Apideck Launches Embedded Finance Index to Reveal Real-World Fintech Vendor Relationships

Apideck is preparing to launch the Embedded Finance Index on September 29, 2026, marking a significant shift toward operational transparency in the B2B fintech sector. By mapping the actual service providers utilized by over 6,000 companies, the index provides fintech professionals with a verified look at the infrastructure dependencies that define modern financial services.

What was announced

The Embedded Finance Index is designed as a first-of-its-kind public resource that moves beyond the traditional, marketing-led market maps common in the industry. Instead of relying on vendor claims or self-reported data, the index is built on a foundation of verified public disclosures. This includes the systematic analysis of subprocessor lists, regulatory footers, and official trust pages. By linking every identified relationship back to its original source, the index aims to provide a high-fidelity view of the fintech ecosystem's internal mechanics.

The scope of the data is extensive, covering 6,090 companies operating across 106 different countries. Within this global footprint, Apideck has tracked a total of 1,297 unique providers that form the backbone of these fintech operations. The methodology focuses on the "ground truth" of corporate operations—specifically the third-party services that companies are legally or contractually obligated to disclose, such as those found in data processing agreements and compliance documentation.

Initial data sets from the index have already revealed significant discrepancies in how fintech firms approach transparency. For instance, while 965 companies explicitly name their sponsor bank—often a requirement for regulatory compliance and consumer trust—only 80 companies provide clear disclosure regarding their fraud prevention vendors. This suggests a tiered approach to transparency, where core financial partnerships are public knowledge, but the specific tools used for security and risk management remain closely guarded within the tech stack.

"Early findings from the data highlight a notable gap in industry transparency."

Apideck

The companies involved

Apideck is the primary organization behind the development and launch of the Embedded Finance Index. The company operates within the B2B fintech ecosystem, focusing on providing the data and integration infrastructure necessary for modern financial platforms to scale. By leveraging its position as a central node in the fintech stack, Apideck has developed the capability to aggregate and verify the complex web of partnerships that sustain the industry. Gertjan de Wilde, Apideck's founder and CEO, is the featured speaker for the launch.

The index itself serves as a reflection of the broader market, capturing data from thousands of entities that range from emerging startups to established financial institutions. Unlike traditional industry directories, the focus here is on the interconnectedness of the market—identifying which providers are gaining traction and which geographies are seeing the highest concentration of specific fintech services. This data-driven approach to market mapping is intended to replace anecdotal evidence with a verifiable record of industry activity, providing a clearer picture of the vendors that are actually winning market share in real-world deployments.

What this means

The launch of this index represents a direct challenge to the "black box" nature of fintech infrastructure. For too long, the industry has relied on curated marketing narratives to understand market share and vendor dominance. By utilizing subprocessor lists and regulatory disclosures, this initiative turns mandatory compliance data into a competitive intelligence tool. This move puts significant pressure on vendors who rely on non-disclosure agreements to hide their true market position, while rewarding those with visible, high-volume deployments.

Furthermore, the massive gap between sponsor bank and fraud vendor disclosure raises critical questions about the future of open banking and operational resilience. As regulators worldwide push for greater oversight of third-party risk, the industry may find that the level of transparency currently reserved for banking partners will soon be expected across the entire stack. This index creates a baseline for that transition, forcing firms to reconcile their marketing claims with their actual operational dependencies.