. This means that more companies will have access to the technology needed to create their own contactless payment apps for iPhones that can compete with Apple Pay.^[21] Commission accepts commitments by Apple opening access to 'tap and go' technology on iPhones (European Commission) Several operators have launched such payment solutions, or have announced plans to do so, including Swish and Vipps MobilePay AS (Vipps MobilePay).^[22] Vipps MobilePay launches tap to pay across the Nordics (Vipps MobilePay), Tap to pay with Swish (Swish), retrieved 19-02-2026. The benefit for consumers and merchants is that there will be more competition, which may reduce the cost of accepting payments.