“Can Alma become the default guaranteed-installment payment method for European merchants across both online and in-store channels?”
Founded in France circa 2018, Alma built a BNPL installment payments platform targeting European merchants in e-commerce and point-of-sale. The company secured over $210M in combined equity and debt financing by 2022 and expanded from France into Germany, Belgium, Spain, and Italy. To scale operations, Alma partnered with Swan to automate merchant payout reconciliation via SEPA debit APIs and virtual cards, reducing operational overhead while growing its merchant base past 21,800 across Europe.
Alma discloses Swan as its banking provider, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
Alma does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through Swan.
Alma processes payments through Stripe, Adyen and Checkout.com. Disclosed money-movement rails: SEPA.
Alma's cards are issued through Swan.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 5 layers in Alma's stack: Payments / PSP (Stripe, Adyen and Checkout.com); Money movement (SEPA); Banking / BaaS (Swan); Card issuing (Swan); Lending (Alma Installments (2x, 3x, 4x BNPL), In-store BNPL and Online BNPL).
Alma is founded in 2018 and headquartered in Paris, France.
Alma has raised $210M+ in total (latest round: Series C, 2022).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Alma and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.