Seattle Bank and LoanStar launch new embedded banking partnership

By Leandra Monteiro

Seattle Bank, a digitally-driven local bank, has announced a new embedded banking partnership with LoanStar Technologies, a FinTech company that enables merchants and service providers to offer point-of-sale consumer loans.

Consumers will now be able to access loans quickly and easily from Seattle Bank for high-value transactions, directly through the merchant.

“At Seattle Bank, we evaluate every potential banking partnership by determining if the concept solves a problem for the customer, then aligning with a brand’s business imperatives,” said Josh Williams, EVP, Chief Banking Officer and Head of Partnerships at Seattle Bank. “In this instance, partnering with LoanStar allows its customers to accelerate the speed and convenience of point-of-sale financing while simultaneously allowing Seattle Bank to expand its reach to customers nationally. A win-win.”

The collaboration is made possible through Seattle Bank’s scalable, configurable, open-API technology stack. This includes enabling real-time underwriting and loan fulfillment by integrating new functionality with Finastra, a global provider of financial software applications and marketplaces. Finastra’s FusionFabric.cloud open developer platform allows the Bank to seamlessly integrate with its FinTech partners, including LoanStar.

LoanStar’s technology connects lenders to borrowers through its merchant network, which spans several industries. Seattle Bank’s initial partnership serves a merchant in the home improvement sector.

“We saw a huge opportunity to team up with Seattle Bank to help expand its reach through point-of-sale finance,” said Andrew Turner, CEO of LoanStar. “We’re confident our strong relationships with contractors and merchants will help them find highly efficient ways to reach customers wanting immediate financing options when making purchases.

“Finastra is proud to be an orchestrator of embedded finance, providing the tools needed to help banks meet customers on their journey at the right time,” said Radha Suvarna, Chief Product Officer and Head of Embedded Finance at Finastra. “We’re thrilled that Seattle Bank has chosen Finastra and our partners at LoanStar to facilitate embedded consumer lending at the point of sale – with the first live transactions already successfully processed.”

Partnering with LoanStar illustrates Seattle Bank’s partner banking capabilities which enable FinTechs, marketplaces and brands to provide financial solutions within their brand experience, bringing banking directly to customers through seamless, integrated transactions. Whether offering a borrowing solution into a retail brand’s digital channel or providing banking-as-a-service to a FinTech, Seattle Bank orchestrates the strategic blend of business, technology, and compliance, creating successful and sustainable banking partnerships.