Developing an e-wallet or payment software from scratch can be a time-consuming process. You need to hire an experienced technical team, control the development process, and comply with financial regulations at the same time. This process can take a couple of years and investment in the millions. Meanwhile the Fintech space evolves rapidly, making time to market a key factor in your success.
White labelling is not a new concept and has been quite the norm in several industries, hygiene and beauty products being a common example. Just like how the complexity of developing a new beauty product gave rise to a large white-label market, by using a white-label solution, any business can launch Fintech services quickly, without needing to develop their own solution. In this article we highlight what is a white-label e-wallet, its features, each stakeholder’s role, and some key advantages of a white label e-wallet.
What is a white-label e-wallet?
A white-label e-wallet is a branded e-wallet that is operated by the brand but leverages the infrastructure of a Fintech Financial Institution (FI). This type of Fintech FI acts as both the Licensed Financial Service Provider and technology provider, allowing companies to offer financial services under their own brand name without the need to build their own infrastructure.
The Fintech FI typically includes features such as remote onboarding with eKYC, money transfers and remittance, card issuance, payment processing, and account management.
The companies that use white-label digital services are often non-financial institutions, such as retailers, e-marketplaces, community-based organisations, e-hailing companies and more. By partnering with a white-label Fintech FI, they can offer financial services to their customers, vastly improving their customer journey while expanding their offerings and generating additional revenue streams.
Why is it trending?
The white-label services can bring exceptional benefits for users, such as fast payment processing, an easy-to-use application and wide functionality. But let’s consider several advantages of a white-label e-wallet for businesses:
Cost savings
One of the primary advantages of a white-label e-wallet is the cost savings it offers. Building a financial infrastructure from scratch is expensive, time-consuming, and requires significant resources. By partnering with a white-label Fintech FI, businesses can avoid these costs and instead focus on their core competencies.
Faster time-to-market
With a white-label e-wallet, businesses can launch financial services much faster than if they were to build their own infrastructure. This is not only because the technology is already developed, but also because of the resources and specialised competency required to ensure compliance with regulations.
Customisable Branding
With a white-label e-wallet, businesses can customise the branding of their financial services, including logos, colour schemes, and user interfaces. This allows them to maintain their brand identity and build a much deeper and stickier relationship with their customers.
Access to Expertise
White-label Fintech FIs employ banking experts who understand the regulatory and compliance requirements of the industry. By partnering with a white-label FI, businesses can tap into this expertise and ensure that their financial services are fully compliant with all relevant regulations while also handling the intricacies of data security and privacy, not to mention the high risk involved in the financial industry.
Scalability
A white-label FI provides a scalable solution that can grow with a business as it expands its financial services offerings. Therefore, businesses can easily add new products and services as their customer base grows without investing in additional infrastructure.
White-label FIs provide businesses with a modern solution that allows them to enter the financial services market quickly and cost-effectively while maintaining their brand identity and benefiting from the expertise of financial services professionals.
What businesses should consider a white-label e-wallet?
White-label e-wallets can benefit a variety of businesses, from startups to established companies. Here are some examples:
Brands or organisations with large community
Brands or organisations with large communities that want to offer banking services to their customers, members or employees can benefit from white-label e-wallets that can be customised to meet their specific needs. For example, brands could offer fans a layaway program to purchase their product; a non-profit could seek donations directly to beneficiaries while offering transparency to donors; a club could implement recurring annual membership payment services, etc.
E-commerce platforms
E-commerce platforms that want to offer their customers a complete shopping experience can benefit from white-label banking solutions that enable them to offer payment and banking services under their own brand. Some currently trending services include Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) or progressive payment options built into the shopping journey and revenue-based financing or cash advances to platform merchants.
Insurance companies
Insurance companies can benefit from white-label e-wallet solutions that enable them to build a seamless loyalty program offering customers discounts at partner merchant stores while also implementing automated insurance premium collections and direct-to-wallet claims disbursements to their customers.
What are the evaluating criteria?
When choosing white-label banking software, there are several considerations that businesses should keep in mind. Here are some key factors to consider:
Functionality
The white-label Fintech software should offer the functionality that the business requires, such as account opening and management, payment processing, and fraud detection.
Customisation
The white-label banking software should allow customisation, such as branding and user interface, to match the business’s specific needs and brand identity.
Integration
The white-label Fintech software should be easily integrated with other third-party systems that the business uses, such as accounting software, CRM software, etc.
Compliance
The white-label Fintech software should comply with all relevant regulations and standards, such as Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations.
Security
The white-label Fintech software should have strong security features to protect sensitive customer data, such as two-factor authentication and data encryption.
Scalability
The white-label Fintech software should be able to scale with the business’s growth and changing needs, such as the ability to handle increasing transaction volumes and support additional products and services.
Businesses should carefully evaluate white-label Fintech software providers to ensure that the software meets their specific needs and offers comprehensive support and maintenance. More importantly, choose a provider that is licensed and compliant with relevant regulations, especially surrounding data security and risks of fraud.
MPay – why we white-label?
The expectations of customers in today’s instant gratification world are a challenge. Global tech giants’ presence in Malaysia is seeing local players losing market share, compounded by shrinking profit margins due to rapid growth in competition. As one of Malaysia’s first movers in Fintech, we are on a mission to empower fellow local businesses with ways and means to implement suitable future-proof business models, offer lower prices, and maintain healthy finances all at the same time. Our ecosystem of licensed Fintech solutions allows any business to create e-wallets and deliver best-in-class financial services while ensuring compliance, security, and scalability.
With MPay, there’s no need to acquire a costly license, build separate teams for your financial product development and spend tons of money. We cover all technical and regulatory nuances, leaving you to focus on what matters – your brand and your customers.
Wrapping up
A white-label Fintech FI provides an efficient and cost-effective solution for companies looking to enter the financial services market without the significant investment required to build their own banking infrastructure. However, choosing the right Fintech partner can make or break your business. Bottom line, it is critical to prioritise regulations, corporate integrity, and legal compliance because stepping into the financial services industry means having to deal with sensitive private data leaks, potential for fraud and other criminal activities.
Our best advice is to ensure the Fintech company you decide on has the necessary license, developed, and owns their technology offering and, most of all, is reputable and experienced in financial risk and compliance matters.
