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8 Best Swan.io Alternatives for Embedded Banking (2026)

Online Business
12 min read
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8 Best Swan.io Alternatives for Embedded Banking (2026)

Written by

Aistė Matulevičiūtė
Aiste Matuleviciute

Editorial & Communications Lead

Reviewed by

Simas Simanauskas
Simas Simanauskas

CCmO & Payment Infrastructure Expert

The best Swan.io alternatives are ConnectPay, Solaris, and Treezor. The right pick depends on your card scheme needs, the countries you serve, and the license you want behind your program. We talk to platforms comparing these providers every week, so we know where Swan fits and where it falls short.

Swan does a lot well. It holds an EU e-money license. Its API is developer-friendly, and its sandbox is clean. Teams can also onboard accounts fast with no-code flows.

Two limits come up again and again in our conversations. First, Swan issues Mastercard only. There’s no Visa option. Second, Swan issues local IBANs in just five EU countries: France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands. If your users sit in Poland, Lithuania, or Portugal, that gap shows up quickly.

Below, we compare eight providers on licensing, card schemes, coverage, and compliance. We include ourselves, and we say plainly where others fit better. If you’re new to the model, our overview of Banking-as-a-Service covers the basics first.

Best Swan.io Alternatives: Quick Overview

  • Best overall Swan.io alternative: ConnectPay
  • Best for a full banking license: Solaris
  • Best for French market coverage: Treezor
  • Best for embedded business banking from a neobank: Qonto Embed
  • Best for US-focused platforms: Stripe Treasury
  • Best for B2B SaaS embedded finance: Weavr
  • Best for direct clearing infrastructure: ClearBank
  • Best for UK-focused fintechs: Griffin

8 Best Alternatives to Swan.io

1. ConnectPay

Best for: European fintechs and platforms needing a compliant, full-stack embedded banking alternative to Swan with multi-currency IBANs, card issuing, and merchant services combined.

connectpay homepage

We built ConnectPay for platforms that want accounts, cards, payments, and compliance from one provider. That’s the main reason teams shortlist us among Swan.io alternatives.

We hold an EMI license from the Bank of Lithuania. Through one API, you can open multi-currency IBAN accounts, send SEPA, SEPA Instant, and SWIFT payments, and issue cards. We run AML and KYC checks inside the onboarding flow, so your team doesn’t need a separate compliance vendor.

The biggest difference from Swan sits on the acceptance side. Swan doesn’t offer card acquiring. We do. A platform can accept card payments from its customers, then hold, move, and pay out those funds in the same stack.

Here’s a workflow we see often. A B2B marketplace onboards sellers across the EU. Each seller passes KYC and gets an IBAN account. Buyers pay by card at checkout. The marketplace settles funds into seller accounts. Sellers then pay suppliers by SEPA Instant or spend with an issued card. On Swan, that marketplace would need a second provider just for card acceptance.

We fit fintechs, marketplaces, and platforms scaling across Europe. For those teams, we think we’re the best Swan.io alternative. If your main market is the US, we’re not the right pick, and Stripe Treasury below will serve you better. You can see how the pieces connect on our embedded finance page.

2. Solaris

Best for: Enterprises needing a full German/EU banking license behind their embedded finance program.

solaris homepage

Solaris answers a different question than Swan: what if you need a bank, not an e-money institution?

Solaris, formerly Solarisbank, runs a Banking-as-a-Service platform from Berlin. It holds a full German banking license. That license lets Solaris take deposits and offer lending. An e-money license like Swan’s allows neither.

This matters for specific programs. Picture a consumer finance app that wants to add credit lines next to its current accounts. On Swan, the app needs a separate lending partner and a second integration. On Solaris, one license covers both products.

In our experience, Solaris suits larger, enterprise-scale programs. Onboarding takes longer, and the commercial setup reflects a bank-grade relationship. Smaller teams launching a first card program often find it heavier than they need.

Among alternatives to Swan.io, Solaris is the one to look at when licensing depth drives the decision. If you only need accounts and cards, an EMI will usually get you live faster.

3. Treezor

Best for: Platforms wanting a Société Générale-backed BaaS provider with deep French market coverage.

image 10

If you like Swan’s model but want a different name behind it, Treezor is the closest match on this list.

Treezor is a French Banking-as-a-Service platform. It provides regulated payment accounts, cards, and SEPA connectivity. Like Swan, it runs on an e-money license and focuses on the French market first.

The big difference is ownership. Société Générale owns Treezor. For enterprise buyers, that backing carries weight. We see it in procurement all the time. A French expense-management startup sells to a large corporate. The buyer’s risk team asks who stands behind the payment provider. A major banking group answers that question in one line.

Treezor has powered accounts and cards for many French fintechs, so its team knows local requirements well. That depth helps if France is your core market.

Among Swan.io competitors, Treezor is the like-for-like pick. It won’t remove every Swan limit, though. Check its card scheme options and IBAN coverage against your roadmap before you switch.

4. Qonto Embed

Best for: SaaS, ERP, and accounting platforms wanting to embed business banking features from an established European neobank.

image 11

Qonto started as a business account for SMEs and freelancers. Qonto Embed takes that product and lets other platforms offer it inside their own software. SaaS and accounting platforms can add white-label business accounts and cards.

The value shows up in daily workflows. Take an accounting software company whose clients already upload invoices and track expenses in its dashboard. With Qonto Embed, it adds a business account to the same screen. A client approves a supplier invoice and pays it without leaving the tool. The payment lands in the books without a manual import.

That’s why we see Qonto Embed as a strong option for platforms already sitting inside accounting or ERP workflows. The banking product exists already, so you skip designing one from raw APIs.

Qonto is France-founded and European-focused, which makes it similar in spirit to Swan. It fits SME-facing platforms best. If you serve consumers or need deep card program controls, look elsewhere.

For B2B software companies, it earns a spot among the top Swan.io alternatives.

5. Stripe Treasury

Best for: US-focused platforms wanting FDIC-insured embedded accounts alongside Stripe’s existing payments stack.

stripe homepage

Swan doesn’t operate in the US. Stripe Treasury does, and that alone decides it for many teams.

Stripe Treasury gives platforms embedded accounts held at Stripe’s partner banks, with FDIC pass-through insurance on eligible balances. It adds card issuing and money movement APIs on top. Platforms already using Stripe for payments can switch it on without a new vendor relationship.

Here’s how it works in practice. A US field-services app processes customer payments through Stripe. With Treasury, each service business on the app gets an account for those funds. The owner issues spend cards to technicians and pays suppliers by ACH, all inside the app. One contract, one dashboard, one support team.

The limit mirrors Swan’s, just on the other side of the Atlantic. Stripe Treasury focuses on the US. It won’t give you European IBANs or SEPA rails.

Among alternatives to Swan.io, Stripe Treasury is the clear pick when the US is your primary market and Stripe already runs your payments.

6. Weavr

Best for: B2B SaaS platforms wanting pre-built financial experiences without becoming regulated themselves.

weavr

Weavr takes a different path from Swan. Swan gives developers APIs and expects them to build the flows. Weavr, a UK-based company, offers plug-and-play embedded finance: pre-built experiences for cards, accounts, and payments.

B2B SaaS platforms can embed these features without becoming regulated themselves. Weavr carries the regulatory load.

A quick example shows the time difference. A travel-management SaaS wants to give each corporate client virtual cards for bookings. On a raw BaaS API, the team designs onboarding screens, card controls, and spend reports from scratch. With Weavr, they configure most of that from ready components and launch sooner.

The trade-off is flexibility. Pre-built flows cover common cases well. Unusual programs may hit their edges. If you’re weighing a fully branded build against an embedded ready-made product, our guide to the white-label neobank model walks through that choice.

Among Swan.io competitors, Weavr complements Swan’s developer-first, build-it-yourself approach rather than copying it.

7. ClearBank

Best for: Businesses wanting direct, bank-grade clearing infrastructure instead of an EMI-only setup.

clear bank

ClearBank solves an infrastructure problem, not a product one.

It operates as a fully regulated UK clearing bank with direct access to national payment schemes like Faster Payments, Bacs, and CHAPS. Many BaaS setups rely on a sponsor bank somewhere in the chain. ClearBank removes that layer.

This makes a difference for regulated firms that need safeguarded accounts and direct payment access. Consider a UK payment institution that holds client funds. It opens safeguarding accounts at ClearBank and sends Faster Payments directly. It no longer routes transfers through a second bank, and it cuts a dependency out of its stack.

ClearBank doesn’t aim to give you branded cards and consumer onboarding out of the box. You build those layers yourself or through partners.

It fits UK-focused institutions best, not pan-European programs. If clearing-bank-grade infrastructure is your top requirement, ClearBank is the best Swan.io alternative on this list. If you need cards and EU coverage, it isn’t.

8. Griffin

Best for: UK-focused fintechs wanting an FCA-licensed banking partner built specifically for embedding.

image 12

Griffin is the newest name on this list. It’s a UK bank, authorized and regulated in the UK, and it built its stack specifically for embedding banking into other products.

That focus shows in the product. Griffin offers API-first accounts, payments, and built-in compliance tooling. Teams get a bank, not just an EMI, behind their program.

We see this matter for UK fintechs holding client money. Take a wealth-tech startup that wants customer cash held in a regulated bank account from day one. With an EMI, it gets a safeguarding structure. With Griffin, it gets bank accounts under a banking license, which some investors and customers prefer.

Griffin is smaller than the incumbents. It’s a specialist option, and its coverage centers on the UK. If you need EU accounts or a mature card program, pair it with another provider or choose a different one.

Still, for UK-native programs, it belongs among the top Swan.io alternatives.

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Best Swan.io Alternatives: Comparison

Here’s how the providers stack up side by side. We included Swan as a reference point.

ProviderBest ForLicense TypeCard Schemes SupportedGeographic Coverage
SwanDeveloper-first EU programsEMI (France)MastercardEU (local IBANs in 5 countries)
ConnectPayAll-in-one European stackEMI (Lithuania)[CONFIRM]EEA
SolarisFull banking licenseBank (Germany)Visa, MastercardEU
TreezorFrench marketEMI (France)MastercardEU, France focus
Qonto EmbedSaaS and accounting platformsPayment institution (France)MastercardEurope
Stripe TreasuryUS platforms on StripePartner banks (US)Visa, MastercardUS
WeavrB2B SaaS, pre-built flowsEMI (UK)MastercardUK, EEA
ClearBankDirect clearingBank (UK)Via partnersUK
GriffinUK embedded bankingBank (UK)Via partnersUK

Why Look for Swan.io Alternatives?

Most teams we speak with don’t leave Swan because it’s bad. They leave because their program outgrows one of its limits. Here are the four we hear most.

Mastercard only. Swan doesn’t issue Visa cards. That becomes a blocker when a co-brand partner or a scheme deal requires Visa.

Five local IBAN countries. Swan issues local IBANs in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands. A payroll platform paying staff in Poland or Lithuania can’t give those users a local IBAN.

No crypto support. Swan doesn’t serve crypto businesses and isn’t registered as a virtual asset service provider. Stablecoin and crypto-adjacent platforms need a different partner.

Europe only. Swan’s regulatory footprint covers Europe. Platforms needing US or global coverage have to add another provider.

None of these are universal flaws. They’re fit issues. Before you switch, map your requirements, including compliance scope. We treat embedded compliance as part of the core stack for that reason: it decides which products you can launch, and where.

How to Choose the Best Swan.io Alternative

Start with your non-negotiables, not the feature lists. In our experience, five questions narrow the field of Swan.io alternatives fast.

  1. Which card scheme do you need? If a partner requires Visa, rule out Mastercard-only providers first.
  2. Where do your users live? Check local IBAN issuance country by country. “EU coverage” on a website rarely means the same thing in every country.
  3. Do you need a full banking license? Deposits and lending need a bank. Accounts, cards, and payments work well on an e-money license.
  4. Is crypto or stablecoin support on your roadmap? Confirm the provider can legally serve you before you integrate.
  5. Do you need card acquiring too? If you accept card payments and hold funds, one provider for both saves a second integration.

Then match your answers to a segment:

  • European SaaS and fintech platforms wanting banking, payments, and compliance in one stack → ConnectPay
  • Enterprises needing a full banking license → Solaris or ClearBank
  • Programs needing Visa or crypto-adjacent products → look beyond Swan’s restrictions entirely
  • US-focused platforms already on Stripe → Stripe Treasury
  • B2B SaaS platforms wanting to embed financial features fast → Weavr

The best Swan.io alternative for you is the one that clears all five questions without workarounds. For a wider view of the market beyond alternatives to Swan.io, see our roundup of Banking-as-a-Service providers.

Switch to a Swan.io Alternative That Fits Your Business

The best Swan.io alternative depends on three things: the card schemes you need, the countries you serve, and how deep your licensing has to go. Get those right, and the shortlist writes itself.

Our advice is simple. Before any demo, check two things. First, confirm card scheme support in writing. Second, check local IBAN coverage for every country on your 18-month roadmap. These are exactly where Swan’s limits show up, and they’re easy to overlook in a sales call.

For European businesses wanting one compliant platform covering accounts, cards, payments, and compliance, we believe ConnectPay is the strongest overall alternative. If your needs sit elsewhere, the providers above cover US banking, full licenses, and UK clearing well.

You can compare the wider field in our guide to embedded finance providers, or talk to our team at ConnectPay about your program.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best alternative to Swan.io?

Is Swan.io a bank?

How much does Swan.io cost?

What is the difference between Swan and other BaaS providers?

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