Customers Bank Partners with Funding Circle for Lending-as-a-Service Platform
Customers Bank announced a partnership with Funding Circle to adopt the fintech's Lending-as-a-Service platform on November 14, 2023. The deal sees Customers Bank integrating Funding Circle's technology stack to deliver lending products through an embedded, service-oriented model. Funding Circle, known for its SME lending platform, contributes its technology and underwriting infrastructure, while Customers Bank provides the regulated banking charter and balance sheet.
The partnership allows Customers Bank to modernize its lending operations and potentially reach new customer segments through embedded distribution channels. Financial terms of the arrangement were not disclosed. The deal is representative of a broader trend of traditional banks partnering with fintechs to deploy Lending-as-a-Service capabilities without building proprietary technology from scratch.
- Demonstrates continued bank appetite for fintech-powered Lending-as-a-Service models in the US market
- Funding Circle's pivot toward infrastructure provision signals maturation of LaaS as a BaaS vertical