How To Build A Modern Fintech With Baas Solution Providers: Guide For 2026

You have an idea – something good that can address a financial issue millions of people face every day. Maybe you want to make freelancer payments much easier. Or perhaps you want to create personal financial planning tools that don’t feel like homework. Or you want to provide credit options for those who are ignored by the old-guard banking system.

Once you begin research on how to create a fintech, your search results eventually lead you to a brick wall. You come across a list of requirements that must be met in order to set your fintech idea in motion. Chances are you’ll encounter the essential criterion soon, i.e., to secure a banking relationship. 

To acquire that, you will require a banking partner, but having one is not as easy as opening a bank account. And, if you fail to fulfil this obligation, you won’t be able to launch a bank-like product. Ergo, this creates a barrier for 40% of fintech companies. 

If this situation sounds familiar, you’re not alone. 

BaaS – What does it mean? 

Let’s deal with the bare elements first.

Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) means you use a bank’s system fabric via APIs. You need not develop the unseen architecture; instead, you just connect to a precision-forged bedrock of compliant finance. See it in the context of electricity; you’re not required to develop an electrical generation facility to power your business, you can simply plug into the grid. BaaS works in a similar fashion for banking.

These are the canonical components offered by Baas solution providers –

• Sponsor bank relationships
• Deposit accounts
• Payment processing
• Card issuance
• Lending APIs
• KYC/AML modules
• Fraud detection modules, all of which are made accessible as plug-and-play microservices. 

Why you should depend on BaaS to architect your fintech 

The global BaaS market is forecasted to advance to $72.14 billion by 2032, at a CAGR of 13.11 percent. That type of growth is not occurring solely due to hype; it is occurring because BaaS is the only viable method for many entrepreneurs to commercialize their vision.

Without BaaS development solutions, you will be caught in the labyrinth of spending between 12-24 months creating your product and millions of dollars on legal costs. Coupled with that, there will be no assurance that you are spared from regulatory roadblocks.  Conversely, with banking-as-a-service, go-to-market latency will be compressed to 6 months, the capital friction will be dropped acutely, and you will get intrinsic regtech alignment. 

Next: meet the firms realizing these efficiencies. Explore These 10 Best Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) Providers to Watch in 2025

When did the system open its doors? 

Traditionally, the banking world has always dominated the way fintech companies think. This is logical since there are regulations around money movement. If your company is dealing with capital flows, you ought to inherit this institutional compliance lattice.  Naturally, fintech founders have viewed this as a structural moat, a maze of impenetrable obstacles. 

“I’ll create the product first, then I will worry about the banking part,” is how most fintech progenitors would approach this challenge. That rarely worked. In practice, that doctrine led to operational drag, as approximately 60% of fintechs ended up surrendering over $250,000 in regtech penalties year over year.

Upon assessing today’s market topology, we find that embedded finance has swelled to $112.67 billion in 2025. [Source: DataBridge Market Research]

Why has the regime changed now? 

This phenomenon materialized as banks began to realize that they could not compete on their own. They understood that the modern market demanded that they work in harmony with this rising class of monetary system reformers, not fight them. It was during this time that the first white label BaaS platform providers took shape. At that point, the undercurrent of demand was too great to ignore. Through partnerships between banks, BaaS platforms, and fintechs, a dormant market opportunity worth $230 billion broke the plane. At critical mass, it made sense for banks to make their capabilities available via API. 

10 Corroborated Steps to Craft Your Fintech With A BaaS development company

The roadmap below consists of the exact steps that you should take to sculpt a fintech from BaaS foundations.  

The first step is to finalize your business model after undertaking a deep market assessment. Then start your search for the best BaaS solution providers side by side, who can provide you with the APIs you need to engineer your fintech. 

Timeline: 1-2 weeks

• Step 2: Validate Your Market Narrative 

Next, develop a landing page for your fintech app. A landing page should provide your potential users with information about your digital finance solution. Allow them to sign up for your waiting list and get early updates on your development process.

What you will gain from this initiative:

• Feedback from users
• Early Adopters for Beta Testing

Timeline: 2-4 weeks

• Step 3: Assemble Building Blocks

Discern which pre-built BaaS modules you want to integrate into your fintech. For example, do you want to issue cards? Are you planning to offer loans? What type of KYC/AML configuration will you use? Which fraud detection options are you considering?

Timeline: 1-2 weeks

• Step 4: Activate the Customer Continuum

Operationalize your fintech app. This includes setting up user sign-up and onboarding processes – configuring KYC (Know Your Customer) checks and aligning other customer due diligence requirements.

Timeline: 4-8 weeks

• Step 5: Confirm Payment Flows

Test using small amounts. Does money move correctly? Does fraud detection function properly? Does AML screening work? Are all systems harmonized?  Make sure you test your fintech app in a live banking environment, not in a sandbox. 

What you will receive from this: Proof that your architecture performs in the real world. 

Timeline: 2-4 weeks

• Step 6:  Prepare yourself for a sponsor bank partnership 

You are ready technically. Now, prepare for a sponsor bank to assess your venture.  Curate your documentation. Earn your regulatory seals. Your BaaS development company can assist with these. Include background information for each of your team members. Set your financial forecasts. 

Timeline: 2-3 weeks.

• Step 7:  BaaS provider matches you with a sponsor bank 

The banking-as-a-service platform serves as a bridge between your fintech and the partner bank. It connects you with the ideal banks, which have capital and are the best fit for your requirements. Your fintech can now use the sponsor bank’s license to serve customers.

Timeline: 2-4 weeks

• Step 8: Your fintech is finally authorized 

Receive the culminating license affirmations before the launch of your services. That gives you the green light to deliver value to customers. 

Timeline: 2-6 weeks

• Step 9: Beta testing with customers

Let a small number of real users beta-run your product with real money. Real-world testing helps you discover those “edge” cases that would have otherwise been missed. This will also provide you with an opportunity to redress the customer experience.

Timeline:  2 weeks 

Your product is live. You are either making money now or approaching profitability. 

Total Timeline: 4-6 months from project start to rollout. 

The truth you must confront 

Walking a path is not as easy as knowing the path. That’s why you need the right BaaS development solutions. A firm with experience in fintech. A firm that knows what component authorities want to see when they look at your platform.

Presenting Antier: The Fail-Safe Fintech Backend Provider 

Antier has been actualizing fintech platforms, crypto neo banks, and financial startups across 150+ countries. This is how our hard-won fluency will become your advantage. 

You: 

• Get the core banking system and even premier features (you can choose as per your fintech ambitions) 
• Can create multi-currency IBAN accounts
• Can issue a card (branded as your own) 
• Can automate KYC / AML

On top of these, Antier’s white label BaaS platform provider gives you access to: 

• Crypto-Native Architecture – This is particularly beneficial if you intend to embed crypto elements in your fintech startup now or in the future
• Tokenization – Our platform offers native support for tokenized assets, too
• DeFi Integration – Our solution simplifies the addition of DeFi applications and services
• Automated Compliance Globally –  Our BaaS offerings undergrid all major jurisdictional KYC/KYT frameworks across key regions like the EU, the US & China. They are SEPA and SWIFT compliant. You don’t have to hire an entire compliance department to kickstart a new fintech. Our platform will manage all your governance obligations.

Our team has engaged over 200+ global clients and interwoven 100+ APIs into our products. 

Since actual operational evidence is much more valuable than theoretical claims, indeed, as a part of a neo-bank pilot program launched in 2024, Antier’s infrastructure successfully onboarded 50,000 users in its first quarter, who transacted in crypto across 120 countries. Transaction settlement times were reduced by 40%.

The World Is Waiting For Your Fintech 

If you would like to evolve from a spark to solution to launch and partner with an ally who has already guided countless fintech founders through this same journey, Antier stands ready to co-create with you. Let our experts help you define your fintech’s North Star – purpose that makes it impactful.