Understanding white label financial products

The world has been experiencing significant changes in banking and finance management for over 20 years now. Online banking opened up a whole new world of opportunities. Whenever you pay a bill through your mobile app or buy something online, remember that only a generation or two ago, this was inconceivable.

The advent of the Internet has led to increased democratization of data, which has allowed freer data access and crushed rigid ownership and distribution hierarchies. This open-access idea is starting to penetrate the world of banking, and the implications of it are enormous.

You may not be aware of this, but the world is on the brink of a true revolution in financial management. Open banking, banking as a service, and white label financial products are its key concepts. 

Some of the most important white label financial products include:

1. White label banking solutions

2. White label payment gateways

3. White label personal finance management solutions

4. White label accounting software

We’ll get back to these, but first, we need to explain the former two concepts—open banking and banking as a service.

What is open banking?

Open banking is the practice of allowing third-party access to the data in the financial ecosystem, be it banks or other financial institutions. The European Union supported this idea through a directive known as PSD 2, which was adopted in 2018. The objective of this regulation is to break the hegemony of banks over their customers’ personal and financial data. The end goal is to enable customers to take active control of their personal information and be able to use and share it however they like. This all means that soon, we’ll be able to aggregate all our financial information from across different platforms in one place.

Another implication of the open banking concept is that third-party companies can access customer financial data with their consent. These can be financial services providers and other interested parties who would like to gain insight into their customer financial behavior. The key thing here is consent. Banks have to ask their customers if they may allow access to these third parties. Otherwise, they would violate their clients’ rights to privacy of information.

What makes this exchange of financial data across different networks possible?

This networking of information across different platforms happens through application programming interfaces (APIs). APIs are digital ports that allow for free communication between different software systems. In simple terms, when a bank opens its API to third parties, these third parties can build their products using the bank’s existing infrastructure and information. This makes it much easier for fintech (financial technology) companies and other financial services providers to start their businesses.

Banking as a service (BaaS)

When banks and other financial institutions open their APIs, fintechs can connect to their systems for a monthly fee, build on them, and provide additional financial services to customers. This is known as banking as a service or BaaS.

For fintechs, this is a much easier way to start providing financial services than if they were to start from scratch. To provide banking services, you first need to acquire the necessary licenses and comply with all the banking regulations. If you build on an existing bank’s system, you bypass all the regulatory, technical, and legal issues by leveraging the bank’s licenses and infrastructure.

White label banking

You can launch your own BaaS business thanks to the emergence of white label banking solutions. White labeling takes BaaS to a new level. The essence of white label products lies in their brandability. The providers of such products sell them to other companies so that they can rebrand them and present them as their own. This gives fintechs the opportunity to resell their financial products to banks and others who want to buy them. Banks can then use them as a basis of providing financial services, without letting their clients know that they didn’t develop the software.

White label financial products are usually used by neobanks and smaller challenger banks. These are the main competitors to large, long-established financial institutions. These smaller banks obtain white label banking solutions from fintechs, rebrand them, and use them as their own. 

White label banking providers usually offer full support and sometimes even run the banking project themselves, while the partner bank only upholds appearances. You don’t have to be a bank to use white label financial products, though. Other companies can provide banking services too.

What should a white label banking provider offer?

There are three vital features of a white label banking solution. These are the following:

1. Flexibility

2. A range of services

3. Perfect customer experience

Flexibility

People usually seek financial services providers outside of long-established banks and other financial institutions because of their rigidity. These institutions are often bent on old practices and not that open to change. What the customers of alternative banking solutions want is flexibility.

Fintechs that develop white label platforms understand this and strive to cater to all clients’ existing needs, while also taking care of the emerging ones. If they neglect to constantly improve the platform’s functionality and flexibility, their white label solution becomes no better than an old-fashioned institution.

A range of services

A white label banking developer doesn’t only provide a product. Sometimes, the whole banking service falls on the white label provider. Even if that is not the case, they have to take care of a range of different services. They should:

• Rebrand the platform for the client

• Help the client get a grasp on the new technology by providing training and education

• Make onboarding easy

• Take care at least of the back-office functions

• Have support reps available round the clock

Perfect customer experience

With large banks not dictating the rules anymore, customers are getting more and more options and alternatives by the day. This means that a new bank’s approach needs to be completely customer-centric, or else clients will hop off to a competitor without thinking twice. 

A white label provider should ensure that:

• The platform is highly responsive

• There are no glitches

• The platform is fully functional across different devices

• The platform can interact with other channels seamlessly via APIs

What are the most common white label banking services?

Running a successful bank means providing a range of services. Here are some of the common white label banking services you could provide:

1. Managing current accounts

2. Allowing simplified bill payments

3. Issuing balance notifications

4. Providing insurance

5. Offering mortgages

6. Offering personal loans

7. Managing checking and savings accounts

8. Issuing bank statements

9. Allowing online payment transfers

10. Issuing credit and debit cards

Examples of white label banking solutions

Here are some established white label banking providers to check out:

1. Crassula

2. NF Innova

3. Fidor

Crassula

Crassula offers banking solutions for financial institutions and anyone who wants to provide financial services to their clients. Their platform can service both private and business customers. All of their accounts are multi-currency, and they allow balance fulfillment across all channels. International bank transfers and SEPA transfers are some other possibilities. This banking solution has an account management system that makes managing all accounts a breeze. They also make it possible to issue elaborate reports and statements as well as credit cards.

NF Innova

NF Innova, or New Frontier Innovation, offers a white label banking solution for non-financial institutions. They help their clients partner with the bank of their choice to avoid wasting time obtaining a banking license, fulfilling other regulatory requirements, and building complicated infrastructure from scratch. The company takes care of all the back-office banking processes, while you focus on marketing your product. The platform is flexible, and the system can be upgraded easily.

Fidor

Fidor is a great solution for challenger banks but also for anyone else who wants to provide banking services. You can choose to use your own banking license or utilize theirs. The best thing about Fidor is that all you have to do is pick the key products you want to offer. They will take care of everything else. This includes:

• Platform customization

• Running your bank

• Customer support

• Risk management, etc.

White label payment gateways

Another white label financial product is a white label payment gateway. These are perfect for eCommerce businesses and other companies providing payment services. White label payment gateways are great for anyone who doesn’t have the time or expertise to develop their own platforms. They usually come with all the relevant PCI DSS (payment card industry data security standard) and other certifications. These platforms should offer a variety of payment options, anti-fraud solutions, multiple currencies, etc. You should be able to fully customize your payment processing system acquired from a white label provider.

An example of a white label payment gateway: eComCharge

eComCharge offers a white label payment gateway solution for PSPs (payment service providers) with a variety of features. The gateway is PCI DSS Level 1 certified, which is the highest level of certification for card payment systems. Data exchange happens through safe channels, and confidential information is encrypted for further protection.

The platform features an innovative anti-fraud protection system and is easily scalable. As many as 200 transactions can go through the system in a second. You can customize the platform to a tee—from the domain name to the style and design. The platform supports various system integration options as well as different payment type options. You can get several kinds of reports, such as financial and statistical ones, and export them easily.

They monitor all their gateways and provide support 24/7, so no need to worry about anything going awry.

White label personal finance management (PFM)

One of the best uses of open banking is personal finance management made simple. With the multiple account aggregation possibility, people can have all their financial data on one platform. As fintechs can access all customer financial info across different financial institutions through APIs, they can simplify personal finance management. These companies have also developed white label PFM solutions, which you can customize and offer as your own.

Your customers can usually use it to set financial goals, schedule payments, manage cash flows, check their credit score, and more. This financial product is not limited to banks and PSPs. Anyone can offer it to their customers.

An example of a white label personal finance management solution: Salt Edge

Salt Edge provides a comprehensive white label PMF solution that you can offer to your customers and improve their engagement. The platform features a versatile set of tools, which includes:

• Getting advanced reports

• Making saving goals

• Budgeting

• Getting advice and notifications

• Financial calendar usage, etc.

Thanks to Salt Edge’s API, your customers can connect all of their accounts across many different institutions. Salt Edge currently covers more than 3,800 financial institutions as well as online payment systems, such as PayPal and Payoneer.

Your customers can plan their budgets to the tiniest details. They can choose to get monthly budget plans based on their spendings history, review their spending patterns, and receive reminders to stay within the budget. They can set saving goals and personalize them by adding photos and categories. These are only some of the features, which are made easy to use by an intuitive interface.

White label accounting software

This is another type of financial product anyone can use. No matter whether your accountants need reliable tools or you want to provide accounting services to other companies, you can go white label. You may even offer it for sale as a reseller among other white label tools. 

Accounting software helps bookkeepers and accountants keep a record of a company’s financial transactions. It automates tasks which used to be done manually and take a lot of time. This software also offers comprehensive reporting and analysis options. The main benefit of white label accounting software lies in the fact that you get a ready product rebranded as your own. This can be a great advantage whether you use it as an in-house tool, a tool for providing accounting services, or you resell it.

An example of white label accounting software: ProfitBooks

ProfitBooks has been around since 2012, and it has 35,000 users around the world. It is a completely rebrandable solution. You can customize it with your logo and colors. Your clients don’t have to see the name ProfitBooks anywhere. You can host it on your server, and if you’re a reseller, you can sell it at your own price.

It is truly a feature-rich platform, and your clients can use it to perform a number of tasks, for example:

• Create and send invoices

• Track dues

• Manage expenses

• Use multiple currencies, etc.

One of the best things about ProfitBooks is that there is no limit on the number of sales orders, products, and customers. Another great thing about it is that you can integrate your own services directly in the software. ProfitBook also has a fully functional mobile app, and you can connect it to third-party apps through its API.

A quick recap of white label financial products

Want to become a reseller of white label software?

If you’re interested in white label financial products because you want to become a software reseller, we applaud your decision! This can be a truly lucrative business as most companies run on at least one app or piece of software. The best thing about it is that you don’t have to be a developer or know much about your product at all. Most white label providers offer full technical support.

If you’re wondering how to launch your business, you can do so from our platform here at Sell SaaS. We make the process ridiculously easy. You just have to pick the software you want to offer, connect your Stripe account, and launch your business in only a couple of minutes. You can customize our products using your logo and colors and easily manage billing thanks to integrated Stripe payments.

You don’t have to worry about the technical details as we’ll do all the legwork for you. We also provide free customer support to your clients. All you have to do is market your business and collect your money. We will handle the rest!