Oslo, April 15, 2026 – The Swedish fintech company Froda announces its first partnership with a major traditional bank. SpareBank 1 Østlandet, one of Norway’s largest banks with over 433,000 customers, is integrating Froda’s automated lending platform into its digital customer journey, giving small businesses access to financing without leaving the bank’s own workflow. The partnership is one of the first in Europe where a major traditional bank integrates fintech-driven SME lending directly into its digital offering.
By integrating Froda Embedded, the bank can help small businesses that were previously unprofitable to manage their finances without having to build their own infrastructure. Financing becomes part of the existing customer journey, which reduces friction and manual steps and provides small business owners with a better customer experience.
- This partnership is a major step forward for us, and clearly shows the direction embedded finance is heading. Banks and fintech companies have long worked in parallel, but now even the most established banks are ready for this shift. The technology is mature, regulatory integration is working, and established banks see embedded lending as the way to reach small businesses they haven’t been able to serve before, says Olle Lundin, co-founder and CEO of Froda.
The partnership addresses a well-known challenge in business financing: high operating costs have long made small-scale lending unprofitable for banks, leaving many small businesses without access to capital. This is one of the factors behind Europe’s small business financing gap, which amounts to approximately 400 billion euros. By combining SpareBank 1 Østlandet’s 180 years of trust and reach with Froda’s automation and data-driven credit assessment, a segment that has been difficult to reach with existing processes is now being opened up.
- By building ecosystems rather than silos, we can combine the bank’s trust and expertise with the innovative power and scalability of fintech companies like Froda. Together, we make it easier for small businesses to quickly access capital and solutions that meet their customers’ needs—today and tomorrow, says Christian Fjestad, Deputy Group Executive Vice President for Technology and Development at SpareBank 1 Østlandet.
The solution builds on Froda’s existing partnership with Visa. Disbursement of approved loans occurs immediately via Visa Direct, and repayments are automated through the card infrastructure. The solution went live at the end of March, and Froda aims to expand to more Nordic banks. The news follows a year of strong growth for Froda, including a €20 million Series C funding round and six new embedded partners. The company’s partnerships now span fintechs and platforms to established banks in the Nordic region, the UK, Ireland, and Germany.
About SpareBank 1 Østlandet
SpareBank 1 Østlandet is Norway’s fourth-largest savings bank group, with over 1,300 employees. Over the past 180 years, we have built a solid market position in Eastern Norway by being accessible and offering services to individuals and businesses in both urban and rural areas. Today, we have a physical presence with a broad network of branches in Oslo, Akershus, Buskerud, Østfold, and Innlandet. Through the bank’s subsidiaries, the SpareBank 1 Alliance’s affiliated product companies, and our ownership stake in Fremtind Insurance, we serve as a comprehensive financial institution for our private and corporate customers. The Group is publicly traded and has its headquarters in Hamar. For generations, we have contributed to value creation in Eastern Norway, and our vision is to continue developing the region.
Posted
April 15, 2026
