Most startups building embedded banking follow a familiar path: pick a Banking-as-a-Service provider, integrate their APIs, and build a custom front end. But NoCFO, an AI-powered accounting platform, took a different approach. Instead of building banking from the ground up, they partnered with Holvi, a neobank targeting the same customers, and white-labeled the entire banking product.

In this episode of the Embedded Finance Review Podcast, I’m joined by Teemu Karuluoto, founder and CEO of NoCFO. We dive into:

• Why partnering with a neobank made more sense than going the BaaS route
• How ICP alignment shaped their partnership decision
• What it’s like to integrate banking when you don’t have the resources to build everything yourself
• The trade-offs between open banking and direct integration
• NoCFO’s plans to expand this model to Germany

If you’re interested in the strategic decisions behind embedded banking or how to create a seamless experience for your customers, this episode is for you.

This episode was produced by Orama.tv.

(00:00) Start(01:43) Introduction and Greetings(02:26) Introduction to Digital Accounting and Embedded Banking(02:49) Overview of NoCFO(03:58) How NoCFO Works(05:48) AI Integration in NoCFO(06:54) Founding Story of NoCFO(10:05) Partnership with Holvi and Embedded Banking(25:15) Future Plans and Expansion(28:55) Final Thoughts and Advice