“Can a profitable, PE-backed European cross-border payments specialist scale into the UK and layer embedded trade finance (B2B BNPL) on top of its FX rails to reach €100m ARR?”
Founded 2016 as a cross-border B2B payments platform (formerly FX4Biz) targeting SMEs underserved by traditional trade finance. Raised Series C in 2020, then broke away from the classic VC path in 2021 with a Marlin Equity Partners investment, prioritising profitability. Acquired Cornhill International Payments in 2022 to strengthen UK presence. Now expanding beyond FX/payments into B2B BNPL and embedded international trade finance, with the 2025 FCA EMI licence positioning London as the next growth engine.
iBanFirst discloses iBanFirst SA (in-house) and iBanFirst Limited (in-house) as its banking providers, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
iBanFirst does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through iBanFirst SA (in-house) and iBanFirst Limited (in-house).
iBanFirst processes payments through iBanFirst (self-operated, licensed payment institution). Disclosed money-movement rails: SWIFT and SEPA.
iBanFirst connects to bank accounts through Powens, Ponto, Enable Banking and Bridge.
iBanFirst uses iBanFirst (self-operated) for FX and cross-border payouts.
iBanFirst integrates with Pennylane, Sage, Odoo, Dougs, Agicap, Aura, Axonaut, Billit and 2 others.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 7 layers in iBanFirst's stack: Payments / PSP (iBanFirst (self-operated, licensed payment institution)); Money movement (SWIFT and SEPA); Banking / BaaS (iBanFirst SA (in-house) and iBanFirst Limited (in-house)); Lending (B2B BNPL for international trade (thesis/roadmap article)); Open banking (Powens, Ponto, Enable Banking and Bridge); FX & payouts (iBanFirst (self-operated)); Accounting (Pennylane, Sage, Odoo, Dougs and 6 others).
iBanFirst was founded by Pierre-Antoine Dusoulier and is founded in 2016, headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.
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