“Can a global bank win embedded trade finance by piping HSBC credit and payments directly into B2B marketplaces?”
SemFi was created in October 2024 as a joint venture between HSBC (75%) and Tradeshift (25%), backed by a two-stage $35M investment from HSBC. The venture embeds HSBC's payment, trade, and financing products — beginning with invoice financing for SME suppliers and virtual business cards — into B2B e-commerce and marketplace platforms, starting with Tradeshift's own network. It represents HSBC's bet that trade finance origination is shifting onto digital marketplaces, with future plans for digital wallets and PO financing.
Semfi discloses HSBC (in-house parent bank) as its banking provider, with HSBC (parent) as its sponsor bank, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
Semfi does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through HSBC (parent).
Semfi processes payments through HSBC payment rails (in-house via parent).
Semfi's cards are issued through HSBC (in-house parent bank).
Semfi's lending and capital products are provided by HSBC (in-house parent bank).
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 5 layers in Semfi's stack: Payments / PSP (HSBC payment rails (in-house via parent)); Banking / BaaS (HSBC (in-house parent bank)); Card issuing (HSBC (in-house parent bank)); Lending (HSBC (in-house parent bank), AI-powered digital invoice financing and Dynamic discounting / early payment of invoices); Sponsor bank (HSBC (parent)).
Semfi is founded in 2024 and headquartered in United Kingdom.
Semfi has raised $35M (two-stage investment from HSBC) in total (latest round: JV launch funding, 2024).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Semfi 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.