Vilnius, Lithuania – September 20, 2026 -- SDK.finance has expanded its core platform strategy to help retailers, marketplaces, and telecom operators build native financial products, betting that established consumer brands rather than fintech startups will drive the next wave of payment innovation.
SDK.finance shifts platform focus toward non-financial consumer brands
The Vilnius-based software provider, which builds ready-made infrastructure for wallets and payments, said companies that already hold customer relationships and transaction data are better positioned to embed financial services than new fintech entrants. "None of these companies set out to be a bank, but all of them are moving money," said Pavlo Sidelov, CEO at SDK.finance.
Platform offers over 650 APIs for integration with existing checkout and billing systems
SDK.finance's system tracks customer balances, processes payments and transfers, and provides support tools for payment disputes. The company offers deployment as SaaS or as licensable source code, arguing that businesses gain a faster starting point rather than avoiding the underlying integration and testing work.
Starbucks, Shopify, and Safaricom data illustrate cross-industry embedded finance adoption
SDK.finance cited public figures from three sectors to support its market thesis. Starbucks' fiscal 2025 annual report showed roughly $1.84 billion combined on its stored-value card liability and deferred revenue balance-sheet line. Shopify reported 37% growth in gross payments volume for the full year in its fourth-quarter 2025 results. In Kenya, M-PESA accounted for 44.2% of Safaricom's service revenue in the year to March 31, 2025.
Company warns software licensing does not substitute for regulatory authorization
SDK.finance stressed that purchasing platform software does not authorize a business to provide regulated financial services. Holding customer funds, issuing electronic money, or executing payments may require a company's own license, a partnership with a licensed financial institution, or both, depending on jurisdiction and business model. The company said responsibilities for safeguarding funds, compliance, and complaints handling must be clearly assigned between a business and its licensed partners, noting that SDK.finance itself is a software vendor, not a bank or licensed payment institution.
Sidelov frames decision as a customer-relationship judgment, not a technology choice
"The useful question for a retailer, marketplace, or operator is not whether to become a fintech," Sidelov said, adding that money already moves through refunds, payouts, top-ups, and settlements, and the decision to internalize that flow depends first on the customer relationship and second on the technology.