Business Analysis in Embedded Finance Projects
How Business Analysts Help Shape Seamless Financial Experiences in Non-Financial Platforms
Embedded finance is no longer just a buzzword—it’s a strategic shift. Whether it’s ride-hailing apps offering insurance, e-commerce platforms providing BNPL options, or logistics tools integrating real-time payments, financial services are moving closer to the customer and further away from traditional channels.
As a Business Analyst working in embedded finance projects, I’ve learned that our role is pivotal—not just in translating requirements, but in crafting entire user and system flows that make finance feel invisible, seamless, and secure. Let’s unpack how BAs can make or break embedded finance integrations and what it takes to get it right.
Understanding the Domain: Finance That Hides in Plain Sight
Embedded finance blurs the boundaries between industries. It’s not just “payments inside an app.” It’s credit, lending, KYC, insurance, and wallets wrapped into retail, mobility, logistics, and even wellness platforms.
As a BA, the first step is getting deeply familiar with two domains:
The host platform’s core business (e.g. logistics, retail, mobility)
The financial service being integrated (e.g. card issuing, payment initiation, lending, or insurance)
We’re not just capturing requirements—we’re aligning entire workflows, compliance obligations, and data dependencies across domains that don’t naturally speak the same language.
Shaping Requirements in Embedded Finance Projects
1. Stakeholder Mapping Is More Complex
In traditional fintech or banking projects, your key stakeholders are product, compliance, and tech. In embedded finance, add:
- A third-party financial partner or licensed provider
- Non-financial product owners (retail, logistics, etc.)
- Legal teams from both sides
- Frontline ops (who will support escalations)
A BA’s job here is to harmonize priorities and build a shared vocabulary—especially around risk, data ownership, and user flow integrity.
2. Flows Must Be Regulatory-Ready by Design
Unlike a standard app feature, embedded finance touches regulated data: payments, PII, and often real-time identity checks. Requirements can’t just be functional—they must anticipate:
- KYC/AML rules
- Data privacy constraints (GDPR, CCPA)
- Cross-border compliance if applicable
We work closely with legal and compliance teams to define guardrails early—not patching them in later.
3. API Contracts Matter More Than Ever
In embedded finance, integrations are everything. That means:
- Knowing what core APIs you rely on (e.g. banking rails, insurance quotes)
- Understanding SLAs, fallback modes, and error handling
- Building testable scenarios for latency, partial failures, and edge cases
Well-documented interface contracts, API mock-ups, and integration test flows are crucial deliverables from the BA desk.
What Makes a Great BA in Embedded Finance?
What sets a great Business Analyst apart in embedded finance projects is a unique blend of strategic curiosity and executional foresight. It starts with genuinely caring about both sides of the equation: understanding the host platform’s business goals and KPIs just as deeply as the regulatory demands of the financial product being integrated.
Reliable BAs don’t wait to be asked for deliverables—they proactively map-out user journeys, anticipate API flows, and sketch system interactions early, giving development teams a clear runway.
Prioritization is rarely a one-time task; with constantly evolving regulations, changing SLAs, and shifting market demands, BAs must guide teams through redefining MVPs and planning for second-phase features. Perhaps most critically, they’re fluent in risk—able to spot early signs of legal or technical complications, translate compliance into business terms, and raise flags before they become blockers.
BAs as the Glue of Embedded Finance
As a BA, you’re not just writing user stories—you’re designing how financial value gets embedded into everyday user journeys. That’s a big responsibility, especially in regulated environments.
At OceanoBe, we’ve helped fintechs and platforms alike bring embedded finance to life—safely, scalably, and with a user-first approach.
If you’re exploring embedded finance and need a partner that knows how to map out success, from APIs to user flows—let’s talk.
