← Embedded Finance Index 2026

Cake by VPBank

“Can Vietnam's first digital-only bank turn its AI-driven retail platform into a cross-border financial infrastructure enabler for Southeast Asia's digital economy?”

Founded2021
HQ89 Lang Ha, Dong Da, Hanoi, Vietnam
IndustryFintech / Neobank
The story

Launched in 2021 as the digital-bank tab inside Vietnamese ride-hailing app Be, operated by Be Group subsidiary beFinancial under VPBank's banking license — Vietnam's first ride-hailing-embedded bank. Built on Mambu cloud core in 74 days. By 2024-2025 Cake had outgrown the Be channel, becoming a standalone digital bank with 6M+ users and ~VND 20T in deposits, and rebranded itself as a 'NextGen AI Bank'. Most recent pivot (2026) is from a domestic consumer bank to a financial-infrastructure platform — Open API for partners and Cake GlobalX cross-border receivables with Visa — positioning Cake as an embedded-finance enabler for Vietnam's cross-border digital economy.

Last 12 months
2026-02
2026-01
2025-09
2025-06
2025-02
2025-02
2024-12
2024-11
2024-10
Product timeline
2021
CAKE BANK app launched 12 Jan 2021 under VPBank's banking license, embedded inside the Be ride-hailing app and operated by beFinancial (Be Group).· banking
2021
Selected Mambu cloud core banking platform; 74-day deployment from MVP to launch.· banking
2024
Launched Vietnam's first fully cloud-based Card Management System on Google Cloud via Visa Cloud Connect.· card
2024
Partnered with The Gioi Di Dong (MWG) for embedded consumer loans at point of sale.· lending
2024
Partnered with FPT Telecom to launch FPT Paylater.· lending
2025
Achieved ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification (TÜV NORD); won The Asian Banker Best Digital Bank Vietnam and Top 100 Global Digital Banks.· banking
2025
Repositioned as 'NextGen AI Bank' with AI-first product stack; launched Open API platform for partner integrations.· pivot
2026
Launched Cake GlobalX cross-border receivables solution in partnership with Visa.· banking
Regulated entities
1
regulatory licence held by Cake by VPBank
Licence types, jurisdictions and registered entities are in the Embedded Finance Index report.
The stack
8 layers disclosed in Cake by VPBank’s embedded-finance stack
Payments / PSP
Cake by VPBank payment account (self-operated)QR code payments (domestic + international VietQR / cross-border QR in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos)Bill payment service (self-operated)
Banking / BaaS
in the full report
Card issuing
in the full report
Ledger
in the full report
Lending
in the full report
Open banking
in the full report
Sponsor bank
in the full report
FX & payouts
in the full report
Accounting gap: minor
14 more providers across 7 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.