HSBC joins forces with Tradeshift to launch embedded finance business
HSBC has come together with San Francisco, California-headquartered B2B fintech Tradeshift to launch a jointly-owned business focused on the development of embedded finance solutions and financial services apps.
The joint venture will develop embedded finance solutions
Expected to launch in “early 2024” and backed by a two-stage $35 million investment from HSBC, the partnership will see the embedding of a variety of digital solutions, including payment and fintech services, into the trade, e-commerce and marketplace experiences provided by Tradeshift and other platforms.
The investment from HSBC also forms part of a wider funding round for Tradeshift, with the fintech expected to raise a minimum of $70 million from the bank and other investors.
The venture is poised to scale Tradeshift’s business commerce proposition and power its global expansion. This ambition is to be further supported by the addition of HSBC to its board.
For HSBC, its CEO of global commercial banking, Barry O’Byrne, explains that the agreement “supports our strategy of being a digital-first bank, which includes our commitment to partnering with fintechs and embedding our solutions into the platforms of others”.
“Enabling and growing global trade has been in HSBC’s DNA for almost 160 years,” continues O’Byrne, adding that the new joint venture will “help businesses and their suppliers trade more smoothly”.
Around 1.3 million businesses worldwide are currently supported by HSBC’s trade banking facility, which facilitates over $800 billion of trade flows every year. Likewise, its new partner Tradeshift supports over $260 billion of annual gross merchandise value for approximately a million business users on its platform.
Christian Lanng, CEO and co-founder of Tradeshift, explains how its agreement with the UK bank is delivering “a strong foundation from which to scale and accelerate our vision of a trade network that creates economic opportunity for businesses everywhere”.
He emphasises how the bank’s “reputation and global infrastructure” will boost the appeal of the financial solutions expected to be produced through the partnership.
More details of the joint venture are expected to be announced shortly.
