Mbanq, a U.S.-based provider of banking infrastructure and embedded finance technology, said its newly established institutional funding program has received its inaugural investment from a leading Swiss private bank.

The investment marks a milestone in the development of Mbanq’s institutional funding capability and supports the continued expansion of the company’s lending and Earned Wage Access (EWA) platform.

Earned Wage Access has become one of Mbanq’s key growth areas. The offering enables banks, credit unions, fintechs and enterprise organizations to provide employees with responsible access to wages they have earned before payday. As demand for EWA and other lending solutions continues to grow, Mbanq said the institutional funding program provides a scalable framework through which the company may access funding to support portfolio growth. For infrastructure providers that support lending products, access to repeatable institutional funding can be an important operational component because client demand must be matched with available capital and servicing capacity.

“This inaugural institutional investment represents an important milestone for Mbanq. It demonstrates confidence in our long-term strategy and strengthens the financial infrastructure that supports our lending business. As demand for Earned Wage Access and other lending solutions grows, we’re investing in the capabilities that enable our clients to scale with confidence,” said Vlad Lounegov, CEO of Mbanq.

The funding program is structured through U.S. dollar-denominated loan participation notes, with ISIN DE000A4MGVH3, admitted to trading on the Open Market, or Freiverkehr, of the Düsseldorf Stock Exchange. The program has an aggregate capacity of up to US$100 million. The use of listed loan participation notes gives the program a securities-based structure for institutional investors while linking proceeds to the underlying lending activity described by the company.

Founded in 2016, Mbanq has operated profitably since 2019. The company provides core banking technology, Banking-as-a-Service, Lending-as-a-Service, Compliance-as-a-Service, payments, card issuing and embedded finance infrastructure to banks, credit unions, fintechs and enterprise organizations worldwide.

The notes are issued by Encore Issuances S.A., acting in respect of its compartment 193. Barons Capital Partners SA acted as adviser on the transaction, and Addleshaw Goddard LLP served as legal counsel. Chartered Investment Germany GmbH acts as Servicer and Calculation Agent, Baader Bank AG acts as Custodian and Paying Agent, and ICON Asset Management AG serves as Risk Monitoring Agent.