CSI acquires Qolo to expand embedded finance offering

CSI has acquired Qolo, expanding its commercial banking and embedded finance offering.

The deal brings Qolo's treasury and payments infrastructure into CSI as the financial software supplier targets community banks, fintech groups and business-to-business payments providers.

The combination is intended to help smaller financial institutions offer services more often associated with larger banks, including flexible deposit structures, broader commercial card programmes and faster money movement across payment networks.

CSI pointed to business demand for faster payments, real-time cash-flow visibility and financial tools embedded in day-to-day processes. It also cited research from Datos Insights showing that 85% of small and medium-sized businesses would choose their primary financial institution over a fintech or larger bank if comparable services were available.

What Qolo adds

Qolo's platform includes a real-time account ledger, payment orchestration across multiple rails, and card issuing and processing tools for debit, prepaid, virtual and secured corporate credit products.

The technology will support payments, accounts, and workflows, and connect with CSI's core banking platform, digital banking products, and application programming interfaces. CSI plans to package those tools into integrated commercial banking products for community financial institutions.

Qolo also has an existing customer base among fintech companies and B2B payments providers that use its infrastructure for card issuing, cross-rail money movement, virtual account management, and embedded ledger services.

For CSI, the acquisition expands its reach beyond its traditional bank customer base and further into the financial technology and payments market. For Qolo, it provides access to a larger organisation with established banking relationships and a broader product set.

Nancy Langer, President and Chief Executive Officer of CSI, outlined the rationale for the deal.

"Community financial institutions are built on trusted relationships, local expertise, and deep knowledge of their markets," said Nancy Langer, President and Chief Executive Officer of CSI.

"But businesses in their communities also need sophisticated banking capabilities that simplify and fit more naturally into their day-to-day financial operations. With Qolo, CSI is helping community banks bring those capabilities to market in ways that help them grow commercial relationships and become more central to how businesses operate. At the same time, it expands our ability to support fintechs and B2B payments providers as demand grows for financial services embedded directly into everyday business workflows."

Banking shift

The transaction reflects a broader shift in banking and payments as financial institutions and technology providers respond to demand for services that connect accounts, payments and treasury functions in near real time.

Community banks have been under pressure to match the digital tools offered by larger competitors while maintaining older core systems. Firms such as Qolo have sought to address that gap by building software layers that sit above existing systems rather than replacing them outright.

The purchase also supports CSI's vertical banking strategy, which aims to help community banks offer pre-integrated commercial banking products designed for industries with specialised deposit, payment and workflow requirements.

That approach points to a stronger focus on sector-specific business banking, where lenders tailor account structures and payment tools to the needs of clients in particular industries. Such services can be important in winning and retaining commercial customers, especially in markets where fintech firms have targeted narrow operational pain points.

Patricia Montesi, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Qolo, said the boundary between conventional banking and embedded finance was narrowing.

"The line between traditional banking and embedded finance is becoming increasingly blurred," said Patricia Montesi, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Qolo.

"Whether you're a community bank modernizing your commercial offering or a fintech building embedded finance products, you're often running into the same challenges: fragmented vendors, disconnected payment rails and manual workarounds that limit growth. By joining CSI, we can invest more deeply in the infrastructure that powers modern financial experiences and help our customers become a more seamless part of how businesses manage and move money every day."

CSI has operated in financial technology for more than six decades and serves community and regional financial institutions in the US across core banking, digital banking, lending, payments, risk, compliance and managed technology services. Qolo has focused on infrastructure for banks and fintechs seeking to manage card programmes, ledger functions and funds movement without replacing core banking systems.

The acquisition gives CSI a larger role in the part of the market where banks and fintech companies increasingly overlap, particularly in commercial payments and embedded financial services.